MSD Archives

News and Trends 11 May 2021

ADC Approval Buoys Spirits in Cancer Treatment Space

The FDA recently approved an antibody-drug conjugate drug from ADC Therapeutics as a treatment for blood cancer. This has given a major confidence boost to other European companies in the…

May 11, 2021 - 7 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

News and Trends 28 May 2020

MSD Enters Covid-19 Vaccine Race by Acquiring Themis Bioscience

The US-based big pharma MSD has entered the race to be the first to develop an effective vaccine for Covid-19 by acquiring Austrian biotech Themis Bioscience and its vaccine technology…

May 28, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

News and Trends 22 Aug 2019

Austrian Vaccine Developer Signs Deal with MSD in ‘Blockbuster Indication’

Vienna-based Themis Bioscience will develop vaccine candidates against an undisclosed disease target in partnership with big pharma Merck Sharp & Dohme. As part of the agreement, MSD will provide research…

August 22, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández

In Depth 9 Apr 2018

Are PD-1 and PD-L1 Checkpoint Inhibitors As Good As We Thought?

Checkpoint inhibitors, especially those targeting PD-1 and PD-L1, are exploding in popularity. But how much of it is hype? The pipelines of biotech and pharma are filling up with combination therapies…

April 9, 2018 - 4 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández

News and Trends 6 Sep 2017

MSD Offers €464M to Buy German Biotech Fighting Cancer with RNA

MSD is back in the RNA field with the acquisition of Rigontec, a German biotech harnessing RNA interference to make the immune system attack cancer cells. After selling selling Sirna…

September 6, 2017 - 1 minutemin - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández

News and Trends 12 Jun 2017

German Biotech Unveils Positive Phase II Results for Alzheimer’s

Probiodrug has disclosed encouraging results of its latest Phase IIa trial to assess its lead candidate PQ912 in patients with early Alzheimer's Disease. The German biotech Probiodrug is pioneering new approaches…

June 12, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida

Noxxon Merck checkpoint inhibitor combination

News and Trends 16 May 2017

Berlin Biotech Advances its Cancer Drug in a New Trial with Keytruda

Noxxon Pharma has teamed up with the NCT in Heidelberg to conduct a Phase I/II trial combining its lead NOX-A12 with checkpoint inhibitor Keytruda. Based in Berlin, Noxxon is yet…

May 16, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida

News and Trends 28 Oct 2016

TCR and Checkpoint inhibitors: A Match made in Heaven for Blood Cancer

Adaptimmune and MSD are collaborating to test a therapy for multiple myeloma that combines some of the most promising technologies in immuno-oncology: TCR and checkpoint inhibitors. Adaptimmune is an immuno-oncology billion-euro…

October 28, 2016 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández

sanofi biotech acquisition medivation msd

News and Trends 22 Aug 2016

UPDATE: Sanofi defeated in the Race to acquire Medivation

Even more Big Pharma join the fight to acquire the extremely desirable Medivation, a Biotech developing cancer treatments. Now MSD is joining the bandwagon. Things don't look so good for Sanofi, which already…

August 22, 2016 - 3 minutesmins - By Denise Neves Gameiro

News and Trends 28 Jun 2016

And now, Immuno-oncology gets EMA’s pre-approval for Lung Cancer

MSD has received EMA pre-approval for its famous anti-PD-1 therapy, Keytruda. It could soon be used to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the deadliest type of cancer. Checkpoint inhibitors…

June 28, 2016 - 2 minutesmins - By Denise Neves Gameiro

News and Trends 15 Mar 2016

How will the UK’s Potential Exit from the EU Affect the Biotech Industry?

