PharmaFocus Today – Page 328 – media

Moderna, Pfizer Hit with New COVID Vaccine Patent Lawsuits

By Tristan Manalac Pictured: Scales of justice/Kanizphoto, iStock Tuesday, New York-based Promosome filed separate lawsuits against Moderna and Pfizer, accusing both companies of violating patent protections related to mRNA technology, according to a report by Reuters. In the filings submitted to the Southern District Court of California, Promosome claims that in 2009 company-affiliated scientists “discovered a method for increasing protein expression by making small changes to the mRNA that could affect the amount of protein produced without altering the amino acid sequence encoded by the mRNA.” This method is protected by U.S. Patent No. 8,853,179, also known as the ’179 Patent. Promosome scientists, including Nobel laureate Gerald Edelman, gave the company exclusive license to the ’179 Patent. Promosome eventually disclosed the protected technology to Moderna—which ultimately declined to license it—and to Katalin Karikó, who served as senior vice president and top mRNA scientist at BioNTech at the time of the ...
- Source: drugdu
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Novo Nordisk says in talks to acquire French device-maker Biocorp for $165M

Dive Brief Novo Nordisk said it is in exclusive talks to buy French medical device company Biocorp. Novo Nordisk will buy out Biocorp’s main shareholder, Bio Jag, for 35 euros per share, and then make a tender offer for any outstanding shares at the same price, the companies said Monday. The offer would value all of the company at 154 million euros ($165 million). Denmark-based Novo Nordisk, which makes pharmaceutical products and insulin pens, has been collaborating with Biocorp since 2021 on a smart pen cap that tracks information on dose, date and time of injection. Dive Insight Novo Nordisk wants to innovate faster and develop new connected devices, and expects that Biocorp would complement its internal efforts, said Marianne Ølholm, Novo Nordisk’s senior vice president of devices and delivery solutions. Novo Nordisk will work with Biocorp to invest in new devices and drug delivery solutions for people with chronic ...
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New type of wound dressing could enhance the healing process for burn patients

One of the challenges in treating burn victims is the frequency of dressing changes, which can be extremely painful. To bring relief to this and other problems, University of Waterloo researchers have created a new type of wound dressing material using advanced polymers. This new dressing could enhance the healing process for burn patients and have potential applications for drug delivery in cancer treatment as well as in the cosmetic industry. “To treat burn victims, we can customize the shape using a 3D printer, secondly, the material has fine-tuned surface adhesion, which is a key feature”, said Dr. Boxin Zhao, a professor in Waterloo’s Department of Chemical Engineering, whose team has made significant strides in developing intelligent hydrogel materials for use as a reusable wound dressing. “The material can easily adhere to the skin and be taken off. It’s a very delicate balance within the material to make the adhesion ...
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Movement symptoms in dystonia found to be caused by spinal cord dysfunction

Many neurological conditions that involve involuntary muscle contractions have long been considered as diseases of the brain. However, both the brain and the spinal cord contain many nerve cells associated with movement. New research, published in Science Translational Medicine, used state-of-the-art mouse genetics to distinguish whether the brain or spinal cord was responsible for the disorganization of movement experienced by dystonia patients. Focusing on the most common inherited form of dystonia called DYT1, UCL scientists confined a genetic mutation to the spinal cord of the mice, while sparing nerve cells in the brain. They discovered that the mice consequently developed signs of dystonia that were remarkably similar to those seen in people with the condition. The researchers also observed how specific nerve cells in the spinal cord were affected through the course of the disease. The team hope that their findings will help towards the development of new treatments. Corresponding ...
- Source: drugdu
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Study identifies two brain mechanisms for picking speech out of a crowd

Researchers led by Dr. Nima Mesgarani at Columbia University, US, report that the brain treats speech in a crowded room differently depending on how easy it is to hear, and whether we are focusing on it. Publishing June 6th in the open access journal PLOS Biology, the study uses a combination of neural recordings and computer modeling to show that when we follow speech that is being drowned out by louder voices, phonetic information is encoded differently than in the opposite situation. The findings could help improve hearing aids that work by isolating attended speech. Focusing on speech in a crowded room can be difficult, especially when other voices are louder. However, amplifying all sounds equally does little to improve the ability to isolate these hard-to-hear voices, and hearing aids that try to only amplify attended speech are still too inaccurate for practical use. In order to gain a better ...
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Study

