Biogen has stopped or paused several drug programs as part of a larger effort to cut costs and prioritize certain research. The decision, disclosed Tuesday in the company’s latest earnings report, comes as sales of its marketed medicines for brain and nervous system disorders continue to fall. Biogen recorded $2.46 billion in total revenue between January and March, a 3% decline from the same period a year prior. Revenue was down across most business segments, with the company’s flagship multiple sclerosis franchise taking the biggest hit, decreasing by 19%. Christopher Viehbacher, the former chief executive at Sanofi and the recently minted CEO of Biogen, is now trying to reshape a research and development organization that, for many years, revolved around high-risk, high-reward neuroscience programs. ““Having a few of those projects in our pipeline is good,” he said in February, “having 100% … is challenging.” On Tuesday, Biogen ...
Christopher Newman Editor “This is a showdown about whether the most valuable patents in the entirety of the patent system are valid,” one law expert said. The nearly decade-long patent feud between Amgen and rivals Sanofi and Regeneron has divided the biopharmaceutical industry, with drugmakers taking different sides in a U.S. Supreme Court case that could have far-reaching effects. At issue are patents for powerful cholesterol-lowering medicines known as PCSK9 inhibitors. Regeneron and Sanofi brought the first, Praluent, to market in 2015. Amgen followed one month later with a similar medicine, called Repatha. The drugs work by boosting liver cells’ ability to hoover up LDL, or “bad,” cholesterol. Amgen has long claimed Sanofi and Regeneron infringed on patents it secured for Praluent. The fight has slowly winded its way through the U.S. legal system to reach the Supreme Court. There, judges could disrupt the $160 billion-per-year market for antibodies by deciding how broadly ...
Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Apr 17 2023 A regimen of pre-surgical immunotherapy and chemotherapy followed by post-surgical immunotherapy significantly improved event-free survival (EFS) and pathologic complete response (pCR) rates compared to chemotherapy alone for patients with operable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to Phase III trial results presented today by researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2023. The AEGEAN trial evaluated durvalumab given perioperatively, meaning therapy is given both before and after surgery. Participants on the trial received either pre-surgical (neoadjuvant) durvalumab and platinum-based chemotherapy followed by post-surgical (adjuvant) durvalumab or neoadjuvant placebo and chemotherapy followed by adjuvant placebo. These represent the first data presented on the benefits of perioperative immunotherapy for resectable NSCLC and adds to the growing evidence supporting the benefits of both neoadjuvant and adjuvant immunotherapy for these patients. Our goal is to increase cures for lung cancer. ...
Medicare Advantage, the private-sector alternative to original Medicare, now enrolls nearly half of all Medicare beneficiaries. But it remains controversial because — while most of its subscribers like the extra benefits many plans provide — the program frequently costs the federal government more than if those seniors remained in the fully public program. That controversy is becoming political, as the Biden administration tries to rein in some of those payments without being accused of “cutting” Medicare. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has signed a bill to declassify U.S. intelligence about the possible origin of covid-19 in China. And new evidence has emerged potentially linking the virus to raccoon dogs at an animal market in Wuhan, where the virus reportedly first took hold. Among the takeaways from this week’s episode: The Biden administration recently changed the formula used to calculate how much the federal government pays private Medicare Advantage ...
Dive Brief: The Food and Drug Administration told Merck KGaA not to give an experimental drug for multiple sclerosis to new patients and to pause treatment for study participants who have been on it for less than 70 days amid concerns about possible liver damage. Regulators acted after laboratory tests suggested the livers of two patients might have been adversely affected by the drug, known as evobrutinib. However, neither patient exhibited symptoms and their liver enzyme levels returned to normal after they stopped taking the medicine, Merck KGaA said Wednesday. The German drugmaker had already fully enrolled a Phase 3 study known as Evolution, and that program will continue as planned because all the patients have already had received the medication for at least 70 days. Results are still expected in the fourth quarter. Dive Insight: Evobrutinib is part of a class of drugs known as BTK ...
Qdenga’s approval is supported by the data obtained from 19 clinical trials, and follows similar decisions in other countries. The National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) in Brazil has granted approval for Takeda’s tetravalent dengue virus vaccine, Qdenga. The vaccine, previously known as TAK-003, has received approval for preventing dengue disease in people aged four years to 60 years. Qdenga has been developed based on a live-attenuated dengue serotype 2 virus that offers the genetic backbone for four dengue virus serotypes and is designed to provide protection against any of these. Qdenga is purported to be the only dengue vaccine approved in Brazil for use in people without the need for pre-vaccination testing and regardless of previous exposure. ANVISA’s approval follows similar decisions by the European Commission in December, and the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) last month. The company continues to advance regulatory filings in other dengue-endemic countries in Asia and Latin America. In ...
Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases and is mainly classified into type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, gestational diabetes and others. Worldwide, 90% of diabetic patients suffer from type 2 diabetes, which greatly promotes the development of the diabetes drug market.
Sanofi and AstraZeneca’s (AZ) monoclonal antibody (mAb) nirsevimab reached its primary endpoint in a Phase III trial, demonstrating protection against respiratory syncytial virus disease (RSV) in healthy infants. Nirsevimab, an investigational extended half-life mAb is designed to protect infants entering their first RSV season, when they are at a higher risk for developing severe RSV disease. In the Phase III MELODY trial, nirsevimab reduced lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) requiring medical attention due to RSV in healthy preterm and term infants. There were no clinically meaningful differences observed in the safety results between the nirsevimab and placebo groups, with the overall safety profile for nirsevimab in the trial remaining consistent with previously reported results. “Respiratory syncytial virus is the leading cause of hospitalisations in all infants,” said Jean-François Toussaint, global head of research and development, Sanofi Pasteur. “In fact, most hospitalisations occur in otherwise healthy infants born at term. It’s ...
The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has approved NHS funding for four new medicines, including treatments for multiple myeloma and severe migraine in its April 2020 decisions. Firstly, Sanofi’s Sarclisa (isatuximab) has been accepted by the SMC for the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, in combination with two other medicines – pomalidomide and dexamethasone. This treatment was accepted following consideration through the SMC’s Patient and Clinician Engagement (PACE) process, which is used for medicines for end of life and rare conditions. Another medication developed by Sanofi – Dupixent (dupilumab) – was also accepted for use on NHS Scotland, for the treatment of a subgroup of patients with severe asthma. Dupixent will be offered as an option for patients with severe asthma who do not fully respond to standard treatment and require more intensive therapies, such as oral corticosteroids, to control their symptoms. “This is a very positive day for ...
Monday, November 09, 2020 – 06:45am Vaccine candidate was found to be more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 in participants without evidence of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection in the first interim efficacy analysis Analysis evaluated 94 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in trial participants Study enrolled 43,538 participants, with 42% having diverse backgrounds, and no serious safety concerns have been observed; Safety and additional efficacy data continue to be collected Submission for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) planned for soon after the required safety milestone is achieved, which is currently expected to occur in the third week of November Clinical trial to continue through to final analysis at 164 confirmed cases in order to collect further data and characterize the vaccine candidate’s performance against other study endpoints This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201109005539/en/ NEW YORK & MAINZ, GERMANY–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: ...
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