As Johnson & Johnson awaits a decision on its second attempt to resolve talc lawsuits through a bankruptcy ploy, the company is attempting another legal tactic to free itself from those liabilities—suing doctors who say that its iconic baby powder can cause cancer.In federal district court in New Jersey, J&J’s talc subsidiary LTL Management has filed two suits against four doctors who authored studies that described a link between J&J’s talc-based products and cancer. Last week, J&J filed suit against New Hampshire physician Richard Lawrence Kradin and Virginia doctors Theresa Swain Emory and John Coulter Maddox. In a separate suit in May, J&J sued New York physician Jacqueline Miriam Moline. In the most recent suit, J&J claims that the three doctors cited 75 people with malignant mesothelioma who had been exposed to cancer-causing asbestos only by using Johnson’s Baby Powder or another J&J talc product, Shower to Shower. ...
The EU has established a €100m fund to support research and development into medical countermeasures that could tackle public health threats, including antimicrobial resistance and pathogens with “high pandemic potential”. The European Commission (EC) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) announced the creation of the HERA Invest fund, a top-up to the InvestEU programme that aims to give an additional boost to investment, innovation, and job creation in Europe. The fund will be run by the European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA), which was established in 2021 to help prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to future health emergencies. “Currently, European companies find it difficult to access sufficient public and private funding for the development and scaling up of cutting-edge solutions in health and life sciences,” the EC and EIB explained in a joint statement. The HERA Invest funding is specifically geared towards small ...
Researchers have found a possible explanation as to why higher breast density and older age increase the risk of breast cancer. In an innovative study, researchers at the Turku Bioscience Centre, InFLAMES Flagship of the University of Turku, and Turku University Hospital, Finland, have made an extraordinary discovery that turns conventional wisdom on its head. Their findings reveal that healthy fat cells in the breast, also known as adipocytes, secrete a potent factor called IGFBP2, which acts as a barrier against invasive breast cancer progression. Dr. Emilia Peuhu (Study Key Collaborator) said, “Adipocytes generally get a bad rap for promoting cancer progression, but this study demonstrates that healthy breast fat can play a protective role in the maintenance of tissue homeostasis and cancer containment. It’s time to re-evaluate our assumptions and recognize the important role of these unsung heroes.” Breast cancer patients who experience the transition ...
UK immersive technology company FourPlus, along with collaborators Holosphere and the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult, have been awarded funding from Innovate UK to create and test a mixed reality training platform that enables customized training delivery for pharmaceutical companies and healthcare. The project is a GBP 1 million investment, with almost 75% from Innovate UK, and has been awarded via the Digitalization and Automation of Medicines R&D and Manufacture competition. It will support the development of a customizable platform that leverages mixed reality and multi-player capabilities. The digital and automated training platform will be designed specifically for a number of manufacturing roles within cell and gene therapy, biopharmaceutical and wider life science sectors, including those at hospital sites. It will support initial training of staff, validation and the creation of digital training records. The platform will also enable healthcare trainers and trainees to collaborate seamlessly within virtual ...
Companies will collaborate on investigating a novel SHP2 inhibitor in combination with furmonertinib, a highly brain-penetrant, broadly active mutation-selective EGFR inhibitor, in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer BEIJING and NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa., July 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — InnoCare Pharma (HKEX: 09969; SSE: 688428), a leading biopharmaceutical company focusing on the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases and ArriVent Biopharma, a clinical stage company dedicated to accelerating the global development of innovative biopharmaceutical therapeutics, today announced a clinical development collaboration to evaluate the combination of InnoCare’s novel SHP2 (Src Homology 2 domain containing protein tyrosine phosphatase) allosteric inhibitor, ICP-189, with ArriVent’s furmonertinib, a highly brain-penetrant, broadly active mutation-selective EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) inhibitor. Under the agreement, InnoCare and ArriVent will jointly conduct a clinical study to evaluate the anti-tumor activity and safety of ICP-189 combined with furmonertinib in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Furmonertinib ...
