GSK gains rights to a Hansoh Pharma antibody drug conjugate that targets a protein abundant on lung cancer cells and other types of solid tumors. The pharmaceutical giant plans to start its own slate of clinical trials with this ADC in 2024. By FRANK VINLUAN GSK’s cancer drug pipeline is getting bigger with the addition of another antibody drug conjugate, or ADC. It’s the second time in as many months that GSK has turned to Hansoh Pharma for one of the China-based biotech’s drugs. Per deal terms announced Wednesday, GSK is paying $185 million up front for rights to HS-20093, a Hansoh ADC that has been tested in lung cancer. GSK gains global rights to the drug candidate excluding mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. ADCs are made by chemically linking an antibody to a toxic drug payload. The targeting ability of the antibody is meant to provide a ...
Over the years, shareholders at the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) have repeatedly voiced concerns on a variety of subjects to top pharma companies. Now, as 2023 comes to a close, the group is taking pharma giants to task over their patenting strategies and potential human rights shortfalls. In proposals to AbbVie, Eli Lilly, Gilead, Johnson & Johnson, Merck and Pfizer, the group is pushing the companies to review how add-on patents for medicines can affect patient access. Additionally, Bristol Myers Squibb, Pfizer and Eli Lilly face calls to review and update their human rights policies. While ICCR has voiced pharma-related complaints plenty of times in the past, its proposals haven’t been met with much enthusiasm by the companies’ larger pools of shareholders. In 2019, for instance, investors at several large pharma companies rejected the group’s proposals to study the potential link between CEO pay and drug prices. In ...
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 ...
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted priority review for the full approval of the antibody drug conjugate, Elahere (mirvetuximab soravtansine-gynx) and has set a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) action date of 5 April 2024. Elahere was a central element in the $10.1bn ImmunoGen acquisition deal announced by AbbVie last week (30 November). AbbVie expects the acquisition to complete in mid-2024. Elahere is an antibody drug conjugate (ADC) that targets folate receptor alpha (FRα). In November 2022, it was granted accelerated approval as the treatment of FRα-positive, platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer for patients who have received one to three prior systemic treatment regimens. The latest supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for Elahere is supported by the data from the Phase III MIRASOL trial, which will allow for the accelerated approval to be converted to a full approval. ImmunoGen reported $105.2m in ...
Eli Lilly cancer drug Jaypirca is closing 2023 the same way it started—with an FDA approval. The latest regulatory nod adds two additional types of blood cancers to the list of indications for the therapy. Friday’s accelerated approval for Jaypirca covers the treatment of adults with either chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL). The once-daily oral drug is a small molecule designed to block Bruton’s tyrosine kinase, or BTK, a cancer-driving enzyme. While other drugs already do this, Lilly’s molecule has an edge. The FDA based its decision on the results of an open-label, single-arm Phase 1/2 study in blood cancers that included more than 100 patients with CLL or SLL previously treated with at least two prior lines of therapy. Participants had received a median of five prior lines of therapy; the FDA said 77% of these patients had discontinued a BTK inhibitor after their cancer ...
As AbbVie, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca and BeiGene are battling it out in the same BTK inhibitor market, Eli Lilly is trailblazing a new path for the blood cancer drug class. On Friday, Dec.1, the FDA granted accelerated approval to Lilly’s Jaypirca for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) who have received at least two prior lines of therapy. Jaypirca, which is itself a BTK inhibitor, is now allowed following treatment with a BTK inhibitor and a BCL-2 inhibitor. The ability to help patients who have failed on a BTK inhibitor makes Jaypirca unique. The Lilly med is a non-covalent BTK inhibitor that binds to BTK by a mechanism different from existing covalent agents, namely AbbVie/J&J’s Imbruvica, AZ’s Calquence and BeiGene’s Brukinsa. “Once patients with CLL or SLL have progressed on covalent BTK inhibitor and BCL-2 inhibitor therapies, treatments are limited and outcomes can be ...
By Tristan Manalac Ahead of the 65th Annual Meeting and Exposition of the American Society of Hematology, taking place Dec. 9 to 12, event organizers on Tuesday released late-breaking abstracts providing an early view of some of the most high-impact studies in blood disorders to be presented at the conference. Focus on two of those studies below. J&J, Genmab’s Darzalex Faspro Early data from the Phase III PERSEUS study showed that J&J and Genmab’s subcutaneous anti-CD38 antibody Darzalex Faspro (daratumumab and hyaluronidase-fihj) significantly prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (NDMM). PERSEUS enrolled 709 patients in total, of whom 355 were randomly assigned to receive Darzalex Faspro combined with bortezomib, lenalidomide and dexamethasone (VRd). At a median follow-up of 47.5 months, patients treated with the Darzalex Faspro regimen saw a significantly better PFS versus comparators who received VRd alone. The effect had a hazard ratio of ...
Novartis has withdrawn its request to access Takeda’s documents as part of an investigation over potential trade secrets theft. Novartis originally filed the complaint in Massachusetts Superior Court in October. The Swiss pharma wanted to find out whether a former employee in Egypt took sensitive documents to his new job with Takeda. After being “stonewalled” by Takeda, Novartis resorted to legal action, attempting to subpoena the Japanese pharma’s business records and depose an employee. Takeda, on Nov. 10, filed a motion to dismiss the complaint for recovery. According to Novartis, a former employee named Khaled Shams Eldin transferred some 10,000 files to his personal email before departing the company in May. After leaving his post as operations lead for cell and gene therapy at Novartis’ Egyptian unit, Eldin joined Takeda in July in a similar position, the company said. Earlier this week, Novartis dropped the case, according to a court ...
MSD has entered a definitive agreement to acquire Caraway Therapeutics in a deal worth up to $610m. MSD will acquire the Massachusetts-based small molecule therapeutics company through one of its subsidiaries. The $610m consideration includes undisclosed upfront and milestone-based payments. MSD plans to expense the upfront payment as part of its Q4 2023 expenses, as per a 21 November press release. MSD has been a Caraway shareholder through its subsidiary, MRL Ventures Fund. As per the agreement, the company will “acquire all outstanding shares of Caraway with earnout milestones associated with the development of certain pipeline candidates”. The transaction has already been approved by Caraway’s board of directors. Caraway has a preclinical pipeline of therapies for neurogenerative diseases, especially Parkinson’s disease. Caraway’s lead preclinical candidate targets the transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily (TRPML1), which is located on lysosomes and regulates their enzymatic activity. As lysosomal dysregulation has been seen ...
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission isn’t letting up in its effort to crack down on pharma’s alleged misuse of a patent mechanism in the FDA’s regulatory process. And it’s Sanofi’s turn to land in the crosshairs. The FTC is weighing in on an antitrust lawsuit that Viatris’ Mylan brought against Sanofi in May centered on the French pharma’s popular insulin product Lantus. Although the agency didn’t pick sides in the case, it’s using the lawsuit as an opportunity to criticize the type of behavior accused of Sanofi. Specifically, the FTC argues “improper” listings in the FDA’s “Orange Book” can “cause significant harm to competition, and that harm can extend beyond the delay” in access to a competing drug, the FTC said in an amicus brief filed in the case. In the lawsuit, Mylan accused Sanofi of running a “multifaceted monopolization scheme” to protect Lantus. One of the alleged illegal practices ...
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