I'm a UK Expat in Berlin, and whilst I admit confusion over where exactly the British Exit (i.e. "Brexit") will leave me in the future, in general it is a…

March 15, 2016 - 6 minutesmins - By Dani Bancroft

msd cancer research uk monash crt merck australia

News and Trends 1 Feb 2016

New Discovery unites Australia, Germany and UK Against Blood Cancers

Cancer Research UK has teamed up with MSD (Merck) and the Wellcome Trust to co-develop some Inhibitors for both Cancerous and Non-cancerous blood disorders from the Australian Academia-Biotech Network. The Australian…

February 1, 2016 - 2 minutesmins - By Dani Bancroft

merck msd keytruda immunoncology lymphoma hodgkins affimed

News and Trends 26 Jan 2016

Keytruda Combo! MSD Recruits German Biotech on Lymphoma PD-1 Trial

Affimed in Heidelberg (Germany) will fund and conduct a clinical trial to investigate the combination of Merck's (MSD) anti-PD-1 therapy (Keytruda), with Affimed's proprietary drug for the treatment of patients with…

January 26, 2016 - 2 minutesmins - By Dani Bancroft

merck msd cancer immunoncology complix alphabody

News and Trends 7 Jan 2016

Alphabody Platform for Cancer Draws in €260M Discovery Deal with MSD

Complix is a Belgian Immuno-Oncology Biotech with a proprietary Alphabody platform, which has now attracted a €260M strategic drug discovery collaboration with Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD). Under the terms…

January 7, 2016 - 2 minutesmins - By Dani Bancroft

blood cells transport drugs rubius therapeutics flagship erytech pku

News and Trends 14 Dec 2015

Red Blood Cells to Carry Drugs? A US Start-Up Inspired by French Biotech to Focus on Rare Metabolic Disease

Erytech (France) is working on a drug-transportation system using red blood cells. Now US Rubius Therapeutics joins Erytech on this new approach to drug delivery, backed by the huge VC…

December 14, 2015 - 3 minutesmins - By Dani Bancroft

News and Trends 8 Dec 2015

Merck Pulls out of Plans to Commercialize Cancer Drug After it Fails in Two Phase III Trials

Threshold Pharmaceuticals in the US has failed at getting its hypoxia prodrug evofosfamide through phase III trials for two types of cancer, and as a result has lost Merck's partnership…

December 8, 2015 - 2 minutesmins - By Dani Bancroft

News and Trends 15 Oct 2015

Ablynx richly rewarded for MSD’s Nanobody Proof in Immuno-Oncology

Ablynx - the Belgian nanobody biotech (which uses monoclonal antibodies of Alpacas), has now achieved it's first pre-clinical milestone in its immuno-oncology partnership with MSD (Merck & Co). Now Ablynx…

October 15, 2015 - 2 minutesmins - By Dani Bancroft

News and Trends 15 Oct 2015

Neurodegenerative Disease in the UK: Takeda, NIHR & UCL Research Collaboration

Takeda Cambridge (the UK subsidiary of global biotech Takeda Pharmaceuticals) will now collaborate with University College London's Institute for Neurology and their NHS teaching hospital to search for novel gene…

October 15, 2015 - 2 minutesmins - By Dani Bancroft

News and Trends 10 Oct 2015

What Happened this Week? Nobel prize slips through CRISPR’s fingers, inside iGEM’s Jamboree and €120M boost for Alzheimer’s research

Monday: Manfred Horst on MSD, Biosimilars, KEYTRUDA and Merck & Co.’s rich history Tuesday: An Insider’s experience at the iGEM Giant Boston Jamboree 2015 Wednesday: Sorry CRISPR, you’ll have to wait another year…

October 10, 2015 - 1 minutemin - By Philip Hemme

News and Trends 8 Oct 2015

Rabbit Antibodies proven to be more specific than Mice in Immuno-oncology PD-L1 Research

Abcam is a Cambridge (UK) Biotech who have developed a monoclonal antibody (mAB) production platform from rabbits. This platform is developed for a much more specific immunohistochemical alternative to the…

October 8, 2015 - 3 minutesmins - By Dani Bancroft

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