By Tristan Manalac Pictured: Novartis logo on its office in California/iStock, JHVEPhoto Novartis’ radioligand therapy Lutathera (lutetium Lu 177 dotatate) met its primary endpoint in the Phase III NETTER-2 trial in gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, the company announced Monday. NETTER-2 is a randomized and open-label trial that evaluated Lutathera as a first-line option in 222 patients with grade 2 or 3, advanced gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs). Only those whose cancers were positive for the somatostatin receptor (SSTR) were eligible for enrolment into NETTER-2. When used in combination with high-dose long-acting octreotide, Lutathera led to a significant improvement in progression-free survival (PFS)—the study’s primary endpoint—compared with octreotide alone. In terms of safety, NETTER-2 did not find any new signals of concern and Lutathera’s adverse event profile in the study was consistent with what had been previously established. Novartis did not provide specific efficacy and safety figures, though it promised to do so ...
A study conducted by researchers at University College London and published in Cell revealed that if the protein mechanisms of COVID-19 variants are similar to those of other coronaviruses, it could potentially make identifying coronaviruses viruses with pandemic potential easier. The researchers looked at both the innate and adaptive immune systems – the two parts that form the human immune system. Innate immunity acts as the first line of defence. It is present from birth and tries to prevent infection spreading through a rapid response. Adaptive immunity, developing throughout our lives, enables us to recognise future pathogens by learning from past infections. The study, which focused on the ability of the most infectious COVID-19 variants to overcome our innate immune systems, found that variants could increase the production of proteins called Orf6, Nucleocapsid (N) and Orf96, to defeat our first line of defence. As a result, the virus has evolved ...
Danish biotech Acesion Pharma has raised €45m in an oversubscribed Series B financing round. The money will go towards funding the clinical development of the company’s atrial fibrillation therapy, AP31969. The investors that took part in the Series B financing round include Canaan, Alpha Wave, Global BioAccess Fund and Novo Holdings. AP31969 is an oral SK ion channel inhibitor that is being developed as a maintenance treatment to prevent the recurrence of atrial fibrillation. In March, Acesion announced that more than 50% of the participants in the Phase II AP31969 trial (NCT04571385) reported atrial fibrillation conversion to normal sinus rhythm within 90 minutes of infusion start, compared to zero participants in the placebo group. Atrial fibrillation is the most common form of arrhythmia or abnormal heart rhythm in which the top chambers of the heart (the atria) quiver or twitch, which is known as fibrillation. The US Centers for Disease ...
Amid a global expansion spree at WuXi Biologics, the company’s immunization-focused subsidiary has christened its inaugural CDMO site in China. Tuesday, WuXi Vaccines launched its first standalone vaccines contract manufacturing facility in Suzhou. With the plant, the company adds drug substance and drug product capacity for projects in various stages of development. WuXi Vaccines is a contract development and manufacturing organization that helps its partners tackle clinical- and commercial-stage vaccine projects across a range of modalities, including protein-, virus- and mRNA-based shots. The new site’s drug substance production area houses two cell culture lines and one purification line, teeing up drug substance production scales ranging from 50 liters to 1,000 liters, according to a release. WuXi Vaccines says it will also maintain 2,000 liters of reserve capacity at the facility. Meanwhile, the drug product facility is equipped with an automatic vial washing, sterilizing, filling and capping line, which can support ...
On a €1 billion quest to build a global mRNA network, Merck KGaA’s MilliporeSigma has rounded out its service offerings to include all key stages of mRNA development, manufacturing and commercialization.Tuesday, MilliporeSigma christened two new mRNA drug substance manufacturing sites in Darmstadt and Hamburg, Germany. The company has invested €28 million in the sites, where it plans to hire 75 new staffers, MilliporeSigma said in a release. The new facilities will be able to tackle a full range of mRNA services, from pre-clinical to commercial-scale projects, MilliporeSigma said. Those offerings will include analytical development and biosafety testing specifically designed for mRNA technologies, the company added. The facilities fall under the umbrella of MilliporeSigma’s €1 billion investment to advance mRNA technologies and build its global mRNA network. Employing 27,000 worldwide, MilliporeSigma sells life sciences companies the tools and tech needed for testing and manufacturing. It also operates a contract testing, development ...
