News and Trends 14 Mar 2023 Pfizer’s $43B Seagen acquisition doubles early-stage oncology clinical pipeline Pfizer Inc. is set to acquire Seagen Inc. for $229 in cash per Seagen share for a total enterprise value of $43 billion. Seagen is a global biotechnology company that discovers, develops and commercializes cancer medicines. The boards of directors of both companies have unanimously approved the transaction. “Pfizer is deploying its financial resources to […] March 14, 2023 - 6 minutesmins - By Jim Cornall Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 14 Mar 2023 Astellas menopause study meets endpoints but leukemia drug disappoints There was good and bad news this week from Japanese company Astellas Pharma Inc. as one of its trials yielded positive results, while another didn’t meet its endpoints. Astellas Pharma announced pivotal phase 3 results for its study of fezolinetant, an investigational oral, nonhormonal compound being studied for the treatment of moderate to severe vasomotor […] March 14, 2023 - 4 minutesmins - By Jim Cornall Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 14 Mar 2023 How the microbiome can predict cancer immunotherapy success A new study shows antibiotic treatment prior to CAR-T cell therapy is connected to unfavorable treatment outcomes. An international team headed by Eran Elinav of the Cancer & Microbiome Division of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), and led by Christoph Stein-Thoeringer, professor of Clinical Infectiology and Translational Microbiome Research at the Medical Faculty of […] March 14, 2023 - 2 minutesmins - By Jim Cornall Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 14 Mar 2023 Calliditas shares rise as phase 3 endpoints met in kidney disease trial Swedish company Calliditas Therapeutics AB has announced positive topline results from the global, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 clinical trial investigating the effect of Nefecon (TARPEYO/Kinpeygo (budesonide) delayed release capsules) versus placebo in patients with primary IgA nephropathy (IgAN). Calliditas share prices rose 30% in the aftermath of the announcement. IgAN, or Berger’s disease, is […] March 14, 2023 - 4 minutesmins - By Jim Cornall Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Sponsored by PHTA Ltd 14 Mar 2023 Nurturing healthcare innovation: a multi-disciplinary ecosystem to overcome startup challenges The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of innovation in the healthcare space when tackling a public health challenge. Nonetheless, health innovation startups today face multiple hurdles, from sourcing funding, to obtaining access to the right expertise, and more. Of late, an additional hurdle that young life science businesses also have to contend with is the […] March 14, 2023 - 6 minutesmins - By Sudha Sundaram Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 13 Mar 2023 New therapy for prevention and treatment of COVID-19 ExeVir Bio, and its scientific founders at Belgium’s VIB, Flanders’ leading life sciences institute, have published a pre-print paper by De Cae et al., entitled “Ultrapotent SARS coronavirus-neutralizing single-domain antibodies that bind a conserved membrane-proximal epitope of the spike.” Nearly all SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies used in the clinic show substantial loss of potency against the […] March 13, 2023 - 4 minutesmins - By Jim Cornall Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 13 Mar 2023 Sanofi adds diabetes drug through Provention Bio $2.9B acquisition Sanofi and Provention Bio, Inc., a U.S.-based, publicly traded biopharmaceutical company focused on intercepting and preventing immune-mediated diseases including type 1 diabetes (T1D), have entered into an agreement under which Sanofi has agreed to acquire Provention Bio, Inc., for $25.00 per share in cash, representing an equity value of approximately $2.9 billion. The transaction adds […] March 13, 2023 - 4 minutesmins - By Jim Cornall Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
In Depth 10 Mar 2023 Can CRISPR bring back extinct animals? The concept of de-extinction has been around for many years. Once considered a fanciful idea, recent advancements in technology – notably CRISPR – have made bringing back extinct animals such as mammoths an extremely feasible proposition that investors are willing to put their money into, with an aim of reversing and preventing biodiversity loss. The […] March 10, 2023 - 10 minutesmins - By Willow Shah-Neville Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Sponsored by MC Services 10 Mar 2023 Meet some of the biotechs attending Bio-Europe Spring 2023 As Bio-Europe Spring 2023 is set to take place from March 20 to March 22 in Basel, Switzerland, a budding biotech hub, the event will provide opportunities to engage with representatives of hundreds of companies from around the world. At the convention, exhibitors will be able to showcase their innovations and meet with prospective sponsors, […] March 10, 2023 - 7 minutesmins - By Roohi Mariam Peter Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 9 Mar 2023 Twisted blood vessels reveal cancer treatment success potential Picture Health has announced plans to commercialize a new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered biomarker with the potential to transform the way doctors decide how to treat cancer. The advancement in cancer outcomes research sheds new light on cancer tumors: analyzing the state of the blood vessels that feed them. Recently published studies have shown the technology […] March 9, 2023 - 3 minutesmins - By Jim Cornall Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 9 Mar 2023 Iktos raises €15.5M to expand AI drug discovery technologies Iktos, a company specializing in artificial intelligence (AI) for new drug discovery, has closed a €15.5 million ($16.4 million) Series A financing co-led by new investors M Ventures and Debiopharm Innovation Fund with participation from Omnes Capital. This financing will enable Iktos to further develop its AI and drug discovery capabilities and expand its existing SaaS software […] March 9, 2023 - 2 minutesmins - By Jim Cornall Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 9 Mar 2023 Researchers develop treatment for vancomycin-resistant bacteria Researchers from several institutions have developed a treatment for bacteria resistant to vancomycin, which is also known as vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis (VRE). The group consists of researchers from the Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Interdisciplinary Research Group (IRG) at Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), MIT’s research enterprise in Singapore, in collaboration with Singapore Centre for […] March 9, 2023 - 4 minutesmins - By Jim Cornall Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email