PHARMA & MEDICAL UPDATES
Paul Healy
Director @ PHARMeMED | Pharmaceutical & Biotech Publisher, B2B Marketing Specialist, Healthcare Content Driver, Executive Search, Recruitment Specialist
This week, we cover Pfizer’s high sales expectations for Lorbrena, the European Commission's approval of tofersen, Merck's purchase of EWyeBio on Wednesday, Johnson & Johnson's acquisition of Yellow Jersey Therapeutics, more positive news on Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic, Microsoft and NVIDIA partnership with Sophia Genetics and much more.
LATEST NEWS
US-based health technology company?Sophia Genetics?has partnered with?Microsoft?and?NVIDIA ?to leverage their expertise in technology and genomics to launch a whole genome sequencing (WGS) analytical solution. The genome sequencing solution is expected to be available by the end of the year and will be hosted on Microsoft Azure and powered by NVIDIA’s scalable genomics analysis software suite, Parabricks. Read
The first patient in Ireland has been implanted with FIRE1’s system , which monitors an important warning sign of congestive heart failure. Based in Ireland, FIRE1 implanted the first patient with its namesake system at University Hospital Galway as part of a first-in-human clinical trial named FUTURE-HF. Read
Cancer can be caused by reversible molecular changes, study shows: Though?1 in 2 people?will develop some form of cancer in their lifetime, there's still much we don't know about this disease. But thanks to continued research efforts, we keep learning more about the biology of cancer. One of these recent discoveries could even transform our understanding of?how cancers develop.But before we talk about the new discovery, let's first discuss the?classical theory?that attempts to explain why normal cells become?cancer cells. This theory posits that DNA mutations are the primary cause of cancers. Read
Swiss drugmaker Novartis ?said patients with a type of leukemia who took its Scemblix had a significantly better response and a lower dropout rate than those who received current standard-of-care drugs in a late-stage study with details presented on Friday. The company said in January that the oral drug met the main goals of the 405-patient trial. More detailed data unveiled at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago showed that Scemblix helped 67.7% of patients achieve a major molecular response (MMR), nearly 20% higher than for patients who received current standard treatments. Read
Pfizer?said it expects its cancer drug Lorbrena to top $1 billion in annual sales by 2030 on the strength of data presented on Friday showing most patients treated for a rare form of advanced lung cancer in a clinical trial were alive without the disease worsening after five years.Lorbrena, like Pfizer's Xalkori, is designed to treat cancer with a mutation of a specific gene called anaplastic lymphoma kinase, or ALK. Read
Biogen’s Qalsody (tofersen) has been approved by the European Commission (EC) to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in adults who have a mutation in the superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) gene. The decision follows a recent recommendation from the European Medicines Agency’s human medicines committee and makes Qalsody the first treatment approved in the EU to target a genetic cause of ALS. Read
A new study led by Newcastle University has identified the genetic changes that are responsible for rare childhood immune disorders that can leave newborns with little to no immune defence against infections.Published in?Science Immunology, the study involved experts from the Great North Children’s Hospital, the Wellcome Sanger Institute and their collaborators. Read
AstraZeneca (AZ) and Daiichi Sankyo have announced positive results from a late-stage study of their investigational TROP2-targeting antibody drug conjugate, datopotamab deruxtecan, in certain lung cancer patients. The phase 3 TROPION-Lung01 trial has been evaluating the efficacy and safety of the drug versus the current standard of care chemotherapy, docetaxel, in patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who require systemic therapy following prior treatment.Recognised as the most common type of lung cancer, which was estimated to affect nearly 2.2 million people globally in 2022, NSCLC accounts for around 80% of all cases. Read
Research Breakthroughs in Reversing T Cell Exhaustion: T cell exhaustion is a major problem in treating chronic infections and cancer, but recent research is uncovering promising strategies to reverse this dysfunction and enhance immunotherapy efficacy. Read
Merck?on Wednesday agreed to buy privately held biotech EyeBio for as much as $3 billion, as it looks to diversify its portfolio of experimental drugs with treatments for eye diseases.The drugmaker agreed to pay $1.3 billion in cash and another $1.7 billion in future milestone-based payments for EyeBio, and will gain access to its retinal disease drug Restoret as part of the deal.The deal is the latest in a string of recent acquisitions by Merck to reduce its reliance on blockbuster immunotherapy Keytruda, which is expected to face rivals by the end of the decade when it is set to lose patent protection. Read
Spinogenix's Daily Pill SPG302 Receives FDA IND Nod for ALS Treatment: The FDA has cleared the IND application for SPG302, a novel ALS treatment focusing on synapse regeneration. This once-daily pill aims to improve cognitive and motor functions by restoring neuron connections. SPG302 has shown promise in early trials, receiving support from the NIH and DoD, and is now advancing to further clinical testing with ALS patients. Read
