After Novartis reportedly backed out of late-stage talks to acquire Cytokinetics earlier this year, the company appears to still be on the M&A prowl.Novartis is in advanced talks to acquire German cancer drug maker MorphoSys, Reuters reports, citing two people familiar with the matter. The anonymous sources stayed mum on details about the bid and a potential acquisition price, according to the news service. Also involved in the MorphoSys M&A talks is Incyte, according to Reuters.As a “matter of policy,” Novartis does not comment on “market rumors/speculations,” a company spokesperson said over email. Incyte and MorphoSys did not immediately respond to Fierce Pharma’s requests for comment. Both known bidders have preexisting ties to the company, with Novartis taking over a MorphoSys preclinical cancer program in 2022 and Incyte partnering on MorphoSys’ sole commercial product, the lymphoma med Monjuvi.Monjuvi garnered $92 million in U.S. sales last year, and MorphoSys expects 2024 sales of between $80 million and $95 million. The Novartis ...
After leading Novartis and Roche through pivotal years in 2023, the CEOs of the Swiss drug giants each netted multimillion-dollar compensation packages. Novartis handed its CEO Vas Narasimhan 13.3 million Swiss francs ($15.3 million) in total compensation for 2023, according to the company’s annual report (PDF). At grant value, the pay is 21% more than what he earned the year before.By comparison, Roche paid (PDF) its helmsman, Thomas Schinecker, a total of 9.6 million Swiss francs ($11 million). The former Roche Diagnostics chief took over from current Chairman Severin Schwan to become the group’s CEO last year. At Roche, the CEO transition—and the loss of its pharma division leader Bill Anderson to Bayer—marked the dawn of a new era. As for Novartis, the company recently became a pure-play innovative medicines company after spinning off the generic maker Sandoz in October.In his sixth year as Novartis’ CEO, Narasimhan saw his base salary climb 2% year over year to 1.82 million Swiss francs. The largest ...
In a move to enhance patient access to complex generic drugs, the FDA’s Office of Generic Drugs (OGD) and the EMA have joined forces in a new pilot programme. This initiative, an extension of the original parallel scientific advice (PSA) programme, homes in on complex generics, also known as ‘hybrid medicines’ as per EMA terminology.Launched in 2005, the original programme offers a means for sponsors of new medicines to seek guidance from regulatory agencies in both the US and EU, regarding scientific matters related to product development. The new voluntary programme aims to facilitate concurrent discussions between generic drug manufacturers and regulatory bodies, with the ultimate goal of improving patient access to harder-to-develop generic drugs. To participate in the PSA programme, applicants must submit requests to the EMA and FDA. Examples of suitable candidates for this programme include proposals for single bioequivalence studies, approaches with common comparators, and the use ...
Australia-based global biopharmaceutical company Telix Pharmaceuticals has agreed to acquire US-based QSAM Biosciences for $123.1m.The deal comes after the companies signed a conditional non-binding term sheet for the prospective acquisition.Telix will also acquire QSAM’s lead investigational drug, Samarium-153-DOTMP (153Sm-DOTMP), a new kit-based bone-seeking targeted radiopharmaceutical candidate. The acquisition terms include an upfront payment of $33.1m (A$50.8m), payable as 4,369,914 ordinary shares of Telix.The deal also comprises contingent value rights that could see additional payments of $90m on meeting clinical and commercial milestones. These payments may be made in cash and/or shares.QSAM focuses on the development of therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals for primary and metastatic bone cancer. Its 153Sm-DOTMP for bone cancer has applications in pain management and therapy for bone metastases and osteosarcoma, including for paediatric patients.It complements Telix’s focus on oncology therapies and has shown promising safety, efficacy and commercial potential in early trials. The drug also has an improved safety ...
BMS has reported its results for the 2023 financial year (FY), revealing a 2% decrease in revenues of $45bn from $46.2bn reported in 2022. The company saw a decrease in sales of Revlimid (lenalidomide) following the entry of generic versions after its patent loss in 2022. Revlimid generated $6bn in 2023, compared to $12.9bn in 2021 before the loss. BMS’ blockbuster cancer drug Opdivo generated $9bn in 2023, a 9% increase from 2022. The human IgG4 anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody saw a label expansion, as well as increased demand from patients with gastric, bladder, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and melanoma. BMS’ top-seller is anti-stroke drug Eliquis (apixaban), generating $12.2bn in 2023, however, Eliquis loses its patent in 2026, with GlobalData predicting that sales will drop to $3bn by 2029.In a strategic move to counteract anticipated revenue declines from upcoming patent expirations on certain BMS drugs in the next few years, ...
