Norway-based Targovax ASA is to work with Valo Therapeutics Oy to investigate a new vaccine platform that could target a range of difficult-to-treat cancers. Targovax has an oncolytic virus product, ONCOS-102, in early clinical development against a number of cancers including mesothelioma where it recently generated positive data. It also has recent experience with a cancer vaccine targeting tumours expressing mutated forms of RAS.
A second pharma partnership is poised to start a human trial of a candidate vaccine for COVID-19 using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. Germany-based BioNTech SE and Pfizer Inc will test BioNTech’s BNT162 programme in approximately 200 healthy subjects between the ages of 18 and 55. Permission to start the trial was granted by the German regulator, the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, the companies announced on 22 April.
The Roche group achieved sales of CHF 15.143 billion ($15.6 billion) in the first quarter as demand for new products more than offset the impact of competition from biosimilar medicines. Sales at constant exchange rates were up by 7%.
Sangamo Therapeutics Inc is to exclusively license cellular conversion technology from UK-based Mogrify Ltd in order to develop allogeneic cell therapies for the treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The two companies announced the agreement on 21 April, but did not disclose the size of the upfront and milestone payments.
A partnership that brings together industry, pharmaceutical regulators and the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) is being created to speed up the development of therapies and vaccines for COVID-19. The planned alliance is the work of the NIH and its sister foundation, the Foundation for the NIH.
Roche has announced plans to launch a new serology test to detect protective antibodies in people who have been exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The test is expected to be available by early May in countries that recognise the CE registration mark. The company is also applying to the US Food and Drug Administration to get emergency use authorisation for the US market.
The US Food and Drug Administration has reported positive results from a clinical investigation of synthetic swaps that might be used at the front of the nose to test for the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the general population. The swabs have been tested by a collaboration that includes the FDA; the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the insurer UnitedHealth Group; and the contract research organisation Quantigen LLC. The diagnostic is a polyester-based swab developed by US Cotton, which manufactures cotton swabs.
The German biotech BioNTech SE has joined forces with Pfizer Inc to co-develop a candidate vaccine against infection from the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 which had affected 1.7 million people globally as of 12 April and resulted in 105,952 deaths.
A Phase 3 trial of the lung cancer drug Tagrisso (osimertinib) will be unblinded early on the recommendation of the data monitoring committee on evidence of overwhelming efficacy, the developer AstraZeneca Plc announced on 10 April. Tagrisso, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), has already been approved for first and second-line use in patients with advanced non-small lung cancer. The Phase 3 trial, called ADAURA, was treating patients with early-stage disease. The primary endpoint of the trial is disease-free survival.
Evotec SE has set up a gene therapy research and development site in Austria, broadening its drug discovery capabilities to include advanced therapies as well as small molecules and biologics. The company announced the new site on 6 April, while simultaneously disclosing a contract with Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd to generate gene therapies for the Japanese company’s four therapeutic areas: oncology, rare diseases, neuroscience and gastroenterology.