The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a second gene therapy to treat cancer, giving a further boost to developers of the new technologies. The approval is for Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel), a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy to treat adults with certain types of large B-cell lymphoma.
Eli Lilly and Co has obtained the services of CureVac AG for the discovery and development of up to five cancer vaccines, all of which will make use of the German company’s messenger RNA (mRNA) technology to target tumour neoantigens and fight the cancers.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc, which has a gene therapy on the market, is broadening its portfolio of advanced therapy medicinal products to include potential new treatments derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). iPSCs are a type of pluripotent stem cell that can be generated directly from adult cells.
The Roche group has signaled a commitment to antibiotics by way of a collaboration with Warp Drive Bio Inc of Cambridge, Massachusetts, US to advance multiple new classes of antibiotic drugs targeting drug-resistant, Gram-negative pathogens.
Sales of antibiotic drugs for the treatment of animals has declined in Europe against a backdrop of appeals from public health authorities to curb their use in food-producing species. Overuse of these drugs is linked to a rise in bacterial resistance to existing medicines.
Spark Therapeutics Inc’s gene therapy for the treatment of inherited retinal dystrophy has received the unanimous backing of an advisory committee of the US Food and Drug Administration ahead of the agency’s decision on marketing in early 2018.
Angle Plc has raised a further £2.8 million to complement a £12.2 million fundraising announced on 5 October. The monies will help the company finance the purchase of assets from Canada-based Axela Inc that will broaden its liquid biopsy capabilities enabling it to both harvest circulating tumour cells from patients and analyse them for gene expression.
Erytech Pharma SA has become the second European biotech in less than a week to propose a global public share offering including a listing on the US Nasdaq market. The French company notified the Securities and Exchange Commission on 6 October of plans to raise up to $100 million.
Netherlands-based Kiadis Pharma NV has called on investors for the second time since June, raising €18 million to support the development of its cell therapy platform for making bone marrow transplantations safer. The company placed 2.25 million new shares with investors.
Faron Pharmaceuticals Oy has raised £10 million, before expenses, in a private share placement to support the late-stage development and commercialisation of its product for acute respiratory distress syndrome Traumakine. Current and new investors supported the offering.