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
Swiss drugmaker Basilea Pharmaceutica has entered into an asset purchase agreement with privately owned US firm Gravitas Therapeutics for GR-2397, a clinical-stage antifungal compound with a novel mechanism of action, targeting invasive mold infections caused by Aspergillus species. 20 October 2023
Shares of Japanese pharma major Daiichi Sankyo soared 14.4% to 4,095 yen by close of Tokyo trading today, after it announced what, if all goes according to plan, could be the biggest pharma licensing deal ever seen. 20 October 2023
In September, USA-based Ionis Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: IONS) unveiled positive Phase III clinical data for olezarsen, a ligand-conjugated antisense (LICA) designed to inhibit apolipoprotein C-III (apoC-III). 20 October 2023
Nearly five months have passed since the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) took place, and cancer-focused drugmakers are ready once again to dump their data to the world’s oncologists, media and more. 19 October 2023
Osaka, Japan-based biotech RegCell today announced the appointment of experienced life science exec Michael McCullar, as its new president, chief executive and representative director. 19 October 2023
Singapore-based biotech Hummingbird Bioscience today announced that San Diego, USA-based Endeavor BioMedicines has acquired exclusive worldwide rights to Hummingbird’s antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), HMBD-501. 19 October 2023
US biotech major Gilead Sciences has presented new long-term real-world data on its flagship medication Biktarvy (bictegravir 50 mg/emtricitabine 200 mg/tenofovir alafenamide 25 mg tablets, B/F/TAF). 19 October 2023
French pre-clinical biotech Mablink Biosciences has confirmed earlier rumors that it has agreed to a takeover bid from acquisition-hungry US pharma major Eli Lilly. 19 October 2023
Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo revealed that it has been ordered by a Texas district court to pay royalties on its antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) to US biotech Seagen. 19 October 2023
Californian advanced therapy company Nkarta moving forward with plans to leverage the potential of natural killer (NK) cell-based treatments outside of oncology. 19 October 2023
The GSK majority-owned company ViiV Healthcare is presenting 12-month efficacy, safety and patient-reported outcomes for European participants in the SOLAR study at the Annual European AIDS Conference (EACS) 2023 in Warsaw, Poland. 19 October 2023
German active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturer Axplora has appointed Stephan Haitz as president of the Novasep business unit. 19 October 2023
The European Commission (EC) has now approved Adcetris (brentuximab vedotin) in combination with doxorubicin, vinblastine and dacarbazine (AVD) to treat adult patients with previously untreated CD30+ Stage III Hodgkin lymphoma. 19 October 2023
After scientific advisors recommended that the US regulator not approve a new amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) therapy, developer BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics has opted to withdraw its submission. 19 October 2023
Swiss pharma giant Roche saw its shares fall more than 5% to 254.60 francs this morning, after it posted a cautious forecast for full-year 2023. 19 October 2023
The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) late yesterday confirmed that pre-filled pens falsely labeled as the diabetes medicine Ozempic (semaglutide, 1mg, solution for injection) have been identified at two UK wholesalers. 19 October 2023
The life sciences sector contributed £43.3 billion ($52.6 billion) to the UK economy in 2021 through production of goods and services, with pharma manufacturing responsible for a majority of £19.2 billion. 19 October 2023
Elevar Therapeutics and Hengrui Pharma have agreed to a global licensing deal giving the former rights to commercialize and develop the checkpoint blocker camrelizumab. 18 October 2023
Sino-American biotech BeiGene became the first Chinese-origin pharma company to market a programmed cell death protein 1 (PD1) therapy for oncology indications in various global markets, beginning with the European Union. 18 October 2023