Bayer pledges $300M to boost production in world’s ‘contraceptive capital’
Bayer, currently in the midst of a gung-ho cell therapy expansion in the U.S., is turning its attention back to Europe as it looks to beef up its birth control manufacturing in the world’s “contraceptive capital.” The company has designs on a €250 million ($303 million) investment for a new production plant in Turku, Finland, which […]
AZ, Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines ‘highly effective’ against Delta variant
AstraZeneca and Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccines are ‘highly effective’ at protecting against the Delta (previously known as the Indian) variant, according to new real-world data from Public Health England (PHE). The analysis included 14,019 cases of the Delta variant, of which 166 were hospitalised, between 12 April and 4 June, looking at emergency hospital admissions in […]
Opdivo plus Yervoy scores NICE backing for certain bowel cancer patients
Bristol Myers Squibb’s (BMS) immunotherapy combination Opdivo plus Yervoy has been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for the treatment of certain advanced bowel cancer patients. In its final appraisal document (FAD), NICE has recommended Opdivo (nivolumab) plus Yervoy (ipilimumab) for advanced bowel cancer patients with the rare high microsatellite […]
Nemera breaks ground in Brazil through Milfra acquisition
With this acquisition, Nemera establishes an operational footprint in Brazil and expands its product and services offering to better serve the pharmaceutical industry in Latin America. Nemera today announced that they have entered into an agreement to acquire Milfra. Milfra, based in Jaguariuna, state of São Paulo, Brazil, specializes in the development and production of […]
EHA: Johnson & Johnson, bolsters Darzalex’s myeloma lead with ‘unprecedented’ survival data
Johnson & Johnson’s Darzalex has comfortably been the only CD38 multiple myeloma drug on the market for years until Sanofi hit the scene last year with Sarclisa. Now, just as the competition’s slated to intensify, the U.S. company is building its case with new patient survival data. Adding Darzalex to Bristol Myers Squibb’s Revlimid and […]
Imbruvica/Venclyxto tops Gazyva plus chemo in first-line CLL/SLL
Johnson & Johnson’s BTK inhibitor Imbruvica plus AbbVie and Roche’s Vencylxto demonstrated superiority over Gazyva plus chemotherapy in a new Phase III study. In elderly and unfit patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL), fixed-duration Imbruvica (ibrutinib) plus Venclyxto (venetoclax) had superior progression free survival (PFS) compared to Gazyva […]
CUREVAC VACCINE DISAPPOINTS IN KEY STUDY AMID ‘UNPRECEDENTED’ SPREAD OF VARIANTS
Dive Brief: An experimental coronavirus vaccine from drugmaker CureVac was only 47% effective at preventing COVID-19 in a preliminary analysis of results from a large clinical trial, a disappointing result that the German biotech company attributed to the widespread prevalence of virus variants. According to CureVac, the efficacy estimate could change as more of […]
Gene editing biotech Verve to raise $267M in large IPO
Dive Brief: Verve Therapeutics, a high-profile startup developing a more precise form of gene editing, announced Wednesday it raised nearly $270 million in an initial public offering that will rank as one of the largest in biotech this year. The company sold just over 14 million shares at $19 apiece through the IPO. Shares will […]
Regeneron antibody cuts risk of COVID-19 death in UK study
Dive Brief: A major study found that Regeneron’s antibody treatment can reduce the risk of death for certain people hospitalized with COVID-19, the first definitive evidence a drug aimed at the coronavirus can lower mortality among the sickest patients. Regeneron’s combination antibody regimen cut the risk of death by 20% in patients who had […]
Trial failure dashes Biogen hopes for next Alzheimer’s drug
Dive Brief: An experimental Alzheimer’s disease treatment developed by Biogen didn’t slow patients’ decline when compared to a placebo in a mid-stage study, leading the Massachusetts-based biotech to halt all work on the drug. Known as gosuranemab, the drug blocks a protein that accumulates in patients’ brain called tau, which is different than the way […]