The cancer immunotherapy market will experience considerable growth through 2022, increasing from $1.1 billion in 2012 to nearly $9 billion in 2022 (corresponding to 23.8% annual growth) in the USA, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK and Japan. 1 July 2014
French drugmaker Ipsen has submitted a Supplemental New Drug Application to the US Food and Drug Administration for Somatuline Depot 120mg (lanreotide) injection for the treatment of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs). 1 July 2014
US pharma giant Merck & Co says that the European Medicines Agency has accepted for review a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for pembrolizumab (MK-3475), the company’s investigational anti-PD-1 antibody, for the treatment of advanced melanoma. 1 July 2014
Merck Serono, the biotech subsidiary of Germany’s Merck KGaA, has released positive new clinical trial results comparing its cancer drug Erbitux (cetuximab) with Swiss drug major Roche’s blockbuster Avastin (bevacizumab). 30 June 2014
Privately-held Swiss pharma group Helsinn said today that rights to anamorelin, its innovative ghrelin receptor agonist, have been granted in Turkey to GEN Ilac. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. 30 June 2014
Positive results have been announced by US pharma giant Merck & Co from a global, investigational Phase III study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Emend (aprepitant) in the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) in pediatric cancer patients, aged six months to 17 years. 30 June 2014
Cipla has collaborated with fellow Indian drugmaker Hetero to launch a biosimilar of the drug darbepoetin alfa, US biotech major Amgen's anemia drug Aranesp, under the brand name Actorise. 30 June 2014
UK pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline and Danish partner Genmab have revealed that the Phase III study of ofatumumab (Arzerra) versus physicians’ choice in patients with bulky fludarabine-refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) did not meet its primary endpoint of progression free survival (PFS). 28 June 2014
Along with backing for approval for six news drugs issued at the late June meeting of the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), were several recommendations for additional indications for already approved medicines. These included: 27 June 2014
UK health care watchdog the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued new draft guidance proposing to recommend Swiss drug major Novartis’ Glivec (imatinib) after surgery for some people with gastro-intestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). 27 June 2014
Japanese pharma major Eisai said today that it has submitted its first marketing authorization application for its novel in-house developed anticancer agent lenvatinib mesylate for the treatment of thyroid cancer in Japan. 26 June 2014
There was disappointment for Anglo-Swedish pharma major AstraZeneca yesterday when a US Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted against approval of its investigational ovarian cancer drug. 26 June 2014
Shares of US pharma major Bristol-Myers Squibb rose 2.6% to $49.55 in post-market trading on June 25, after the company halted a clinical trial with its investigational melanoma drug nivolumab due to good results. 25 June 2014
USA-based biotech firm Affymax says that its board of directors has approved the liquidation and dissolution of the company, subject to stockholder approval, and plans to distribute all available cash to its stockholders. 25 June 2014
Indian drugmaker Intas Pharmaceuticals says it has reinforced its oncology product range by successfully introducing the azacitidine molecule in Azadine for the first time in India. 25 June 2014
US drugmaker Ligand Pharmaceuticals has signed an exclusive global license accord with TG Therapeutics for the development and commercialization of Ligand’s interleukin-1 receptor associated kinase-4 (IRAK-4) inhibitors. 24 June 2014
Privately-held US biotech company Mersana Therapeutics and EMD Serono, the North America biopharmaceutical division of Germany’s Merck KGaA, have entered into an agreement to collaboratively develop next-generation antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). 24 June 2014
The US Food and Drug Administration is warning that the intravenous chemotherapy drug docetaxel contains ethanol, also known as alcohol, which may cause patients to experience intoxication or feel drunk during and after treatment. 23 June 2014
USA-based Merrimack Pharmaceuticals says it has reached an agreement with French drug major Sanofi to regain worldwide rights to develop and commercialize MM-121, a monoclonal antibody designed to block ErbB3 (HER3) activation in patients with heregulin-positive tumors and improve response to standard of care treatments. 20 June 2014
Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) has approved German pharma major Bayer’s oral multi-kinase inhibitor Nexavar (sorafenib) for the treatment of patients with unresectable differentiated thyroid carcinoma. The MHLW granted Nexavar orphan drug status for thyroid carcinoma in September 2013. 20 June 2014
In what Astella Pharma calls “a landmark decision for advanced bladder cancer patients,” the Japanese drugmaker gained approval in the UK for its treatment regimen. 10 October 2024
Pfizer released positive top line results from the final prespecified overall survival (OS) analysis of the TALAPRO-2 study of Talzenna (talazoparib), an oral poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, in combination with Xtandi (enzalutamide). 10 October 2024
US healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson’s Tecvayli (teclistamab) has been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as a first-line option to treat myeloma in England and Wales. 10 October 2024
Cancer start-up Black Diamond Therapeutics has announced a significant restructuring as part of its plan to focus resources on its lead drug, BDTX-1535. 10 October 2024
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has accepted for review the Marketing Authorization Applications for AVT03, a proposed biosimilar candidate to the Prolia and Xgeva (denosumab), submitted by Germany’s STADA Arzneimittel. 10 October 2024
China’s Quantum Pharmaceuticals has announced a significant licensing agreement between its biologics-focused subsidiary, Ailux Biologics, and Johnson & Johnson. 10 October 2024
Advances in gene editing, such as the FDA approval of Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ Casgevy (exagamglogene autotemcel) in December 2023 for the treatment of beta thalassemia and sickle cell disease, have fueled significant interest in innovative epigenetic drugs. 10 October 2024
German family-owned pharma major Boehringer Ingelheim and USA-based Circle Pharma (have entered into a research collaboration and license agreement with the shared goal to develop a first-in-class cyclin inhibitor that can halt the growth of cancer cells potentially offering hope to those living with hard-to-treat cancers. 9 October 2024
Bayer has entered into a collaboration with MOMA Therapeutics to develop a small molecule oncology program using the latter’s proprietary KNOMATIC platform. 9 October 2024
Genor Biopharma has announced plans for a significant merger with Edding Group, marking one of the first reverse takeovers involving a Hong Kong-listed biopharma company. 8 October 2024
China-headquartered clinical-stage biotech MediLink Therapeutics has announced a global clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with US major Amgen. 8 October 2024
Germany’s Eckert & Ziegler, a specialist in radioisotopes for medical, scientific and industrial applications, has announced a global clinical supply agreement with GlyTherix, an Australian targeted radiotherapy firm specializing in developing antibody radiopharmaceuticals for solid tumors. 8 October 2024
US clinical-stage biotech OnKure Therapeutics has announced the completion of its previously announced merger with Reneo Pharmaceuticals. 8 October 2024
Daejeon-based Orum Therapeutics, a specialist in degrader-antibody conjugates (DAC), has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) on South Korea's Kosdaq market. 7 October 2024
Mosaic Therapeutics, a UK-based oncology therapeutics company dedicated to resolving cancer’s complexity to power new combination therapies for patients, has announced the appointment of Barry Davies as chief scientific officer. 7 October 2024