Enhanc3D Genomics, a company developing disruptive technologies to unlock the 3D spatial genome for target and biomarker discovery, today announced the appointment of Hazel Jones as Chief Operating Officer. Following a £10 million Series A financing in October 2022, Hazel’s appointment is the next step in the Company’s drive to broaden the application of its technology and secure strategic collaboration agreements with pharmaceutical partners. Hazel’s new role involves leading, scaling, and growing the Company’s global business operations. She will play an instrumental part in delivering the Company’s strategy to commercial and academic partners. Her responsibilities also include long-term strategic planning of logistics and managing alliances with stakeholders. Hazel has over 10 years of senior leadership experience in oncology research. She has significant expertise in working across functions to develop effective partnerships aligned with complex operational procedures. This delivers clear business objectives and maximizes the outcome of partnerships to advance disease ...
Prelude Therapeutics and AbCellera have partnered to jointly discover, develop, and commercialise antibody-drug conjugate candidates (ADCs) for cancer treatment. The collaboration leverages Prelude’s expertise in targeted protein degradation, medicinal chemistry, and clinical development and AbCellera’s antibody discovery and development engine to generate novel precision ADCs. ADCs have been identified as a key innovation area by GlobalData, with multiple companies investing in these therapies. The most recent company to join this trend was MSD (Merck & Co), which signed a collaboration agreement with Daiichi Sankyo to develop and market three ADCs last month. Prelude will be responsible for the clinical development and global commercialisation, whilst AbCellera will lead the manufacturing activities for the ADCs. AbCellera will also have the option to co-promote the ADCs in the US, as per the 1 November press release. AbCellera generated $10.1m in revenue from discovery activity in Q2 2023, as per the company’s financials. AbCellera ...
A group of 31 biotechnology, biopharma and life sciences companies and educational institutions have launched the first global organisation dedicated to advancing mRNA medicines. The Alliance for mRNA Medicines (AMM), which issued its first announcement at the International mRNA Health Conference in Germany, is now the only scientific and policy organisation singularly focused on global mRNA innovation. It also serves as an advocate for policies before legislative and regulatory bodies in North America, Europe and Asia to support innovation, define regulatory standards and enhance patient access to mRNA medicines. The AMM states that its mission is to “propel the future of mRNA medicine, improve patients’ lives, and advance scientific knowledge by convening and empowering mRNA industry leaders, innovators, scientists and other key stakeholders”. Founding members of the organisation include BioNTech, CSL, CureVac, Ginkgo Bioworks, Ethris, Johns Hopkins University, Mayo Clinic, Replicate Bioscience and Verve Therapeutics. “This is a pivotal moment ...
In a span of three days, Phathom Pharmaceuticals has scored two green lights from the FDA for its first-in-class heartburn drug Voquezna (vonoprazan). The first came Monday when the regulator signed off on Phathom’s reformulation of Voquezna to treat Helicobacter pylori infection. The second came Wednesday when the FDA blessed Voquezna for gastroesophageal reflux disease erosive esophagitis (erosive GERD) and associated heartburn. Two approvals for the same compound in a week is unusual. The FDA originally endorsed Voquezna for H. pylori in May of last year, but then it put Phathom’s launch plans on hold when trace levels of a cancer-causing agent were discovered in commercial batches of the treatment. That initial approval was later revoked. During the impurity-related holdup, the FDA also iced Phathom’s application for approval for erosive GERD. In April, after receiving complete response letters for both applications, Phathom said that it had shown the FDA stability ...
University of Arizona Health Sciences researchers received a $13.1 million grant from the National Institute on Aging to continue studies aimed at rejuvenating the immune system of older people in order to improve health throughout the lifespan. Older adults are disproportionally affected by infection, cancer and certain types of autoimmune disease. This is influenced by the fact that as a person ages, their body produces fewer T cells and gets less proficient at maintaining them. T cells are a type of white blood cell essential to the immune system and defense against infection. Janko Nikolich, MD, PhD, principal investigator, professor and head of the Department of Immunobiology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson, said, “It is clear how much our immune system declines with age when you look at all the previous epidemics and pandemics that have hit us, including COVID-19. Older adults die at a ...
