San Francisco—Nearly all top cancer drugmakers have struck deals in the sizzling antibody-drug conjugate field—but not Novartis. On Monday, the Swiss pharma’s CEO Vas Narasimhan explained how he’s resisted the temptation. The answer is radioligand therapies, Narasimhan said Monday during the 2024 J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in response to a question from Fierce Pharma. “We have a long history within research of ADCs, but we have not been successful,” Narasimhan said. “To be clear, part of our focus strategy is looking at places where we think we can create long-term sustainable leadership. And we are investing in radioligand therapies.” ADCs and radioligand therapies are similar in that both technologies act as guided missiles. For ADCs, the guiding force is an antibody, and the cancer-killing payload is a chemotherapy. A radioligand therapy uses a ligand to target cancer cells and kills them with a therapeutic radioisotope. Radiotherapies may have a safety ...
AbbVie took the top two TV drug ad spending spots with its immunology duo Rinvoq and Skyrizi, respectively, in December as it looks to cement its place as the pharma with the deepest direct-to-consumer pockets. AbbVie spent nearly identical amounts on all DTCs for each drug: $39.8 million for Rinvoq across its five spots and $39.7 million for Skyrizi across seven spots. In November, the positions of the two drugs were swapped, with Skyrizi taking the top spot and Rinvoq coming in second. Coming in third place was rival Dupixent, marketed by Sanofi and Regeneron, with a much smaller $27.6 million spent across its ads for the blockbuster med. And Pfizer has suddenly started to spend big on its new RSV vaccine Abrysvo, coming in fourth place with a strong spend of $18 million last month, more than five times the $4 million it spent in November. In fifth place ...
Recently, Chengdu Kanghua Biological Products Company Limited (“Kanghua Biological” or the “Company”) signed an Exclusive License Agreement with HilleVax.INC (“HilleVax”). INC (“HilleVax”). Kanghua Biologicals licensed HilleVax to develop, manufacture and commercialize Recombinant Hexavalent Norovirus Vaccine and its derivatives in areas other than China (including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan). Kanghua Biologicals will receive an initial payment of US$15 million for this transaction and is expected to receive milestone payments of US$255.5 million upon the achievement of certain development and sales milestones, and Kanghua Biologicals is also entitled to a single-digit percentage sales commission on net sales in territories other than China (including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan). Using genetic engineering technology, Kanghua Biologicals has constructed a recombinant hexavalent norovirus vaccine based on Virus-Like Particles (VLPs), which encompasses the six major prevalent genotypes of norovirus, and theoretically protects against more than 90% of norovirus infections and acute gastroenteritis caused by norovirus, ...
Recently, a phase II, non-randomized study of brain radiotherapy combined with pyrrolitinib and capecitabine for the treatment of brain metastasis in HER2-positive breast cancer (BROPTIMA study) was published online in JAMA Oncology, an authoritative international oncology journal (IF: 28.4). Prof. Guo Xiaomao and Prof. Yu Xiaoli of the Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Fudan University are the co-corresponding authors of this article, and Prof. Yang Zhaozhi and Prof. Meng Jin are the co-authors. The results of this study showed that the one-year central nervous system-progression-free survival (CNS-PFS) rate for combination therapy reached 74.9%, with a median CNS-PFS of up to 18 months and a central nervous system-objective remission rate (CNS-ORR) of 85%. In terms of safety, with a median follow-up of 17.3 months, the neurological status of most patients remained stable. This is the first prospective clinical study exploring pyrrolitinib in combination with brain radiotherapy for the treatment of patients with ...
Dive Brief Thermo Fisher Scientific has notified the state of California that it plans to lay off 74 employees in Petaluma by Feb. 1, as the laboratory instruments maker further streamlines operations to reduce costs. The layoffs were reported in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice. The Waltham, Massachusetts-based company is not renewing its 10-year lease on the Petaluma facility, which expires in July, the North Bay Business Journal reported in November. Severance actions associated with facility consolidations and cost reduction measures affected about 4% of the company’s workforce in 2023, Thermo Fisher said in its third-quarter report. Dive Insight Workforce reductions rippled through the medtech industry last year as companies focused on improving margins while navigating an uncertain post-pandemic economy. After closing some facilities and reducing staff levels in California earlier in the year due to reduced COVID testing demand, Thermo Fisher signaled in July that it ...