Reviewed by Lily Ramsey, LLMJun 7 2023 The expected course of a patient’s cancer prognosis has traditionally been judged by its type, stage and microscopic aggressiveness, but patients with the same presentation can still have widely divergent outcomes. Researchers from Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center have discovered that differences in tumor mutation burden are a major reason for this divergence. The study, published in JCO Precision Oncology, has revealed that mutation burden is a fundamental predictor of survival, independent of the clinical presentation metrics currently used. The researchers state in the study that mutational indices can be “used to predict disease course as effectively as (cancer) stage or grade.” A major insight of the study was the observation that survival was better at both low and high extremes of tumor mutation burden.” William Dupont, Study Corresponding Author and Professor, Biostatistics, Health Policy, and Preventive Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center The study investigated ...
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Biogen cuts PhIII Parkinson’s program over ‘long timeline’

Nicole DeFeudis Editor Biogen is calling it quits on a late-stage Parkinson’s trial as part of an ongoing R&D reorganization. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech announced Monday morning that it’s discontinuing a Phase III program evaluating BIIB122 as a treatment for patients with Parkinson’s disease related to LRRK2 mutations with partner Denali Therapeutics. The study, dubbed LIGHTHOUSE, kicked off in September; it was slated for completion in 2031. Biogen said the decision was made in consideration of the study’s “complexity including the long timeline.” “These modifications are not based on any safety or efficacy data from studies of BIIB122,” the company said in a statement. “Denali and Biogen have a strategic collaboration to jointly develop and commercialize small molecule inhibitors of LRRK2 and remain committed to advancing the development of BIIB122.” Back in 2020, Biogen shelled out more than $1 billion upfront — including $560 million in cash and $465 million ...
- Source: drugdu
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Merck challenges HHS on Medicare drug price negotiations, alleging violations of the Constitution

The pharma industry has voiced loud complaints about the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, specifically focusing on a clause that will allow Medicare to negotiate the prices of top-selling pharmaceuticals. But now the industry is taking its arguments to the courts.In the first lawsuit of its kind, Merck & Co. is suing the Department of Health and Human Services for alleged violations of the First and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, Reuters reports. Under the Inflation Reduction Act, Medicare will begin negotiating prices for the drugs that it spends the most on beginning in 2026. Because companies can’t exactly walk away from these negotiations, some industry leaders have said the setup is akin to “price controls.” Now, Merck alleges the negotiation setup is a violation of the Fifth Amendment, which requires the government to fairly compensate companies or individuals for property that is used for the public good, Reuters ...
- Source: drugdu
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Eisai hit with ransomware attack, launches investigation into possible data leaks

Eisai is the latest drugmaker to be hit with a ransomware attack.The Japanese company said it “immediately” set up a company-wide task force after suffering a cyberattack Saturday night. Now, it’s working to respond with external experts and law enforcement officials, Eisai said in a statement. The possibility of data leaks is currently under investigation, the company said. Eisai expects it will take “some time to gauge the full extent of the incident.” During the response, Eisai took some of its computer systems, both inside and outside of Japan, offline. For now, its corporate websites and email systems remain operational. As for the impact on the company’s earnings, Eisai is “carefully examining” any potential impact on its earnings forecast and will announce “as soon as possible” if revisions are necessary. Japan has seen an increasing amount of cyberattacks recently, according to The Japan Times. An official at the National Center ...
- Source: drugdu
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Amgen’s Lumakras shows promise in phase 3 lung cancer study

Amgen has shared positive results from a late-stage study evaluating its KRAS inhibitor, Lumakras (sotorasib), in certain lung cancer patients. The phase 3 CodeBreaK 200 trial compared Lumakras to docetaxel chemotherapy in patients with previously treated, locally advanced and unresectable or metastatic KRAS G12C-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). New data from the trial was presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting. NSCLC represents up to 85% of all lung cancer diagnoses. KRAS G12C is the most common KRAS mutation in NSCLC, Amgen reports, and patients with this mutation whose first-line treatment has failed face limited options. According to data from a post-hoc analysis of CodeBreaK 200, which included NSCLC patients with treated or stable central nervous system (CNS) lesions at baseline, Lumakras was associated with a delayed time to CNS progression and longer CNS progression-free survival (PFS) compared with docetaxel. Additionally, an assessment of CNS tumour shrinkage following ...
- Source: drugdu
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