The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is feeling the strain on its resources and has had to delay the priority review of Iovance Biotherapeutics’s lifileucel to 2024. The Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) action date for the priority review of the Biologics License Application (BLA) for lifileucel has been postponed from 25 November 2023 to 24 February 2024. However, Iovance was quick to add that the reason for pushing the date was the FDA’s “insufficient resources” and that it was working with the agency to expedite the review for a potentially earlier approval date. The company also added that the FDA reported no major review issues, no concerns regarding the status of the confirmatory trial, and had no plans to hold an advisory committee meeting. The markets viewed the news favourably, as Iovance’s stock rose by more than 15% in pre-market trading. The company’s market cap stands at ...
Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) has revealed plans to double the number of drugs in registrational trials over the next 18 months. The drugmaker currently has six candidates in clinical trials, including an anti-IL-13 monoclonal antibody under development to treat eosinophilic oesophagitis and an LPA1 antagonist being evaluated in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and progressive pulmonary fibrosis. The pipeline update includes a CD19-directed cell therapy expanding into clinical trials for immunologic diseases, a GPRC5D-targeting cell therapy starting a registrational trial in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM), and a BCMA x CD3 T-cell engager advancing into a phase 3 trial, also for RRMM. The company will also be progressing a protein degrader to a late-stage trial in first-line large B-cell lymphoma, moving an androgen receptor degrader into pivotal studies in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, and is expecting proof-of-concept data for a BET inhibitor in myelofibrosis. In addition to its growing registrational portfolio, the company ...
Sanofi and Ad Scientiam have partnered to launch an international, multicentre, longitudinal study to evaluate the ability of medical software, MSCopilot, to assess disability progression in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). The main objective of the MS-DETECT study, which explores digital biomarkers of MS, is to determine whether the MSCopilot software can effectively identify subtle and early signs of disability worsening. MS is a chronic immune-mediated, neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system that currently affects 2.8 million people globally. The study will include 314 people with MS and will be conducted in the US, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, Denmark and France. Coordinating investigator and chairman of the study steering committee, professor Patrick Vermersch, believes that “these novel digital biomarkers are key to helping clinicians make appropriate treatment decisions and, ultimately, improve patients’ care.” As part of the agreement, the study will draw upon Ad Scientiam’s expertise in MS and ...
Monkeypox (mpox) is a zoonotic disease caused by the mpox virus (MPXV) that has been primarily limited to Central and West African nations since its discovery. The recent spread of the West African lineage of MPXV in historically unaffected countries has raised concerns for global public health. Despite a significant decrease in global mpox cases, there is still a risk of a global resurgence. This study reports the first local case of mpox caused by an imported case in the Chinese mainland. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) diagnosed the two cases, and the viral genomes were obtained by next-generation sequencing. Genomic analysis revealed that the two strains shared an identical genome sequence and belonged to the B.1.3 branch of the West African lineage, which is the first local case of mpox caused by an imported case in the Chinese mainland, highlighting the potential threat of mpox in China and the immediate ...
Dive Brief GE HealthCare has teamed with Mayo Clinic to advance medical imaging, artificial intelligence and theranostics, a type of cancer treatment that involves imaging and targeted therapeutics. The organizations will collaborate on the application of AI to magnetic resonance imaging, the automation of diagnostic and interventional ultrasound and other activities that could improve patient care. GE HealthCare has formed a series of partnerships since separating from its parent company, striking deals with companies including Boston Scientific, Johnson & Johnson and Medtronic. Dive Insight GE HealthCare and other parts of its former parent company, GE, have a long history of working with Rochester, Minnesota-based Mayo, teaming up with the hospital to test remote monitoring devices, found a gene therapy software startup and develop a medical electronic record system. The latest deal brings together scientists, technology developers and clinicians working at GE HealthCare and Mayo to collaborate on four core areas ...
