News and Trends 11 Jul 2017 Novartis largely dodged deaths from its CAR-T therapy, but FDA still has safety concerns Editor’s Note: Novartis did note a death from cerebral hemorrhage in its hearing with the FDA yesterday. With the application review hearing set for tomorrow, the FDA has shared its thoughts on Novartis’ CAR-T candidate. Up front are serious safety concerns. Novartis’ CTL019, or Tisagenlecleucel, wowed the audience at ASH last fall with a stellar 82% […] July 11, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Evelyn Warner Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 22 Jun 2017 Novartis Scores Major Phase III Win with New Cardiovascular Drug Novartis just announced that its anti-inflammatory drug, canakinumab, was able to clear a 10,000-plus patient Phase III trial for cardiovascular disease. Novartis most recently boasted impressive Phase III results for its AMD drug, RTH258, that could yield the company a new blockbuster. Now, the Swiss drug maker announced that its cardiovascular drug, canakinumab, was able to meet its primary endpoint in […] June 22, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 20 Jun 2017 Novartis Tops Ophthalmology Blockbuster Eylea in Phase III Trials Bayer’s and Regeneron’s blockbuster Eylea could be facing serious competition, as Novartis boasts with positive Phase III results for AMD. Novartis has been struggling on the age-related macular degeneration (AMD) market since its Roche-partnered VEGF-A inhibitor Lucentis was outperformed by Eylea from Bayer and Regeneron, which required a less-frequent dosing schedule and was placed at a lower […] June 20, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 15 Jun 2017 Novartis Announces New Data for its Psoriasis Blockbuster Cosentyx Novartis has announced positive post-marketing results for its blockbuster Cosentyx, with which the pharma wants to compete with the best-selling drug. At the 2017 Annual European Congress of Rheumatology, currently being held in Madrid, Novartis has presented new data showing that Cosentyx (secukinumab) keeps improving symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis after three years of treatment and […] June 15, 2017 - 1 minutemin - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 15 Jun 2017 UK-based VC Launches Massive $300M Fund to Fill Gap for Late-Stage Biotech The UK-based VC Medicxi has raised a massive $300M (€268M) fund backed by Novartis and Google’s Verily to invest in late-stage drug development. After the former life science branch of famous Index Ventures went solo in 2016 and became Medicxi, the VC was able to raise a huge sum of €210M in its first round to support early-stage, single-asset […] June 15, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 2 May 2017 Novartis Gains Access to Celyad’s allogenic CAR-T cell patents Belgian Celyad is giving Novartis access to its IP for the production of allogeneic CAR-T cells in a non-exclusive license agreement, worth up to €88M. Celyad is developing “off-the-shelf” therapies, based on engineering donor-derived allogeneic T cells. Despite a recent public dispute with its key rival Cellectis regarding the validity of Celyad’s US patents, Novartis has now entered a non-exclusive […] May 2, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 25 Apr 2017 Novartis Negotiates its Way into the US Migraine Market Amgen and Novartis have expanded their collaboration for the co-development of their migraine drug, ensuring Novartis will get a chunk of the US revenues. After Novartis and Amgen recently completed their second Phase III study for their migraine drug erenumab, the companies have now reworked their commercial partnership. The two pharma giants teamed up back in 2015 to co-develop […] April 25, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 19 Apr 2017 UPDATE: Novartis broadens CAR-T onslaught with FDA endorsement UPDATE (19/04/2017): CTL019 has been granted Breakthrough Designation by the FDA for relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Novartis and Kite have been in a tight race to bring the first CAR-T therapy to market: Novartis has staked out acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) while Kite has gone for DLBCL. With this “tacit endorsement,” Novartis is encroaching on […] April 19, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Evelyn Warner Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 18 Apr 2017 Two Big Pharma Players Team up to Take Over the NASH Space Allergan has entered a clinical collaboration with Novartis to run a Phase IIb study combining its immunomodulator and Novartis’ FXR agonist for NASH. After Allergan snapped up Tobira’s cenicriviroc (CVC) last year in a €1.4B deal, the company is now taking the next step to advance its pipeline in the Non-Alcoholic SteatoHepatitis (NASH) race. The pharma company is going […] April 18, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
Best in Biotech 18 Apr 2017 The Top 12 Biotech Leaders You Should Know in Basel After exploring Munich and the Golden Triangle, we head to another biotech hotspot full of people that should be on your list of who’s who. Basel is home to some really big biotech and pharma companies and it’s consequently a cornerstone of the excellence Switzerland has demonstrated in the industry (also seen in Zurich). As a key […] April 18, 2017 - 6 minutesmins - By Denise Neves Gameiro Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 6 Apr 2017 How is Biotech Transforming Pharma’s R&D Model? Since the early 2000s, pharma has undergone a major reorganization. What roles do strategic alliances and acquisitions play in this new model? For almost two centuries, medicinal products have brought continuous therapeutic progress. This path is marked by breakthrough innovations, which now allow us to treat diseases previously believed to be incurable. But to bring about […] April 6, 2017 - 4 minutesmins - By External Contributor Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 24 Mar 2017 Novartis puts the Development of two Anti-Aging Drugs in American Hands PureTech will take on the development of two mTORC1 inhibitors from Novartis aimed at stopping the decline of the immune system associated with age. Novartis is building up the portfolio of PureTech, a Boston-based healthcare company listed on the London stock market. Originally an investment firm, it now has put together a drug pipeline from […] March 24, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email