For the first time, Alzheimer’s patients in the U.S. have a treatment that has shown the ability to modify the disease in some patients. But experts have called Leqembi—developed by Eisai and Biogen—a “modest win” and a “first step” in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease. The next step could lie in untangling the correlation between amyloid and tau proteins—and defining what it means for drug development. The predominant theory is that Alzheimer’s is caused by the accumulation of two proteins—amyloid-beta and tau—in the brain. The anti-amyloid hypothesis received regulatory validation in June 2021 when the FDA approved Aduhelm (aducanemab) based on clinical data showing that the drug’s reduction of amyloid-beta plaques was reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit. A more solid endorsement arrived last week with the traditional approval of Leqembi (lecanemab). Leqembi and Aduhelm—along with and Eli Lilly‘s donanemab, which the company is expected to submit for regulatory approval soon—are anti-amyloid antibodies. All of these therapies have secondary ...
NVIDIA has announced a $50m private investment in public equity in tech-focused Recursion Pharmaceuticals to create artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted drug discovery models, sending Recursion’s stock to skyrocket. This investment and partnership news was followed by a 116 % rise in Recursion’s stock price when markets opened on 12 July, compared to the previous day. The investment is accompanied by plans for collaboration to distribute these using NVIDIA cloud services and follows the strategic acquisition of Cyclica and Valence to enhance Recursion’s machine-learning and AI capabilities. This year, there has been an increased focus on using AI in drug discovery among other applications. Several companies have touted their reliance on AI, with Insilico Medicine’s AI-discovered drug for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis starting its Phase II trial. GlobalData analysts have identified more than 250 unique active drugs using terms such as “AI” or “machine learning” in their drug description ...
Roche has announced positive results from a late-stage study of Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) as a twice-yearly subcutaneous injection in patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) or primary progressive MS. Over 2.8 million people worldwide are affected by MS, a disabling and unpredictable neurological disease in which the immune system attacks the protective myelin sheath that covers the nerves, disrupting communication between the brain and the rest of the body. Relapsing-remitting MS accounts for approximately 85% of MS cases and is characterised by episodes of new or worsening signs or symptoms followed by periods of recovery, while primary progressive MS affects about 15% of patients and is marked by steadily worsening symptoms. Roche’s Ocrevus is a humanised monoclonal antibody designed to target a type of immune cell thought to be a key contributor to myelin and axonal damage, which can lead to disability in people with ...
CureVac is adding fuel to its COVID-19 vaccine patent fire by asserting more claims against Pfizer and BioNTech in both its U.S. and German cases. The German mRNA specialist put a tenth patent on the table in its U.S. litigation and three more to its five in Germany, expanding the scope of the disputes. CureVac went after BioNTech in Germany last summer, starting off with four claims and adding a fifth in May. The original patents it claimed its fellow German mRNA maker stepped on related to inventions considered “essential to the design and development” of BioNTech and Pfizer’s Comirnaty, including sequence modifications and mRNA vaccine formulations, the company noted in a statement at the time. Its lawsuit doesn’t aim to stop the production and distribution of the shot but wants recognition and royalties from past and future sales. That likely puts $500 million on the line, Berenberg Capital Markets analyst Zhiqiang ...
Almost exactly one year after GSK’s consumer healthcare business spun out on its own as Haleon, the company is reportedly looking to save costs with sweeping layoffs across the board.Hundreds of jobs in the U.K. and potentially thousands worldwide are on the chopping block, The Guardian reports. Currently, Haleon’s U.K. headcount totals approximately 1,700 and its global workforce is made up of around 24,000 employees across 170 countries.Staffers were informed of the cuts through a series of meetings this week, according to the British newspaper. A consultation process began Wednesday and will run through August 25, after which some employees will be offered other roles at the company and others will split in September, according to The Guardian. The move is chalked up to Haleon’s larger cost-cutting program as the company looks to become a “more agile, productive and efficient organization” and to save 300 million pounds ($393 million) over the next ...
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