Artios Pharma Ltd has negotiated its second major collaboration in four months for the use of its DNA damage response technology to help a partner develop new drugs for cancer. The newest deal is with Novartis, which has agreed to pay the UK company $20 million upfront for access to the platform as well as research funding and up to $1.3 billion in discovery, development, regulatory and sales-based milestone payments.
The European Medicines Agency has concluded that unusual blood clots with low blood platelets should be listed as very rare side effects of the Oxford University/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. But overall, the vaccine’s benefits outweigh its risks.
Leyden Laboratories BV, a Dutch start-up, has launched an ambitious plan to develop a portfolio of intranasal prophylactic medicines to prevent infection from a host of viruses including coronaviruses. On 25 March, the company announced the closing of a Series A financing of €40 million from a syndicate led by GV (formerly Google Ventures), to advance its programme.
In a statement, Koenraad Wiedhaup, chief executive of the new company, said the goal is to “develop products that provide immediate protection against existing, mutating and new viruses.”
Sarclisa (isatuximab), a monoclonal antibody developed by Sanofi SA, has been approved for a second multiple myeloma indication in the US after showing that it reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 45% compared with the standard of care.
Gyroscope Therapeutics Ltd, a gene therapy company founded by Syncona Ltd, has received $148 million in a Series C financing round to advance its lead product for geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness. The financing was led by Forbion Capital Partners with a significant contribution from Syncona, which now owns 54% of the company.
The immune checkpoint inhibitor Tecentriq (atezolizumab) met its primary endpoint of disease-free survival in a Phase 3 study in people with early non-small cell lung cancer, Roche announced on 22 March. The interim analysis showed the drug improved outcomes as an adjuvant therapy following surgery and chemotherapy. At the time of the analysis, data on overall survival were immature.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a cell-based gene therapy for multiple myeloma – the first therapy of its type for myeloma, an uncommon type of blood cancer. Abecma (idecabtagene vicleucel) is a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy targeting the B cell maturation antigen (BCMA), a cell membrane receptor expressed exclusively on late stage B cells and plasma cells. Abecma has been approved for adult patients who have not responded to, or whose disease has returned after, at least four prior lines of therapy.
A new endocrine treatment for patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia is being recommended for marketing in Europe after achieving positive results in a Phase 3 study of 122 patients with the disease. The European Medicines Agency delivered the positive opinion on 26 March, ahead of a decision on marketing authorisation by the European Commission.
Evotec SE ended 2020 with liquidity of €481.9 million and a portfolio of co-owned research assets, equity investments and clinical-stage pharma projects underpinning its work as a global drug discovery company. Revenue for the year was €500.9 million, up by 12% from 2019. Operating profit was €48.5 million, down by 22% due to delayed milestone payments and higher investments in R&D.
At a briefing for analysts on 25 March, Werner Lanthaler, the chief executive, said the financial outlook is strong for the current year. He also outlined a new strategy for the period up to 2025.
AstraZeneca Plc has issued fresh data from its US Phase 3 trial of a Covid-19 vaccine developed jointly with Oxford University (AZD1222) showing an efficacy rate of 76% against symptomatic disease. The primary efficacy analysis included the accrual of 190 symptomatic cases of Covid-19 from the 32,449 trial participants. This represents an additional 49 cases as compared with an interim analysis of the trial which was published on 22 March and showed an efficacy rate of 79%.