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
The Retinal Degeneration Fund (RD Fund), the venture arm of the Foundation Fighting Blindness, today announced the launch of Opus Genetics, a patient-focused gene therapy company efficiently developing therapies for orphan inherited retinal diseases, based in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. 22 September 2021
US pharma giant Pfizer and German partner BioNTech have reached agreement with the US government to provide an additional 500 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine – trade-named Comirnaty - at a not-for-profit price for donation to low- and lower-middle-income countries and the organizations that support them 22 September 2021
Announcing a second Asian out-licensing deal for its rare liver disease drug candidate, US biotech Mirum Pharmaceuticals has now granted exclusive rights to market maralixibat in Japan to Takeda Pharmaceutical. 22 September 2021
A combination of Phase III data and real-world evidence show the safety and efficacy of offering a booster shot of Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine. 22 September 2021
Canada’s AbCellera (Nasdaq: ABCL) today announced the European Commission (EC) and Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) have entered into a joint procurement agreement to supply up to 220,000 doses of bamlanivimab together with etesevimab to treat confirmed COVID-19 in patients aged 12 years and older that do not require supplemental oxygen for COVID-19 and who are at increased risk of progressing to severe COVID-19. 22 September 2021
US biotech bluebird bio says it has completed the rolling submission of its Biologics License Application (BLA) to the US Food and Drug Administration for betibeglogene autotemcel (beti-cel) gene therapy in adult, adolescent and pediatric patients with β-thalassemia who require regular red blood cell (RBC) transfusions, across all genotypes. 22 September 2021
Research undertaken at the University of Bristol, UK, paves the way for a novel artificial intelligence (AI)-driven platform for growing and treating virtual tumors. 22 September 2021
Pharma giant Novartis today announced that it has acquired fellow Switzerland-based Arctos Medical, adding a pre-clinical optogenetics-based AAV gene therapy program and Arctos’ proprietary technology to its ophthalmology portfolio. 22 September 2021
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Cabometyx (cabozantinib) for the additional indication of the treatment of adult and pediatric patients 12 years of age and older with locally advanced or metastatic differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) that has progressed following prior vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR)-targeted therapy and who are radioactive iodine-refractory or ineligible. 21 September 2021
Privately-held US immune-oncology firm Vigeo Therapeutics today announced completion of the Phase I/II dose expansion studies evaluating its lead asset VT1021 in recurrent glioblastoma (rGBM) and pancreatic cancer. 21 September 2021
German family-owned drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim says it has acquired Abexxa Biologics, a biopharmaceutical company taking a new approach in the fields of immuno-oncology (I-O) and oncology research to develop the next generation of precision medicines designed to revolutionize cancer treatments. 21 September 2021
US cancer specialist Verastem Oncology saw its shares briefly spike by as much as 29% Monday morning, after announcing a clinical collaboration agreement with biotech major Amgen to evaluate the combination of VS-6766, Verastem’s investigational dual RAF/MEK inhibitor, with Amgen’s KRAS G12C inhibitor Lumakras (sotorasib) in KRAS G12C-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). 21 September 2021
Research from industry analyst GlobalData finds an increasing rate of dealmaking in India in recent quarters, propelled by the coronavirus pandemic. 21 September 2021
Data from the Phase III IMpower010 trial testing Tecentriq (atezolizumab) after surgery and chemo in lung cancer show a 34% reduction in the risk of disease recurrence or death. 21 September 2021