Merck KGaA has signed a licensing agreement worth over €1.4bn with Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals for the rights to its next-generation PARP1 inhibitor HRS-1167 outside of China. The deal also includes an option for an exclusive licence for its Claudin-18.2 antibody drug conjugate (ADC), SHR-A1904. Compared to first-generation PARP inhibitors, HRS-1167 has higher selectivity and affinity for PARP1 and induces DNA trapping, Merck said, adding that the candidate is currently in phase 1 clinical development and “has the potential to be used as a monotherapy and as part of a combination therapy for treating a wider range of patients”. Danny Bar-Zohar, global head of research and development and chief medical officer for the Healthcare business of Merck KGaA, said: “This partnership with Hengrui fully aligns with both our external innovation ambition and our oncology research and development strategy by diversifying our robust internal pipeline in our focus areas of DNA damage ...
Shorla Oncology has acquired the oncology and autoimmune drug Jylamvo (methotrexate) from Therakind, for commercialisation in the US market. Jylamvo was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in November 2022, to treat adults with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, mycosis fungoides, relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma, rheumatoid arthritis and severe psoriasis. Shorla is headquartered in Ireland and has operations in the US. The company had raised $35m earlier this month to advance its oncology pipeline. Jylamvo is an oral solution, making the treatment accessible to patients who may struggle taking tablets or other dosage forms. Commercialisation is set to begin immediately in the US. Chief Technical Officer and founder of Shorla Oncology Orlaith Ryan said: “This acquisition will provide a much-needed treatment to patients in need. It brings a crucial oral treatment to a larger patient population who suffer from cancer and other debilitating illnesses.” In March, Shorla ...
Pictured: Roche tower in Switzerland/iStock, olli0815 Roche is eliminating four clinical programs amid drooping sales brought about by a sharp decline in demand for COVID-19 products and a strong Swiss franc, the pharma group announced Thursday morning in its third-quarter earnings results. According to a development pipeline document released alongside the quarterly report, Roche will end a Phase I solid tumor trial for its investigational CEA/CD3 bispecific antibody cibisatamab. The company will also stop Phase II trials of its antipsychotic drug candidate ralmitaront in schizophrenia and the developmental cannabinoid receptor agonist vicasinabin in diabetic retinopathy. Roche discontinued the mid-stage study of ralmitaront after it failed a Phase II trial in May 2023, unable to elicit significant improvements on negative symptoms in a preliminary analysis. The vicasinabin and cibisatamab programs were likewise scrapped following underwhelming reviews of their efficacy in their respective studies. However, in a media call Thursday morning, a Roche spokesperson said that these two ...
Roche announces positive phase 3 results for Alecensa in early-stage lung cancer Roche has shared new results from a late-stage study of its anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitor Alecensa (alectinib) in early-stage lung cancer. The phase 3 ALINA study has been evaluating the targeted drug as an adjuvant therapy in patients with completely resected stage 1B to 3A ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Alecensa was shown to reduce the risk of disease recurrence by 76% compared with platinum-based chemotherapy, Roche said. A clinically meaningful improvement of central nervous system disease-free survival was also observed in those receiving Alecensa, and the safety and tolerability of the therapy were consistent with previous trials in the metastatic setting. Overall survival data was immature at the time of this analysis and the company has outlined that follow-up is ongoing to “report a more mature estimate”. Levi Garraway, Roche’s chief medical officer and head ...
Pictured: Handshake over a deal/iStock, PeopleImages Biopharma’s biggest royalties buyer is upping its stake in a popular spinal muscular atrophy drug. Royalty Pharma announced Thursday a $1 billion upfront payment to beleaguered PTC Therapeutics for additional royalties in Evrysdi, licensed and marketed by Roche. Royalty initially bought into Evrysdi in July 2020, just before its approval by the FDA. The drug has already been used to treat over 11,000 patients worldwide. Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a rare and often fatal genetic disease that typically presents in infants and young children. The deal increases Royalty’s ownership of the Evrysdi royalty from 43% to 81%, equating to 13% of the royalties Roche pays on worldwide net product sales. Roche reported $801.4 million in sales for the first half of 2023. GlobalData predicts sales to rise to just under $3 billion in 2029. In Thursday’s announced deal, PTC has the option to sell the remainder of the Evrysdi royalty to Royalty for up ...
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