Biocytogen Pharmaceuticals shared plans for its new antibody evaluation and option agreement with Gilead Sciences. In the deal, Gilead will gain access to Biocytogen’s fully human antibody library. The agreement gives Gilead a three-year nomination period to choose its targets of interest and assess the selected antibodies, with the option of acquiring selected antibodies for worldwide therapeutic development. Biocytogen owns four genetically engineered RenMice platforms for the discovery of multiple antibody types. This includes bispecific antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), TCR-mimic antibodies and more. As of June 2023, the China-based company was part of 50 therapeutic antibody and multiple clinical asset co-development, out-licensing and transfer agreements. Earlier this year, Biocytogen partnered with Radiance Biopharma to share its bispecific ADC expertise. The company also signed deals with Ona Therapeutics in December 2023 and Myricx Bio in September 2023 to develop ADCs. This correlates with an uptick in high-value deals recently seen in the ...
Mirati Therapeutics has received conditional marketing authorisation from the European Commission for Krazati (adagrasib), a targeted treatment for patients with KRASG12C-mutated advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Mirati filed a marketing authorisation application to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for Krazati in this indication in May 2022. In November 2023, the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) granted conditional marketing authorisation to the therapy. In October 2023, pharma-giant Bristol Myers Squibb acquired Mirati for a total value of $4.8bn. The deal is expected to close by the end of Q1 2024. Krazati was the company’s lead marketed drug and significant driver for potential revenues. According to GlobalData’s Pharma Intelligence Center, Krazati is forecast to generate $1.24bn in sales in 2029. Krazati is a small molecule RAS inhibitor which suppresses cancer cell signalling and prevents cell proliferation by inhibiting mutant KRAS, a signalling protein which acts as a molecular ...
• Pfizer’s PARP inhibitor Talzenna has gained European approval when used in combination with Pfizer and Astellas’ Xtandi to treat adult patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) in whom chemotherapy is not clinically indicated. This approval makes Talzenna the first PARP inhibitor in Europe to be licensed in combination with Xtandi in mCRPC, Pfizer said in a release. The European Commission approved Pfizer’s application based on data from the phase 3 TALAPRO-2 trial, which showed that the combo cut the risk of disease progression or death in patients with mCRPC compared with placebo and Xtandi. Last June, the FDA approved the combination to treat adults with HRR gene-mutated mCRPC. • In another regulatory win for Pfizer, the FDA is reviewing the company’s full approval application on Genmab-partnered Tivdak. Under its priority review timeline, the FDA is assessing whether to convert Tivdak’s accelerated approval into a full nod to treat ...
This year, CVS Health plans to employ the classic “out with the old, in with the new” mantra when it comes to AbbVie’s Humira. Come April 1, the branded drug will be replaced by cheaper biosimilars across the company’s major commercial formularies nationwide. The move is part of CVS Caremark’s efforts to expand the adoption of biosimilars. As it stands, the U.S. biosimilar market is expected to grow from less than $10 billion in 2022 to more than $100 billion by 2029, CVS Caremark cited in a recent press release. The company is “committed” to ramping up adoption of the cheaper biologic drugs and enabling customer choice, CVS Health’s executive vice president and president of CVS Caremark David Joyner noted in a statement. “By preferring biosimilars that have a significantly lower list price than their reference product, CVS Caremark is putting our customers in the driver’s seat to best meet ...
Here is a selection of recent executive hires, promotions and layoffs occurring across the healthcare industry. By KATIE ADAMS This roundup will be published monthly. It is meant to highlight some of healthcare’s recent hiring news and is not intended to be comprehensive. If you have news about an executive appointment, resignation or layoff that you would like to share for this roundup or the MedCity Moves podcast, please reach out to moves@medcitynews.com. Here is a selection of recent executive hires, promotions, departures and layoffs occurring across the healthcare industry. Hires Aledade, an independent primary care network focused on value-based care, brought Rosemary Weldon onto its team as its new chief product officer. She spent the last decade at CVS Health, where she most recently served as vice president of digital health product management. Amgen welcomed James Bradner to its C-suite, where he now serves as chief scientific officer and ...
