Heading towards 2025, pharmaceutical companies have begun preparing for the harmonisation of health technology assessment (HTA) processes in the EU, but the looming change has led to mixed sentiments. “I hope that this will broaden and speed up access…, but realistically, as the process stands now, I am a bit sceptical that it will reach that goal quickly,” said Kevin Rieger, the director of corporate affairs at Beigene. Rieger discussed the upcoming HTA process with Fabian Berkemeier, the managing director at the IGES Institute, at the Bio-Europe conference. In a 7 November panel, Rieger expressed concerns about the logistics of the joint-EU HTA. He highlighted that the new process would rather duplicate the data submissions needed as all requirements for member states would be added into one HTA process, alongside the European Commission’s (EC) own rules. Furthermore, he said that thus far, receiving direct advice meetings with the EC had ...
BioNTech has entered into an exclusive licensing and collaboration agreement with Biotheus to develop and commercialise its bispecific antibody candidate outside of China, with the deal potentially worth over $1bn. PM8002, which simultaneously targets PD-L1 and VEGF, is currently being evaluated in mid-stage studies in China as both a monotherapy and in combination with chemotherapy in patients with advanced solid tumours. The asset has already demonstrated a positive safety profile and encouraging anti-tumour activity “presumably through reduced systemic toxicity by enriching anti-VEGF activity into the tumour microenvironment,” the Chinese biotech said. Under the terms of the agreement, Biotheus will receive an upfront payment of $55m and will be eligible to receive additional development, regulatory and sales milestone payments potentially totalling over $1bn, as well as tiered royalties on potential future product sales. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth-quarter of this year subject to customary closing conditions. Xiaolin ...
Debates across Europe are needed to ensure that other global markets do not overtake it following the infamous EU Pharmaceutical Legislation, says Ricardo Marek, president of the Europe and Canada business unit at Takeda. Speaking at the opening day of the FT Global Pharma and Biotech Summit in London, Marek noted how the reformed legislation, which was released by the European Commission (EC) in April, will establish the next few decades of the European market. While the new legislation shifts focus to garnering equal access to new medicines across the EU, certain policies may stifle innovation in the region. For example, there will be a shorter regulatory data protection period, meaning generic drug makers will not be able to refer to innovator drug’s data to obtain marketing authorisation. Also, approved drugs must be launched in all EU countries within two years. In the panel “Macro Focus – How is Pharma ...
A new research institute in London has been launched aimed at discovering a cure and new treatments for motor neurone disease (MND). The UK Motor Neuron Disease Research Institute (UK MND RI) will bring together a virtual network of MND labs, clinical centres and researchers to carry out MND research across the UK. Affecting one in every 300 people in the UK, MND is a neurodegenerative disease which affects the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Around one-third of patients with MND die within one year of diagnosis, and more than half within two years. Currently, Sanofi’s Rilutek (riluzole) is the only licenced drug for MND in the UK. Collaboratively, doctors, clinicians, scientists and people living with MND, along with funders and charities, will work to speed up drug discovery and drug development and aim to test potential treatments in clinical trials. LifeArc, the MND Association, MND Scotland, ...
Amidst the rapidly growing revenue share of metabolic disease drugs in its pipeline, Eli Lilly is looking to delve deeper into its pharmaceutical exploration of obesity therapeutics, said medical director Axel Haupt. Haupt was speaking at a panel at the ongoing Bio-Europe 2023 conference, where he said drugs like Lilly’s Mounjaro (tirzepatide) carry potential to be used in for several conditions. The US Food and Drug Administration approved Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro for diabetes in May 2022, followed by the European Union in September 2022. The drug is administered via injection in a once-weekly regimen. Haupt revealed that an FDA approval for Mounjaro for treating obesity could be expected within the next 12 months. Obesity and diabetes treatment would likely not be the only use for Mounjaro, given the presence of GIP receptors in other locations like the adipose tissue, Haupt said. Eli Lilly sees potential use for the drug in ...
Dive Brief The Food and Drug Administration has sent a warning letter to Wavi, accusing the company of selling an unauthorized device to help diagnose patients with potential neurological conditions. Wavi markets its headset, plus associated devices and software, as providing a baseline scan for patients who have a traumatic event, an injury or are worried about their brain as they age. The FDA, which sent inspectors to Wavi’s facility in Denver in March, views the technology as a medical device and sent a warning letter because the product lacks premarket approval. Dive Insight In the letter, the FDA states that Wavi promotes and distributes Wavi Desktop, a product that collects, analyzes and interprets electroencephalograph data, event-related potentials and heart rate variability data. The instruction manual “contains evidence that the device is intended to aid in the evaluation of autonomic nervous system function, head injury, depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, and ...
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 ...
In a company press release, Actym Therapeutics announced that it has extended its Series A financing round with an additional close of $25.5 million, bringing the total Series A amount raised to $59.5 million. Co-led by Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and Illumina Ventures, with GKCC LLC as a new investor, the new capital is expected to enable ACTM-838 into first-in-human oncology trial. “We have advanced the STACT platform and defined a value-building clinical pathway that will allow us to translate our deep understanding of the tumor microenvironment into a novel approach to an effective and safe cancer treatment,” said Christopher Thanos, PhD, CEO, co-founder, Actym Therapeutics. “We value the continued commitment from our current investors and welcome GKCC LLC into the syndicate. Through their combined support, we aim to bring innovative therapies to patients across multiple solid tumor indications.” Image Credit: Adobe Stock Images/Carlos Montes Published on: October 19, 2023
The European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has recommended seven new drugs for authorisation. The drugs include Pfizer’s Elrexfio for the treatment of multiple myeloma and Astellas Pharma’s Veozah for the treatment of moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms (VMS) associated with menopause. Elrexfio (elranatamab) is a subcutaneously administered bispecific B-cell maturation antigen-directed CD3 T-cell engager. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval for Elrexfio in August for patients who have received at least four prior lines of therapy, including a proteasome inhibitor, an immunomodulatory agent and an anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody. According to GlobalData, sales for Elrexfio are expected to reach $536m by 2029. One of its competitors in the market is Talvey (talquetamab-tgvs), marketed by Janssen, which was approved as a fifth-line treatment for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma in August. Talvey is forecasted to generate $1.9bn in sales by 2029. Astellas Pharma’s Veozah ...
The European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) confirmed a positive recommendation for Merck’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab) as part of a first-line treatment for advanced gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancer (GEJ). Keytruda, an anti-programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) therapy, would be used in conjunction with fluoropyrimidine- and platinum-containing chemotherapy in adults whose tumours express PD-L1 with a combined positive score (CPS) ≥1. The intravenously administered drug is designed to improve the immune system’s anti-tumour response by inhibiting the binding of PD-1 to its ligands PD-L1 and PD-L2, thereby activating tumor-fighting T-cells. Keytruda is also being studied as a treatment for hepatobiliary, oesophageal, pancreatic, and colorectal cancers. The EU CHMP’s positive recommendation was based on results from the Phase III KEYNOTE-859 (NCT03675737) study, a randomised, double-blind clinical trial evaluating the efficacy of Keytruda plus chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) negative, unresectable or ...
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