The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is providing $40m in funding to advance the accessibility of Quantoom Biosciences’ affordable mRNA vaccine research and manufacturing platform. The platform was developed with an early-research Grand Challenges grant awarded to its parent company, Univercells. The new investments will advance access to mRNA research and vaccine manufacturing technology that will support the capacity of low and middle-income countries (LMICs) to develop vaccines at scale. Senegal’s Institut Pasteur de Dakar and South Africa’s Biovac, both experienced in vaccine manufacturing, will each receive a $5m grant to acquire the technology to develop locally relevant vaccines. Quantoom Biosciences will receive $20m to further advance the technology and reduce commercialisation costs. The foundation will grant a further $10m to other LMIC vaccine manufacturers. The new funding builds on its earlier $55m investment in mRNA manufacturing technology. Biovac CEO Morena Makhoana stated: “This collaboration will help close critical gaps ...
ABVC BioPharma has obtained a patent in Taiwan for the use of PDC-1421 in ABV-1504, an asset that treats major depressive disorder (MDD). PDC-1421 is an extract of Radix Polygala. In April 2023, the company received a patent for the same treatment in the US. Data from the latest studies showed that PDC-1421 should be given orally as a capsule for a minimum of 25 days. Doses ranged from once to three times per day. ABVC CEO Dr Uttam Patil stated: “These patents grant ABVC the right to exclude others from using, offering or selling PDC-1421 throughout the US and Taiwan until the year 2040. “As our patent map steps into global coverage, we eagerly await the results of patent applications in the European Union, China, Japan and more.” ABV-1504 is an inhibitor of norepinephrine transporter. The company has concluded Phase II clinical trials of ABV-1504 containing PDC-1421 and intends ...
By Tristan Manalac The FDA on Friday approved an intravenous formulation of Novartis’ IL-17A antagonist Cosentyx (secukinumab) for the treatment of rheumatic diseases. This latest approval covers existing indications of Cosentyx, including ankylosing spondylitis (AS), psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA). Previously, Cosentyx was only authorized as a subcutaneous treatment for these conditions. With Friday’s approval, Cosentyx has become the first intravenous (IV) treatment that specifically targets and inhibits IL-17A and currently the only non-TNF-α IV therapy for these indications, according to Novartis’ announcement. The IV route of administration will improve treatment access for “a significant portion of patients” with AS, PsA and nr-axSpA, who are not comfortable with self-injections or simply prefer to receive treatments in their healthcare provider’s office, according to Philip Mease, clinical professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine. “The approval of Cosentyx as an IV formulation is an important milestone for ...
By Tristan Manalac Pictured: Alnylam headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts/iStock, hapabapa The FDA on Monday denied approval of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals’ siRNA therapy Onpattro (patisiran) for the treatment of cardiomyopathy of transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis. In its Complete Response Letter (CRL), the regulator said that Alnylam had not provided enough evidence of the therapy’s benefit in the proposed indication. At the same time, the FDA did not flag any problems with patisiran’s clinical safety, drug quality, manufacturing processes or study conduct. “The CRL indicated that the clinical meaningfulness of patisiran’s treatment effects for the cardiomyopathy of ATTR amyloidosis had not been established,” according to the company’s announcement. In light of the rejection, Alnylam will no long work toward an expanded label for Onpattro in the U.S. Monday’s CRL runs counter to the recommendations of the FDA’s own panel of external advisers. In September 2023, the Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee voted 9-3 in ...
Cosentyx is the first intravenous formulation interleukin-17A antagonist to focus on disease. Image Credit: Adobe Stock Images/Seventyfour Novartis officially announced that the FDA approved n intravenous (IV) formulation of Cosentyx (secukinumab) for the treatment of adults with psoriatic arthritis (PsA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA). Currently, Cosentyx is the only treatment approved in an IV formulation that specifically targets and blocks interleukin-17A (IL-17A), and the only non-tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) IV option available in all these indications. “At Novartis, we are committed to ensuring healthcare providers and patients have treatment options available to meet their unique needs. With this approval of Cosentyx as an IV formulation, along with the subcutaneous formulation, we can broaden the use of Cosentyx to help more patients manage their condition with a medicine backed by more than a decade of clinical research and eight years of real-world experience,” said Christy Siegel, ...