Armed with a new victory over Viatris in a patent dispute, Regeneron can knock off one contender in the Eylea biosimilar race. A West Virginia judge ruled that Viatris’ proposed biosimilar violates a Regeneron patent that covers ophthalmic formulations of a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-specific fusion protein antagonist suitable for intravitreal administration to the eye. That patent is expected to expire in June 2027. Viatris, a generic and biosimilar specialist created by Pfizer through the combination of its Upjohn business with Mylan back in 2020, was the first to file for a coveted Eylea biosimilar in 2021. Regeneron struck back with its suit in 2022, arguing that the proposed copycat steps on 24 of its patents. The complaint was later trimmed to three, according to Bloomberg. Viatris has since offloaded its biosimilars unit to Biocon Biologics in a $3.33 billion cash-and-stock deal. Amgen tried to get into the litigation ...
Even with the Federal Trade Commission keeping a watchful eye on the biopharma industry and the economic landscape giving some players pause, mergers and acquisitions are back on the rise. And it is with cautious optimism that industry watchers see the trend continuing in 2024. Wielding plenty of firepower, drugmakers are more likely to make higher-value deals in the new year as they address growth challenges that loom later in the decade because of patent cliffs and the effects of the Inflation Reduction Act. “Executives will continue to deploy cash balances and seek out areas of innovation and clinical differentiation,” PricewaterhouseCoopers wrote in its Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences: U.S. Deals 2024 Outlook. “As regulators’ perspectives on key deal factors become better understood, there may be a return of larger deals, along with continued interest in the $5 billion to $15 billion deals to fill targeted strategic gaps.” Look no further ...
After many years of tracking the pharmaceutical industry’s pricing tactics, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) is once again placing a spotlight on the price increases that end up costing the U.S. healthcare system the most. In an annual report (PDF) on “unsupported price increases” (UPIs), the independent nonprofit has placed scrutiny on hikes that it says aren’t supported by evidence of new clinical benefit, ranking the medicines by their contributions to excess healthcare spending. This year’s edition saw the return of AbbVie’s superstar Humira, which last year enjoyed a break from the annual list after being included in every other report since the series began in 2019. The fifth annual version, released Monday, evaluates the industry’s pricing moves in 2022. For Humira, 2022 was the last year of market exclusivity before the med’s dive off of the patent cliff. Humira captured ICER’s top spot on its UPI ...
As Johnson & Johnson places a magnifying glass on its pharmaceutical business, the focus for the remainder of the decade rests on the shoulders of some 25 new and upcoming drugs. Together, those meds will help the company deliver pharmaceutical sales growth of 5% to 7% between 2025 and 2030, the company said Tuesday. That phalanx of novel products will be essential as J&J’s longstanding immunology star, Stelara, nears its tumble over the patent cliff. Last year, the drug generated $9.7 billion and was J&J’s top product by sales. During an enterprise business review Tuesday, J&J laid out its expectations across the 2025 to 2030 timeframe. Chief among those, J&J says it will boast 10 or more drugs with peak sales potential of at least $5 billion, including cancer launches Talvey and Tecvayli, plus another 15-plus products with sales potential of at least $1 billion. The latter group of therapeutics ...
By Tyler Patchen Samsung Bioepis has inked a settlement and license agreement with Johnson & Johnson, which will settle all U.S. patent litigation and allow for the commercialization of a biosimilar for the arthritis drug Stelara, known as SB17. According to Thursday’s announcement, Samsung Bioepis’ license period for its Stelara biosimilar will kick in on February 22, 2025. However, all the other terms of the deal were labeled as confidential and no further details were revealed. The BLA for the SB17 drug is under review by the FDA. If the drug is approved, it will be commercialized by Sandoz. The issues between J&J and Samsung Bioepis come from the South Korean biotech filing a petition for an Inter Partes Review of J&J’s Stelara, or ustekinumab patent. According to a legal intelligence website lexology, Samsung Bioepis stated that the claims of J&J’s patent were invalid. Patent protections over the use of ...
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