News and Trends 16 Aug 2017 Biosimilars Struggle to Substitute Brand-Name Drugs Despite bringing a significant price reduction, biosimilars might lag in taking over the market of the drugs they copy because of exclusivity policies set up by the owners of brand-name drugs. A report in Bloomberg Markets yesterday highlights the case of Inflectra, a biosimilar from Pfizer that imitates Johnson & Johnson’s rheumatoid arthritis blockbuster Remicade (infliximab). Despite bringing a price reduction […] August 16, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 14 Aug 2017 UK Pharma Pays Over €200M for a German Drug Against Biliary Cancer Mundipharma has acquired the rights to CAP7.1, a drug that could bring the first alternative to surgery and chemo for patients with biliary tract cancer. Cambridge-based Mundipharma has paid $250M (€212M) to the German biotech CellAct in exchange for the worldwide development, commercialization and manufacturing rights to CAP7.1. The candidate is a prodrug that, when metabolized, […] August 14, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 27 Jul 2017 Swiss Researchers Unveil Cancer Immunotherapy Resistance Mechanism Scientists from the University of Zurich have identified an epigenetic control switch responsible for turning melanoma unresponsive to immune checkpoint inhibitors. A study published this week in Cell Reports describes a mechanism that might be responsible for the development of resistance to cancer immunotherapy. The culprit turned out to be Ezh2, a protein that controls genetic […] July 27, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 27 Jul 2017 AstraZeneca Misses Endpoint in Big Checkpoint Inhibitor Combo Trial AstraZeneca has announced its Phase III trial with durvalumab and tremelimumab has failed to achieve better results than standard chemotherapy in lung cancer. AstraZeneca’s MYSTIC study was evaluating a combination of checkpoint inhibitors as a first-line treatment for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. The therapy couldn’t improve progression-free survival when compared with the standard of care […] July 27, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 26 Jul 2017 German Biotech Publishes First-in-Human Data on Rabies mRNA Vaccine CureVac has published proof-of-concept data for an mRNA rabies vaccine that could open the door for a new generation of better and cheaper vaccines. CureVac, based in Tübingen, Germany, is a pioneer in the development of therapeutic mRNA technology. The company has published today in The Lancet proof-of-concept data from a Phase I trial testing CV7201, […] July 26, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 26 Jul 2017 Dutch Biotech Reports Positive Phase II Data on Rare Inflammatory Disease Pharming has published Phase II data in The Lancet supporting its lead candidate as a treatment for the rare genetic disease hereditary angioedema. Pharming, one of the top biotechs in Leiden, specializes in recombinant protein technology. Its lead compound, ruconest, is a recombinant human C1 inhibitor protein. The results of a 32-patient Phase II study published […] July 26, 2017 - 1 minutemin - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
More News! 24 Jul 2017 Bayer and Evotec Extend their Endometriosis Partnership Bayer and Evotec have decided to extend their partnership for the development of endometriosis drugs now that their second candidate has made it to Phase I. Bayer and Evotec have announced today that a second compound derived from their endometriosis partnership has made it to clinical trials. The team has decided to extend the partnership […] July 24, 2017 - 1 minutemin - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Interview 24 Jul 2017 Discussing Open Science with the Head of Translation at The Francis Crick Institute Officially opened less than a year ago, The Francis Crick Institute is already conducting top-level biomedical research, has launched two spin-outs and struck research partnerships with both AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline. I spoke to the Head of Translation, Dr. Véronique Birault, to learn more about the Crick’s unique model of translation and the key for its […] July 24, 2017 - 5 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 21 Jul 2017 Roche Abandons Spanish Cancer Epigenetics Drug Roche has decided to terminate its license agreement with Spanish biotech Oryzon Genomics after rearranging its portfolio priorities. Oryzon Genomics, a biotech based in Barcelona working on epigenetics, was notified yesterday by Roche about the discontinuation of their deal concerning the biotech’s lead candidate, ORY-1001. Roche announced the decision was not based on clinical data, […] July 21, 2017 - 1 minutemin - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 20 Jul 2017 Sanofi Offers up to €2.4Bn to Belgian Biotech to Develop Nanobodies Ablynx and Sanofi have entered a research collaboration and exclusive licensing agreement for up to eight nanobody candidates for immune and inflammatory disease. Ablynx, based in Belgium, develops nanobodies, single-domain antibodies inspired on those of camels and llamas that have the advantage of being much smaller than standard antibodies. This technology has caught the attention of Sanofi, […] July 20, 2017 - 1 minutemin - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 19 Jul 2017 Update: British Biotech Starts Phase II Trial in the Second Deadliest Cancer Update (19/07/2017): Tiziana has enrolled its first patient with refractory hepatocellular carcinoma in the Phase IIa trial with milciblib. Results are expected in the fourth quarter of 2018. Published on 24/04/2017 Tiziana Life Sciences has received approval to start Phase II in Israel with its leading compound, a CDK inhibitor targeting one of the deadliest cancers. […] July 19, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 18 Jul 2017 Shire In-Licenses Swiss Antibody for Hemophilia A to Compete with Roche Shire has bought exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize a bispecific antibody from Novimmune that could improve the treatment of hemophilia A. Novimmune is a biotech from Geneva that specializes in developing antibodies. Back in 2015, it struck a research collaboration with Baxalta, which has since been acquired Shire. The Irish pharma has now decided to […] July 18, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email