Despite an affirmative FDA advisory committee vote, the agency declined to approve Alnylam Pharmaceuticals’ Onpattro for treating the heart complications caused by a rare, inherited protein disorder. But Alnylam has other drugs candidates for the disease, including one expected to post Phase 3 data in the first half of 2024. By FRANK VINLUAN An Alnylam Pharmaceuticals drug developed to treat a rare disease’s potentially fatal effects on the heart has fallen short in its bid for FDA approval, costing the company a chance to immediately challenge a Pfizer product that has become a blockbuster seller in the indication. But the biotech still has another chance with a different drug in late-stage development that could offer patients a better alternative. Alnylam was seeking approval of its drug, Onpattro, as a treatment for cardiomyopathy caused by hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis (hATTR). According to the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company, the FDA’s complete response letter said ...
Dive Brief Johnson & Johnson’s spinoff of its consumer health business has positioned the company to achieve top-tier medtech growth and profitability, according to analysts at RBC Capital Markets. J&J recently split off its consumer health unit to make a standalone company, turning itself into the only global healthcare company with pharma and medtech in a single portfolio. RBC analysts expect the new structure to support the growth of a “bellwether” healthcare stock. On the medtech side, the analysts identified J&J’s leadership position in 11 categories, shift to fast-growing markets, investment in robotics and capacity for M&A as factors that position it to outperform its peers. Dive Insight The RBC analysts praised J&J’s current medtech portfolio, noting that the company is a leader in 11 categories and has 12 platforms with sales of more than $1 billion. The portfolio is the result of a “clear winning strategy,” they wrote in ...
How can the propagation of influenza viruses be stopped? For a new approach in the therapy of influenza infections, Prof. Hiroki Kato from the Institute of Cardiovascular Immunology at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation2 of the University of Bonn receives an Open Philanthropy grant of 2.2 million US dollars. Together with his team, he found a compound that inhibits the body’s own methyltransferase MTr1 and thus prevents the replication of influenza viruses. The funded project now aims to identify further MTr1 inhibitors with influenza-inhibiting activity that could be considered for clinical trials in the near future. When a virus enters our body, it binds to the host cell and introduces its genetic information in form of ribonucleic acid (RNA). Using these blueprints, the host cell is now forced to produce numerous new viruses. “This is because viruses have evolved various mechanisms, including modifications of ...
Blue Shield of California recently launched a new experiment for 2025: It will largely cut out CVS Caremark as its pharmacy benefit manager and will instead put the company in charge of just specialty pharmacy services. Meanwhile, Amazon Pharmacy will be in charge of home delivery of prescription drugs, Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company will create a more transparent pricing model, Abarca will handle the payment of prescription drug claims and Prime Therapeutics will negotiate savings with drug manufacturers. Will this experiment of distributing pharmacy benefit responsibilities to different vendors work? Remains to be seen, said Creagh Milford, senior vice president of retail health at CVS Health, during a panel discussion on Sunday at Engage at HLTH in Las Vegas. CVS Health owns CVS Caremark. “The problem with that generally — and not saying this specific example [of California] — is that you actually see costs go up because ...
Takeda today announced that the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization shared recommendations for use of QDENGA® (Dengue Tetravalent Vaccine [Live, Attenuated]) (TAK-003). In the coming months, the WHO will consider the SAGE recommendation and update its position paper on dengue vaccines to include final guidance on the use of QDENGA in public vaccination programs. SAGE made the following recommendations: The vaccine to be considered for introduction in settings with high dengue disease burden and high transmission intensity to maximize the public health impact and minimize any potential risk in seronegative persons. The vaccine to be introduced to children aged 6 to 16 years of age. Within this age range, the vaccine should be introduced about 1-2 years prior to the age-specific peak incidence of dengue-related hospitalizations. The vaccine should be administered in a 2-dose schedule with a 3-month interval between doses. The vaccine ...
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