News and Trends 25 Jan 2019 Swiss-Italian Biotech Bags Antibody Deals with Three Big Pharma The Swiss-Italian company Philogen has announced three different partnerships with Novartis, Celgene, and Janssen to develop new forms of immunotherapy and small molecule drugs. Philogen develops immunocytokines, which are antibodies that are fused with proteins that modify the immune system to fight diseases such as cancer. For example, this treatment can bind to tumors and activate […] January 25, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 4 Jan 2019 Innovative Eye Disease Therapies Move Closer to the Clinic Oculis has increased its series B fundraising round to CHF35M (€31M) to continue development of its pipeline of topical eye treatments for diseases such as diabetic macular edema. The company specializes in creating special nanoparticle formulations of drugs for treatment of various eye diseases to allow them to be applied directly to the eye as […] January 4, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Helen Albert Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 26 Nov 2018 First Gene Therapy for Inherited Blindness Approved in Europe Novartis has received approval for Luxturna, a gene therapy that can restore vision in people with a specific genetic mutation that causes progressive vision loss. The therapy is indicated for people with mutations in the two copies of a gene, called RPE65, that cause retinal cells to die over time, resulting in progressive loss of […] November 26, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Interview 3 Sep 2018 Moving from Big Pharma to Biotech – Insights from Two Biotech CEOs According to John LaMattina in Forbes last year, more and more senior scientific executives are moving from pharma to small biotechs or startup initiatives. While the jury is out on whether this observation reflects a real trend or not, we at Labiotech are keen to learn about what drives people to make such a move! […] September 3, 2018 - 11 minutesmins - By External Contributor Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 23 Apr 2018 The First CAR-T Therapy Is Not Living Up to Commercial Expectations Novartis’ Kymriah, the first approved CAR-T therapy worldwide, has performed far below sales expectations in the last quarter. The news highlights the challenges CAR-T therapies still face before becoming a commercially viable treatment option. CAR-T therapy has shown impressive results treating the cancer of patients for which all other treatments fail. One would expect this […] April 23, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Editorial Team Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 19 Feb 2018 Is Novartis’ Psoriasis Drug Going to Steal Humira’s Crown? Two clinical studies have demonstrated the capacity of Novartis’ monoclonal antibody to treat both plaque and scalp psoriasis and improve patient quality of life. Not only is Novartis leading the CAR-T cell therapy field with the approval of Kymriah last year, the big pharma is also developing drugs for diseases affecting the immune system. The company presented […] February 19, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 25 Jan 2018 Novartis Will Bring US Gene Therapy for Blindness to Europe The Swiss pharma has bought into the gene editing therapy game in a deal with Spark worth $170M (€137M) for commercialization rights outside the US. Novartis first marked out its position as a gene therapy leader in 2012 when it threw its hat into the CAR-T ring. Just a few months after the FDA approved […] January 25, 2018 - 2 minutesmins - By Evelyn Warner Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
In Depth 25 Jan 2018 What Happened to the Plans for a Smart Contact Lens for Diabetics? Originally projected to be on the market by 2020, excitement about the contact lens to measure glucose levels from Novartis and Google has waned. Why? In 2016, smart wearables growth was steady but a recent study predicts that the market will pick up this year introducing innovative products to the consumer market: according to CCS Insight, the market for […] January 25, 2018 - 5 minutesmins - By External Contributor Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 22 Jan 2018 Novartis Takes Genmab’s Leukemia Drug Off the Market Genmab’s leukemia drug will be available around the world through compassionate use programs, while it will continue to be marketed as normal in the US. Blockbuster drug owner Genmab developed Arzerra for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) but the drug will be taken off the market outside the US due to its low uptake. Novartis markets the drug and […] January 22, 2018 - 3 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Best in Biotech 18 Dec 2017 Smile! Here are the 12 Biggest Biotech Clinical Successes of 2017 Now that we’ve got the bad news out of the way, we’re here to spread some Christmas cheer with the biggest clinical successes in biotech over the past 12 months. It’s unlikely that one whole year will ever pass without a single hiccup, especially in a field as complex as biotech. For that reason, we […] December 18, 2017 - 9 minutesmins - By Alex Dale Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 31 Aug 2017 The FDA Approves the First CAR-T Cell Therapy for Cancer The FDA has approved Novartis’ CAR-T therapy Kymriah, opening the way for a new generation of cell therapy treatments against cancer. Novartis’ Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel), formerly known as CTL019, has become the first gene-modified cell therapy approved in the US. The FDA has approved the therapy for relapsing B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in children and young […] August 31, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 29 Aug 2017 Gilead’s €10Bn Buyout of Kite Pharma Shakes European CAR-T Stocks European CAR-T stocks have jumped following Gilead’s announcement that it will acquire Kite Pharma, Novartis’ main competitor to launch the first therapy. Yesterday, Gilead bought a $11.9Bn (€9.9Bn) ticket to enter the final leg of the race to launch the first CAR-T therapy, a technology that is expected to change how cancer is treated. Despite the technology’s […] August 29, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email