The UK’s new 2024 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing, access, and growth (VPAG) came into force at the beginning of January this year. 4 October 2024
GigaGen has been awarded a contract by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) within the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). 4 October 2024
Oxford, UK-based Enara Bio today announces the closing of a $32.5 million Series B financing supported by a strong syndicate of new and existing biotech investors. 3 October 2024
French drugmaker Mitem Pharmavhas the worldwide acquisition of Desferal (deferoxamine), a major MITM in hematology, from Swiss giant Novartis. 25 September 2024
The Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW) is further expanding its focus on life sciences by opening an institute for biomedical artificial intelligence (AI) based on a 150 million euros ($166.8 million) funding from the German non-profit Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation (BIS). 18 September 2024
Zenas BioPharma announced the pricing of its upsized initial public offering of 13,235,294 shares of its common stock at an initial public offering price of $17.00 per share. 13 September 2024
US pharma major Eli Lilly and Egyptian firm EVA Pharma have entered into an agreement to expand access to Olumiant (baricitinib) to an estimated 20,000 people in 49 low- to middle-income countries in Africa by 2030. 6 September 2024
Novartis is building two new radioligand therapy (RLT) manufacturing facilities in the USA to enhance its supply chain for cancer treatments. This move supports the growing use of RLTs, a form of precision medicine that targets tumors with radiation. 6 September 2024
Belgium’s largest drugmaker UCB announced a strategic divestment deal in China, underscoring its strategic shift towards innovation and partnership in one of the world’s fastest-growing pharmaceutical markets. 27 August 2024
The UK’s largest pharma company AstraZeneca has rejected claims that it is moving its vaccine operations to the USA, according to media reports. 23 August 2024
Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma announced the termination of its exclusive sales rights agreements with AnGes for the HGF gene therapy product, Collategene (beperminogene perplasmid) intramuscular injection targeting peripheral arterial diseases in Japan and the USA. 23 August 2024
UK pharma major AstraZeneca has become the only current UK-lis¬ted company to reach a £200 billion ($256.4 billion) valuation, the Financial Times reported today, noting that it is a vindication of the company’s bet on developing a leading portfolio of cancer drugs. 14 August 2024
Japan’s Eisai and US biotech Biogen today revealed that the Ministry of Health and Prevention in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has approved Leqembi (lecanemab) for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). 14 August 2024
US pharma giant Pfizer has announced the publication of real-world results from a cohort of the longitudinal, observational Phase IV THAOS (Transthyretin Amyloidosis Outcomes Survey) study in the Journal of Cardiac Failure. 8 August 2024
Japanese drugmaker Shionogi says that its New Drug Application (NDA) for cefiderocol has been accepted for review by the Center for Drug Evaluation, National Medical Products Administration (NMPA). 5 August 2024
Germany’s Bayer has submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration for approval to market elinzanetant for moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms (VMS), commonly known as hot flashes, associated with menopause. 2 August 2024
US pharma giant Merck & Co entered into a definitive agreement under which Merck, through a subsidiary, will acquire Harpoon Therapeutics for $23.00 per share. 9 January 2024
Breaking new ground, private Chinese start-up Argo Biopharmaceutical has won two exclusive license and collaboration contracts with Swiss cancer giant Novartis. 9 January 2024
The European Commission (EC) has approved US pharma giant Pfizer’s Talzenna (talazoparib) in combination with Xtandi (enzalutamide), for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic castration-resistant 9 January 2024
US biopharma Applied Therapeutics has announced the top-line results of the ARISE-HF Phase III trial of AT-001 (caficrestat) in patients with diabetic cardiomyopathy (DbCM) at high risk of progression to overt heart failure. 8 January 2024
USA-based biotech incubator Flagship Pioneering and South Korea’s Samsung today announced a collaboration aimed at fostering cutting-edge biopharmaceutical innovation. 8 January 2024
Shares of UK blood disease drug developer Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals were down 7.5% at 2.13 pence as trading drew to a closed today, despite announcing the successful completion of its Process Qualification (PQ) run of the end-to-end process for the manufacture of HEMO-CAR-T cells. 8 January 2024
Kicking of the JP Morgan Healthcare conference this morning, Johnson & Johnson announced a definitive agreement to acquire Ambrx Biopharma. 8 January 2024
Germany’s Boehringer Ingelheim closed last week with a fourth licensing deal, this one with Japan’s Kyowa Kirin to develop a novel, first-in-class treatment for fibro-inflammatory diseases. 8 January 2024
Belgium’s UCB has won European Commission (EC) approval for Rystiggo (rozanolixizumab) as an add-on to standard therapy for generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) in adults who are anti-acetylcholine receptor (AChR) or anti-muscle-specific tyrosine kinase (MuSK) antibody positive. 8 January 2024
Swiss pharma giant Novartis has entered an agreement to acquire Dutch firm Calypso Biotech, a developer of Interleukin15 (IL-15) targeted therapies. 8 January 2024
Two Finnish companies, Orion Corporation and Glykos Finland Oy, have entered into a research collaboration and licensing agreement related to the development of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) to treat solid tumors. 8 January 2024
Japanese pharma major Astellas has provided an update on its decision to stop production of its antibiotic Wilprafen (josamycin) in Russia, as recently reported by The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent. 8 January 2024
Swiss pharma giant Novartis today announced positive results from the primary analysis of ASC4FIRST, a pivotal Phase III trial comparing Scemblix (asciminib) with investigators’ choice of tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment in newly diagnosed patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia in chronic phase (Ph+ CML-CP). 8 January 2024
The US Food and Drug Administration has authorized a drug importation program in Florida, as the state seeks to benefit from lower cost medicines across the border. 8 January 2024
While the antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) market has exploded over the last several years, generating $6.6 billion in sales globally in 2022, it is still early days for this rapidly growing class of drugs, according to Leerink Partners analyst Dr Andrew Berens. 8 January 2024