Dive Brief Nanowear has received 510(k) clearance for AI-enabled software that allows its wearable undergarment to estimate blood pressure. The Food and Drug Administration decision covers software that processes electrocardiogram (ECG) data, heart sounds and thoracic impedance captured by the Simplesense wearable device to monitor blood pressure at home, in healthcare facilities and during medical research. Nanowear is pitching the software as the “first non-invasive, cuffless, continuous blood pressure monitor, and diagnostic.” The company cited Biobeat Technologies’ wrist and chest monitor as a predicate blood pressure device in its 510(k) filing. Dive Insight Simplesense is a cloth-based undergarment that wraps around the wearer’s torso and over one shoulder. The medical device features two ECG leads, plus sensors for recording heart sounds and activity, and for measuring respiration rate through thoracic impedance. Nanowear made the device to enable physicians and researchers to remotely capture data on patients without disrupting their lives. ...
Contract development and manufacturing organizations cannot develop or distribute vaccines alone, but through partnerships, their infrastructure can provide the foundation for delivering life-saving tools swiftly and equitably when a new public health crisis emerges. By MARC FUNK When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) became indispensable partners to the biopharmaceutical companies that developed vaccines, rapidly producing billions of urgently needed vaccine doses for patients around the globe. But as the health crisis wanes, these organizations risk missing a pivotal opportunity to reinforce preparedness for the next – inevitable – pandemic. CDMOs play an indispensable role in the pharmaceutical ecosystem, acting as key partners to produce medications and vaccines for biopharma companies. By providing specialized manufacturing and development services, CDMOs ensure innovative medicines are produced at scale, meeting global demand and helping enable patient access to vital treatments. This flexible, efficient model proved invaluable when Covid-19 vaccine ...
CG Oncology’s main asset is cretostimogene, an oncolytic virus in late-stage development as a treatment for advanced bladder cancer. The IPO filing follow the report of interim efficacy data showing a 75% complete response rate. By FRANK VINLUAN When bladder cancer does not respond to the current standard of care therapy, the next treatment option is surgery to completely remove the bladder. CG Oncology aims to give patients another choice. The biotech has reached late-stage development with an oncolytic virus and it’s now looking to the public markets to finance clinical testing. Irvine, California-based CG has not yet set financial terms for the planned offering, outlined in paperwork filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission this past week. IPO research firm Renaissance Capital estimates the stock offering could raise up to $100 million. CG has applied for a Nasdaq listing under the stock symbol “CGON.” CG is developing treatments for ...
BridGene Biosciences, Inc., a leader in the discovery of small molecule drugs for traditional “hard-to-drug” targets, announced a strategic collaboration and licensing agreement with Galapagos NV. Under the collaboration, BridGene will use its chemoproteomics platform, IMTAC, to discover novel small molecule drug candidates against the collaboration targets. The parties will collaborate to advance the molecules to clinical candidates, which Galapagos has the exclusive rights to develop and commercialize. The preclinical research collaboration will focus on oncology targets named by Galapagos. Galapagos will pay BridGene up to $27 million in upfront and preclinical research milestone payments and more than $700 million in clinical and commercial milestones, assuming success of the programs. BridGene is also eligible to receive tiered royalties on net sales of each product resulting from the collaboration. “BridGene’s proven expertise in discovering small molecule drugs for challenging targets positions them as an ideal partner in pioneering new avenues in ...
The companies will aim to select targets, discover and develop new therapeutics Owkin and Evotec have entered into an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered strategic partnership in oncology, immunology and inflammation (I&I). Both companies will collaborate to accurately select targets, discover and develop new therapeutics. As part of the agreement, the French-American techbio company, Owkin, will identify indication-relevant targets and subgroups using AI applied to multimodel patient data with its cutting-edge target discovery engine. Evotec will utilise its shared research and development (R&D) platform to accelerate and de-risk the validation of targets, the identification of drug candidates and the successful completion of pre-clinical development activities up to an investigational new drug application (IND). In addition, an Owkin-Evotec joint research strategy team will steer the collaboration to design fully tailored strategic programme plans from target selection to IND, as well as ensuring the delivery of the programmes. Evotec will receive R&D funding from ...
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