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has announced it has entered into a definitive agreement with Numab Therapeutics to acquire its subsidiary, Yellow Jersey Therapeutics (YJT), expanding its immunology portfolio in a deal worth $1.25bn. As part of the deal, which is set to close in the second half of 2024, J&J’s all-cash transaction to acquire YJT will provide the company with global rights to develop, manufacture and commercialise the subsidiary’s investigational, first-in-class bispecific antibody to treat atopic dermatitis (AD), NM26.Currently the most common inflammatory skin disease worldwide, affecting more than 100 million people globally, AD is a condition that causes the skin to become itchy, dry and cracked. Read
Elon Musk's brain-chip startup Neuralink has registered details about a study evaluating its device in patients on the U.S. government's database of clinical trials. Neuralink is testing its implant to give paralyzed patients the ability to use digital devices by thinking alone, a prospect that could help people with spinal cord injuries.The study was registered as a "first-in-human early feasibility study" on Monday. Read
Engineered CAR T cells repress signs and symptoms of allergic asthma in mice for a year: A team of molecular oncologists at Tsinghua University's State Key Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, in China, has found that engineered, long-lived and multifunctional T cells repress signs and symptoms of allergic asthma in mice for up to a year.In their?study, published in the journal?Nature Immunology, the group engineered CAR T cells to reduce the functionality of interleukins associated with type 2 high-signature?asthma. Read
The European Commission (EC) has approved Celltrion’s Omlyclo (CT-P39), an omalizumab biosimilar referencing Novartis and Genentech’s Xolair, for a range of immunological conditions. Omlyclo, which has been authorised for use in patients with allergic asthma, chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) and chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, is now the first omalizumab biosimilar approved in Europe. Read
Eli Lilly has announced a substantial increase in its manufacturing investment at its site in Lebanon, Indiana, US, committing an additional $5.3bn funding to enhance active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) manufacturing capacity. This brings the total investment to $9bn from $3.7bn, aimed at expanding the capacity to produce APIs for tirzepatide injections, branded as Zepbound and Mounjaro.Zepbound and Mounjaro are intended to treat adult patients with chronic conditions like obesity and type 2 diabetes.Mounjaro received approval in 2022 while Zepbound was granted approval last year. Read
Novartis has shared positive results from a late-stage trial of its factor B inhibitor Fabhalta (iptacopan) in patients with the ultra-rare kidney disease complement 3 glomerulopathy (C3G) .Approximately one to two people per million worldwide are diagnosed every year with C3G, which occurs when an over-activation of the alternative complement pathway causes deposits of C3 protein to build up in kidney glomeruli. Read
Understanding the Mechanisms of T Cell Exhaustion: T cell exhaustion is a state of dysfunction seen in chronic infections and cancer, where T cells progressively lose their function and ability to proliferate. This condition significantly inhibits effective immune responses, posing a major challenge for immunotherapies. Read
Novo Nordisk's?Ozempic slowed the worsening of kidney dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes and lowered the risk of kidney failure, heart problems, stroke and death, according to detailed results from a late-stage trial presented last Friday. The company in March reported that the diabetes drug known chemically as semaglutide cut the combined risk of kidney complications and cardiovascular events by 24% over the next 3.4 years in patients who received weekly 1-milligram injections compared with those who got a placebo. Read
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Discover how Medical Affairs teams are becoming pivotal in strategic decision-making within the pharma industry. Dive into the latest whitepaper to explore innovative strategies for managing insights efficiently. Access here
COMPANY SPOTLIGHT: SOPHiA GENETICS
In light of Sophia Genetics' recent collaboration with Microsoft and NVIDIA to leverage their combined expertise in technology and genomics, we would like to offer a deeper insight into the company.
SOPHiA GENETICS has established a global data-sharing network, collaborating with customers from over 750 institutions across 72 countries. This network promotes data-driven medicine, enhancing health outcomes and economic efficiency worldwide. They provide a cloud-based Software-as-a-Service platform, SOPHiA DDM?, which allows healthcare institutions to quickly gain robust insights from their data. Their technology is applied to diseases such as cancer and inherited disorders, where integrating genomic and phenotypic information is crucial for supporting discoveries, treatment decisions, and drug development efforts.
For SOPHiA GENETICS, democratizing data-driven medicine is essential to ensuring equal access to healthcare for patients worldwide. They believe that when the right information is available to the right people at the right time and with the right level of confidence, better health solutions can be delivered, making life-changing differences and improving health outcomes globally.
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5 个月What are your thoughts on the recent acquisitions and partnerships in the pharmaceutical industry? How do you think they will impact the market?