By Tristan Manalac Pictured: AbbVie headquarters in California/iStock, Michael Vi AbbVie has terminated its license and collaboration agreement with I-Mab, the Maryland- and Shanghai-based biotech announced in an SEC filing posted Friday. As a result, I-Mab will regain the global rights to develop and commercialize all CD47 compounds covered by the deal, including the monoclonal antibody lemzoparlimab. The termination will take effect on Nov. 20, 2023 and will not affect the $200 million in upfront and milestone payments that I-Mab had already received from AbbVie. According to I-Mab’s SEC document, AbbVie is pulling away from the partnership as a “strategic decision,” though a prior program discontinuation also factored into its decision. AbbVie and I-Mab first entered into their global agreement in September 2020. For an upfront payment of $180 million and the promise of up to $1.74 billion in success-based milestones, AbbVie earned exclusive rights—outside of the greater China area—to ...
Takeda has managed to close one of the antitrust cases that have been hanging over the company. The Japanese pharma giant has inked a settlement with drug wholesalers who accused the company of using anti-competitive deals to delay generic entry to its gout drug Colcrys, a court filing shows. The exact terms of the deal were unclear. Takeda declined to comment. The lawsuit lasted for about two years. A group of wholesalers, including big names such as AmerisourceBergen, filed the antitrust claims in federal court in Pennsylvania in August 2021. The case centers on patent settlements that Takeda reached in 2015 and 2016 with several generic drug manufacturers around their generic versions of Colcrys. Other defendants in the lawsuit include Endo’s Par Pharmaceutical, Amneal and Teva, through its acquisition of Watson Laboratories. Rather than selling its own product, Par agreed to make an authorized generic Colcrys by paying Takeda royalties, ...
By Matt Olszewski Pictured: Eli Lilly headquarters in Indianapolis/iStock, jetcityimage Eli Lilly on Tuesday announced it has taken legal action against U.S. medical spas, wellness centers and compounding pharmacies for selling products with tirzepatide, the active ingredient in its blockbuster drug Mounjaro. Approved by the FDA to treat type 2 diabetes, Mounjaro is commercially available only through Lilly. The medication is also only available in prefilled single-dose pens. “Lilly cannot validate the safety or effectiveness of products claiming to contain tirzepatide that are not our own branded product. Because of this, Lilly filed lawsuits to protect patient safety and stop the unlawful marketing and sale of non-FDA approved compounded products fraudulently claiming to be Mounjaro (tirzepatide) by medical spas, wellness centers and compounding pharmacies,” the company said in a statement In four different lawsuits filed in Florida and Texas federal courts, Lilly is seeking to ban Better Life Pharmacy, ReviveRX, ...
Dive Brief An acting director at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has defended contentious aspects of the planned breakthrough reimbursement pathway. At a hearing that lasted almost three hours, CMS’ Dora Hughes made the case for restricting the Transitional Coverage for Emerging Technologies (TCET) pathway to five reviews a year and discussed the exclusion of in vitro diagnostics from the program. Hughes is the agency’s acting chief medical officer and the acting director at its center for clinical standards and quality. Some lawmakers, while voicing support for TCET, joined medtech trade groups in calling for the CMS to expand the scope of the pathway to cover diagnostics before the plan is finalized. Dive Insight Hughes spent Tuesday morning at a House health subcommittee hearing fielding questions about how to improve seniors’ access to innovative drugs, medical devices and technology. TCET, a pathway that the CMS proposed for consultation ...
Merck KGaA has announced two new strategic partnerships with Benevolent AI and Exscientia to support its artificial intelligence (AI)-driven drug discovery plans. Benevolent and Exscientia plan to leverage Merck KGaA’s expertise in oncology and neuroinflammation under the collaboration. As part of the agreement, the companies have collectively selected three potential first-in-class and best-in-class targets. The partnership will focus on finding viable small molecule candidates for development that Merck KGaA will choose for further preclinical and clinical development. In this deal, announced on 20 September, BenevolentAI will be eligible for payments of up to $594 million, including a low double-digit million-dollar immediate payment. Further payments will be made according to future discovery, development and commercial milestones. Also, the London, UK-based company could receive tiered royalties on net sales of any commercialised products. BenevolentAI is already collaborating with AstraZeneca and Eli Lilly for AI-driven drug discovery. In May, BenevolentAI announced intentions to ...
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