Pfizer is shelling out $43 billion to acquire Seagen primarily for the Seattle biotech’s antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) capabilities. But a trial win for a small-molecule cancer drug makes the deal more attractive. Seagen on Wednesday said a phase 3 trial testing a combination of its Tukysa and Roche’s Kadcyla has hit its main goal in patients with previously treated HER2-positive breast cancer. Compared with Kadcyla and placebo, the combo significantly reduced the risk of tumor progression or death, Seagen said. Data on patient survival remain immature. Seagen plans to share the detailed results from the HER2CLIMB-02 trial at a medical meeting and will discuss them with the FDA, the company’s R&D chief, Roger Dansey, said in a statement. The positive results further de-risk the Seagen acquisition by Pfizer, Leerink Partners analysts said in a Wednesday note. Since securing FDA approval in 2020, Tukysa has been used alongside trastuzumab (Herceptin) and ...
Atricky 2023 has become even harder for SQZ Biotechnologies after Roche decided not to pick up the company’s HPV 16 positive solid tumour programme. In 2018, the companies expanded their immune-oncology development deal in an agreement totalling a potential $1bn when milestone payments were accounted for. The deal included option rights for HPV 16 positive solid tumours under the SQZ-APC-HPV programme. SQZ’s technology harnesses tumour antigens by squeezing cells. The squeezing process induces presentation of antigens which allow an immune response. SQZ has had to weather a tricky year after culling 60% of its workforce in December 2022. The company reported a net loss of nearly $80m for 2022. However, SQZ is expecting data from an antigen presenting cell (APC) trial and an activating antigen carrier (AAC) trial in the second half of 2023 and Q4 of 2023 respectively. For now, the company said it ...
Roche has entered into a new partnership with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals to develop and commercialise a potential treatment for high blood pressure, with the deal worth up to $2.8bn. The candidate, zilebesiran, is an investigational, subcutaneously administered RNAi therapeutic currently in phase 2 development to treat hypertension in populations with high-unmet needs. Under the terms of the agreement, which provides Roche with exclusive commercialisation rights to the therapy outside of the US and joint commercialisation rights within the country, Alnylam will receive an upfront payment of $310m and is also eligible to receive certain milestone payments. Hypertension, the leading cause of cardiovascular disease, affects more than 1.2 billion adults worldwide. While several therapies exist, a significant unmet need remains, especially for high-risk patients. Zilebesiran works by preventing the production of angiotensinogen, a protein that plays a key role in raising blood pressure, in the liver. ...
Photo: Giuseppe Aresu/Bloomberg, via Getty Images Alnylam pioneered RNA interference drugs for rare disease. The biotech aims to bring RNAI to prevalent disorders and its alliance with Roche on the drug zilebesiran for hypertension better positions the company to achieve this goal. Cardiometabolic disease isn’t a big part of Roche’s drug portfolio or pipeline, but the pharmaceutical giant is trying to change that with a deal to share in the development of an experimental Alnylam Pharmaceuticals hypertension drug that could offer patients efficacy and dosing advantages. According to deal terms announced Monday, Roche is paying $310 million for outside-of-the-U.S. rights to the drug, zilebesiran. The companies will share in the development of the RNA therapy for hypertension. Roche has the opportunity to lead future development of the drug for other indications. Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Alnylam is a pioneer among companies developing therapies that leverage RNA interference, a pathway in ...
Ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease are big business, and Roche could be all in, according to a report that has the Swiss pharma in talks to acquire a late-stage candidate from Roivant Sciences for upwards of $7 billion. The deal—which would be one of the largest struck by newly seated CEO Thomas Schinecker—could be announced in the coming days, according to The Wall Street Journal, which broke the news Thursday evening. Sources familiar with the talks cautioned that they could still break down and that another suitor could emerge, the WSJ reported. The drug at the center of the rumored discussions is RVT-3101, an anti-TL1A antibody that recently showed positive results in a Phase IIb study in patients with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis (UC). After 56 weeks of treatment, 36% of participants who received the optimum dose of the drug achieved clinical remission, according to Roivant, which announced the results in June. This was a marked increase ...
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 ...
With the multiple sclerosis market growing rapidly—from $18.9 billion in 2020 to a projected $29.8 billion in 2030, according to GlobalData—Roche is primed to take advantage with Ocrevus (ocrelizumab).Now the monoclonal antibody, which racked (PDF) up nearly $7 billion in sales last year, appears on the verge of gaining an added advantage with a more convenient way to be administered. A phase 3 study has shown that a new, subcutaneous version of Ocrevus has proven to be non-inferior to the current infused treatment as measured by the level of drug in the blood, 12 weeks after administration. Specific numbers were not included in Roche’s release but the company said that the trial achieved both its primary and secondary endpoints. The injected version also matched the performance of the infused treatment in controlling magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) lesion activity in the brain over 12 weeks, Roche said. The injected regimen of Ocrevus is a ...
Roche has announced positive new four-year results from an open-label extension study of its spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) treatment, Evrysdi (risdiplam), in young children. SMA is a severe and progressive neuromuscular disease affecting approximately one in every 10,000 babies. People living with the condition have insufficient levels of the SMN protein, which is essential to the function of nerves that control muscles and other functions such as swallowing, speaking, breathing and movement. Depending on the form of SMA, the patient’s physical strength and their ability to walk, eat or breathe can be considerably compromised or lost. Without treatment, children with type 1 SMA are not expected to live past age two and are never able to sit without support. Roche’s Evrysdi, which can be administered at home in liquid form by mouth or by feeding tube, is designed to treat the disease by increasing and sustaining the production of SMN ...
Swiss pharma giant Roche is looking to put its biologics manufacturing facility in Vacaville, California, on the auction block or shutter it by 2029, Reuters reports. In a statement to Reuters, the company didn’t directly respond to the prospect of selling or closing the facility but said it no longer needs large volumes of the products being manufactured at the site. However, internal emails sent to employees and obtained by the news agency indicated that if a buyer weren’t identified, Roche would begin winding down operations at Vacaville and shutter the plant between 2028 and 2029, Reuters reports. The plant, which employs about 800 people, produces monoclonal antibodies, according to the news service. Roche is currently staving off challenges to its revenue flow thanks to biosimilar challengers to its big-selling cancer drugs Herceptin, Avastin and Rituxan. This has forced the company to rely on newer products to deliver growth. Roche ...
By Kate Goodwin https://www.biospace.com/ Pictured: Blue Roche logo on white building/Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images Roche has terminated a second Phase II trial of its investigational schizophrenia drug ralmitaront, leaving an uncertain future for the company’s program targeting the psychiatric disorder. The first trial, which was canceled last year, was studying the effects of ralmitaront as a monotherapy in patients with an acute exacerbation of positive symptoms of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. The second trial, which was recently terminated, was investigating the impact of the treatment on negative symptoms associated with the two conditions. “In a preliminary analysis, the primary endpoint was negative, and ongoing portions of the study have therefore been discontinued,” according to an update on the second Phase II trial posted to the ClinicalTrials.gov website. Roche’s latest first quarter 2023 pipeline presentation included the asset, pushing its New Molecular Entity submission back into the “2026 and beyond” category. No ...
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