By Jamie Gumbrecht, CNN CNN — The FDA sent warnings letters to eight companies for marketing and manufacturing of unapproved eye products. Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images The US Food and Drug Administration on Monday sent warning letters to CVS, Walgreens and other companies over manufacturing and marketing of unapproved eye products the agency says could pose a risk to people who use them. The agency said the products are illegally marketed to treat conditions including conjunctivitis — pink eye — glaucoma and cataracts, and some of the warnings cited sterility issues with the products. The agency issued warning letters to CVS Health, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc., Boiron Inc., DR Vitamin Solutions, Natural Ophthalmics Inc., OcluMed LLC, Similasan AG/Similasan USA and TRP Company Inc. Some companies have also been placed on import alert to stop products from entering the United States. “The FDA is particularly concerned that these illegally marketed, unapproved ophthalmic ...
Charles River Laboratories International has signed a multi-programme collaboration agreement with Related Sciences (RS) for the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered drug platform, Logica. Last year, Charles River and Valo Health unveiled Logica, a solution that leverages the AI-powered Valo Opal Computational Platform, along with Charles River’s preclinical expertise. Logica will be used on multiple previously undrugged targets within the RS portfolio. RS will collaborate with the teams from both Charles River and Valo Health to deploy Logica to discover significant new medicines. These medicines will be used to meet unmet requirements across disease areas including autoimmunity, cancer immunotherapy and inflammatory diseases. Charles River senior vice-president and chief scientific officer Julie Frearson stated: “Logica’s unique platform, which combines AI/machine learning (ML)-enabled in silico discovery, high-powered DNA-encoded libraries and traditional screening techniques, has the capability to accelerate the drug discovery and development pipeline, transforming a target to a candidate in just over two ...
US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has partnered with Ireland-based ICON to conduct clinical trials of Covid-19 vaccine candidates selected as part of “Project NextGen”. A part of the US Government’s Strategic Preparedness and Response division, BARDA has launched Project NextGen to develop Covid-19 vaccines and therapies for current and future strains. To achieve this, BARDA plans to leverage its public-private partnerships. The government has plans to invest more than $5bn in the Project NextGen programme. In June, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) identified the need to update the Covid-19 vaccines to include the XBB Omicron variant. The US Government seconded that sentiment, and last month, BARDA partnered with Regeneron to develop a Covid-19 monoclonal antibody vaccine candidate. ICON’s government and public health solutions team will conduct a Phase IIb active comparator clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy of the next-generation Covid-19 vaccine, selected by BARDA, compared to ...
First Wave BioPharma has acquired Sanofi’s capeserod with plans to repurpose it as a gastrointestinal (GI) disease therapy. Following the news, First Wave’s stock skyrocketed by over 80% in pre-market trading. The US-based company has a market cap of $3.112m. The agreement includes a $500,000 upfront payment, with developmental and commercial milestone payments of up to $46m and $235m, respectively. Additionally, Sanofi would have the right of first refusal on any capeserod sublicensing agreement and would be entitled to a percentage of any licensing payments. Sanofi also reserves the first refusal right to reacquire capeserod during development. Capeserod is a selective partial agonist of the serotonin type 4 (5-HT4) receptor. In the GI tract, these receptors perform various functions, including gastric emptying, decreasing oesophageal reflux, and promoting intestinal peristalsis. Sanofi had previously evaluated capeserod in Alzheimer’s disease and urinary incontinence but had since terminated the drug development. However, Fist Wave ...
Moderna and Immatics have announced a collaboration agreement aimed at developing ‘novel and innovative’ cancer therapies, with the deal potentially worth over $1.7bn. The multi-platform partnership will combine Moderna’s mRNA technology with Immatics’s T-cell receptor platform and cover various therapeutic modalities such as bispecifics, cell therapies and cancer vaccines. The companies outlined in a statement that their research will focus on three main pillars, including applying the mRNA technology for in vivo expression of Immatics’s half-life extended TCR bispecifics (TCER) targeting cancer-specific HLA-presented peptides. They will also leverage Moderna’s mRNA experience alongside Immatics’s tumour and normal tissue data included in its Xpresident target discovery platform and Xcube bioinformatics and AI platform to develop mRNA-based cancer vaccines, as well as evaluate Immatics’s IMA203 TCR-T therapy targeting preferentially expressed antigen in melanoma (PRAME) in combination with Moderna’s investigational PRAME mRNA-based cancer vaccine. Under the terms of the agreement, Immatics will receive an ...
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