UK researchers have reported sequencing the whole genomes of a human donor and a patient using a hand-held device based on nanopore technology. The device was developed by Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd, a venture capital-backed company based in Oxford UK.
Switzerland-based Actelion Ltd and Johnson & Johnson Inc have confirmed that they are in discussions about a “potential transaction.” This is the second negotiation involving Actelion in a little over a year.
Solanezumab, a monoclonal antibody that was being tested in patients with mild dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease, won’t be submitted for registration following the drug’s failure to meet its primary endpoint in a Phase 3 trial, Eli Lilly and Company announced on 23 November.
Juno Therapeutics Inc of the US suspended a trial of its chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy for leukaemia for a second time on 23 November following the deaths of two patients from cerebral edema.
Regulators in both the US and Europe are preparing for the first submissions of a new class of cancer drugs that have been shown to vanquish cancer in some patients b
Kite Pharma Inc plans to make a US regulatory submission for its lead chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy for patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma starting at the end of December. Following talks with the Food and Drug Administration, the US company announced in early November that it will make a rolling regulatory submission.
Novartis has taken steps to broaden its portfolio of drugs treating haematologic disorders with the acquisition of Selexys Pharmaceuticals Corp of the US which has a product for treating a complication of sickle cell disease that recently completed Phase 2.
Researchers at the Karolinska Institutet have identified a previously unknown safety mechanism in the immune system that protects the body from autoimmune diseases. The discovery may be the key to countering autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), they contend.
Immunotherapy for treating metastasised melanoma works better when there is a diversity of bacteria in the gut, according to a study by researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in the US.
As embryonic stem cells divide, they are able to express the same genes as the original cell despite all the possibilities of mutation. Now, scientists from the Institut Pasteur have identified a transcription factor, Esrrb (estrogen related receptor beta), that makes this possible.