Monitoring the response of the immune system of cancer patients during disease and treatment is important for achieving favorable outcomes. To do this, labs utilize flow cytometry to perform immune profiling, which involves identifying and quantifying a patient’s immune cells at a specific time. This information is vital for determining the most effective treatment for a cancer patient. Continuing this profiling during treatment helps clinicians understand how well the treatment is working. Despite the promise of immune profiling in guiding therapy being a burgeoning area in cancer research and treatment, it hasn’t been widely adopted in clinical practice due to the high cost, large size, and complexity of flow cytometry equipment. These machines are confined to specialized labs, and transporting blood samples to these facilities is time-consuming and requires special conditions to keep the cells viable, making routine monitoring of cancer patients challenging. Now, a novel cell sorter chip technology ...
In a recent study published in the journal BMJ Open, researchers explored the relationship between kimchi consumption and obesity in South Korea. Obesity is associated with nutritional, environmental, and lifestyle factors and is a significant risk factor for diabetes, chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, and hyperlipidemia. Obesity prevalence in South Korea has increased steadily over the years. Meanwhile, the prevalence of abdominal obesity has also increased over time. Increased obesity prevalence is associated with higher medical expenditure; thus, obesity prevention remains a public health priority. In Korea, kimchi is a traditional side dish low in calories but rich in vitamins, dietary fiber, polyphenols, and lactic acid bacteria. There are concerns about kimchi as one of the major contributors to sodium intake. A 2019-20 survey revealed that daily sodium intake from kimchi was 500 mg (15% of total sodium intake). Studies have shown associations between increased sodium intake and a greater ...
Mark your calendars, oncology drug and CAR-T therapy developers. The FDA has decided on a date for a highly anticipated advisory committee meeting to discuss applications for Bristol Myers Squibb’s Abecma and Johnson & Johnson’s Carvykti. The FDA will convene its Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) for a full-day meeting March 15 to review the applications for BMS and 2seventy bio’s Abecma and J&J and Legend Biotech’s Carvykti in earlier treatment of multiple myeloma, a government filing shows. External experts invited by the FDA will review clinical data from Carvykti’s CARTITUDE-4 trial and Abecma’s KarMMa-3 study. In both cases, overall survival data will be the focus of the discussions. The meeting is expected to carry a lot of weight in the oncology community. For one, industry watchers are trying to take the FDA’s pulse around the benefit-risk profile of CAR-T cell therapies amid an investigation into a new safety signal ...
From January 25th to 27th local time, the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology Urogenital Oncology Branch (ASCO-GU) annual meeting was grandly held in San Francisco. ASCO GU is an academic event in the field of urogenital tumors. The conference will showcase the most innovative scientific progress in this field and discuss the future treatment directions of urogenital tumors. The first human study of SYS6002, a collaboration between CSPC and Fudan University Cancer Hospital’s Professor Ye Dingwei’s team and Professor Zhang Jian’s team – “Evaluating the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetic characteristics and preliminary efficacy of SYS6002 in patients with advanced solid tumors “An open, single-arm, multi-center phase I clinical trial” – phased research results were presented at the conference in the form of a poster (number B622). Research methods This study is a single-arm, open, multi-center phase I study. Aims to evaluate the safety, tolerability and PK characteristics of SYS6002 in ...
Individuals with Jewish ancestry are six times more likely to carry a genetic fault.The NHS has announced the launch of a new BRCA gene testing programme to identify cancer risk early in individuals with Jewish ancestry. People with Jewish ancestry are about six times more likely to carry a genetic fault, which can increase the risk of developing some cancers, than the general population. Across the next two years, the national NHS Jewish BRCA Testing Programme plans to identify thousands more people carrying faults in the BRCA genes so they can seek early access to surveillance and prevention services. In alignment with the health services drive to catch tumours earlier, when they are easier to treat, anyone over the age of 18 years with Jewish ancestry will be eligible to receive a simple genetic saliva test to look for the presence of BRCA1 or BRCA2 faults. BRCA1 and BRCA2 are ...
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