Sat.May 06, 2023 - Fri.May 12, 2023

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‘The luckiest of the unlucky’: A Duchenne gene therapy brings hope to families — and tests the FDA

Bio Pharma Dive

Patient advocates and doctors are anticipating an approval this month of a treatment they believe to be a breakthrough for a deadly disease. But it’s not clear how well the therapy really works, putting the FDA in a difficult position.

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BioNTech’s RNA vaccine sparks potential in pancreatic cancer

Pharmaceutical Technology

Results published in Nature for a personalised pancreatic cancer vaccine that uses neoantigens from patients’ tumours have lent further support to early positive signals. The vaccine, developed by BioNTech, led to half of the patients with pancreatic cancer in the Phase I trial remaining cancer-free 18 months later. In the study, 16 patients were treated with a vaccine called autogene cevumeran that contained a maximum of 20 neoantigens, alongside Roche’s anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy Tecentriq (atez

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Air pollution shown to worsen movement disorder after stroke

Medical Xpress

Air pollution has been shown to have a negative effect on the prognosis of ischemic stroke, or stroke caused by reduced blood flow to the brain, but the exact mechanism is unknown. A team of researchers recently conducted a study to determine whether or not increased inflammation of the brain, also known as neuroinflammation, is the main culprit.

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What Drives Clinical Trial Costs? A Comprehensive Exploration

Cloudbyz

Clinical trials play a vital role in bringing new therapies and treatments to patients, but they can be expensive and resource-intensive endeavors. Understanding the factors driving clinical trial costs is essential for researchers, sponsors, and other stakeholders involved in the drug development process. This blog post will delve into the various factors that drive clinical trial costs and provide insights on how to manage and control these expenses effectively.

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Running Decentralized Trials at Scale: Planning for Success

There’s been a rapid shift towards decentralization in clinical trials & it’s clear why. The potential for reaching a larger pool of recruits is possible when sponsors can bring more trial activities to the patient. Tele visits, digital consent, new monitoring sensors, & direct-to-patient supply are virtual tools that existed before the pandemic, but now there’s swift adoption of these methods because they’ve been proven to help launch & complete trials more effectively.

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FDA panel narrowly backs approval of Sarepta’s Duchenne gene therapy

Bio Pharma Dive

Advisers voted 8-6 in favor of an accelerated approval despite uncertainty around the treatment’s benefit. The agency is set to make a final decision by May 29.

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The emergence of tranq amidst the fentanyl crisis

Pharmaceutical Technology

In February, the FDA issued an alert restricting the import of the veterinary sedative xylazine or tranq and the ingredients used to make the drug. This followed in the wake of a Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Joint Intelligence Report in October 2022, which stated that xylazine is widely available from Chinese suppliers on the internet. According to a June 2022 study, xylazine has been detected in the illicit drug supply in 36 US States, and the DEA has reported that approximately 30% of the f

Drugs 278

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Cronobacter Sakazakii: The Bacteria Behind the Baby Formula Shortage

XTalks

Cronobacter sakazakii , the bacteria linked to recent baby formula shortages and the Abbott infant formula recall, could soon join the federal disease watchlist. In June, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) will vote to decide if it will officially recommend adding Cronobacter infections to the list of nationally notifiable diseases to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

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Cancer vaccine from BioNTech, Roche shows potential in small study

Bio Pharma Dive

The companies’ personalized shot generated tumor-specific T cells that researchers hope could help prevent pancreatic cancer from returning after surgery.

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Gilead wins patent battle with US government over HIV PrEP drugs

Pharmaceutical Technology

Gilead Sciences has emerged victorious in a legal battle with the US government over patents surrounding the HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) drugs Descovy and Truvada following a federal jury’s verdict on May 9. A jury in the Delaware District Court gave a favourable verdict to the Foster City, California-headquartered company, concluding that Gilead did not infringe any of the US government’s patents.

Drugs 264
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New method enables detection of plasma biomarkers cheaply and at scale

Medical Xpress

Blood plasma is collected from people routinely during clinical care and for research. It is potentially a rich source of protein biomarkers for diagnostic and prognostic purposes, for measuring response to treatment, and for revealing disease biology. Yet identifying such biomarkers in plasma with proteomics, our best available tool, has been a challenge: 99% of plasma consists of everyday proteins like albumin, globulins, and coagulants that essentially crowd out the needle-in-a-haystack prote

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What the FDA's New Dosage Guidance Means for the Future of Clinical Research

Speaker: Dr. Ben Locwin - Biopharmaceutical Executive & Healthcare Futurist

What will the future hold for clinical research? A recent draft from the FDA provides valuable insight. In "Optimizing the Dosage of Human Prescription Drugs and Biological Products for the Treatment of Oncologic Diseases," the FDA notes that "targeted therapies demonstrate different dose-response relationships compared to cytotoxic chemotherapy, such that doses below the Maximum Tolerated Dose (MTD) may have similar efficacy to the MTD but with fewer toxicities.

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Cellular Origins partners with ScaleReady to automate cell therapy manufacturing

BioPharma Reporter

Cellular Origins has partnered with ScaleReady, to automate portions of its cell and gene therapies (CGT) manufacturing workflow using a robotics system for sterile liquid transfer.

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FDA staff skeptical of Sarepta’s Duchenne gene therapy, documents show

Bio Pharma Dive

Sarepta has not provided “unambiguous evidence” its treatment can help patients, agency scientists wrote in documents released ahead of a crucial Friday advisory committee meeting.

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Synlogic’s SYNB1934 receives orphan drug status from US FDA

Pharmaceutical Technology

Synlogic has received orphan drug designation (ODD) from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for SYNB1934 to treat phenylketonuria (PKU), a rare inherited metabolic disease. The orally administered, non-systemically absorbed drug candidate SYNB1934 has been designed for reducing blood phenylalanine (Phe) levels in PKU patients. SYNB1934 consumes Phe in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract by leveraging genetic engineering of the drug or drug-carrying capsule, probiotic escherichia coli (E coli)

Drugs 261
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Research reveals cancer-killing benefits of popular obesity treatment

Medical Xpress

Maynooth University's Kathleen Londsdale Institute for Human Health Research has just published research into the benefits of the popular obesity treatment drug, GLP-1.

Research 143
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2022 Research: The Rapid Rise of Ocean Freight Visibility

A research study conducted by The Journal of Commerce and FourKites surveyed hundreds of international shippers, exploring how their usage of global supply chain visibility technology has evolved since the onset of global disruptions caused by COVID-19. For international shippers, ocean freight visibility has evolved from optional to essential and satisfaction with visibility varies greatly depending on how it is obtained and delivered.

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Why Webinar Accessibility is Important in the Global Market

XTalks

According to a report produced by the World Health Organization (WHO), around 1.3 billion people – or 16 percent of the world’s population – are living with significant disabilities. This makes it crucial that we adopt systems that make our webinars accessible to the greatest proportion of the population. Webinar hosts dedicate a lot of time and effort when creating webinar content, marketing it to potential attendees and practicing the delivery to ensure they convey their message to the audienc

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Alzheimer’s doctors see promise, limits in Lilly’s latest drug data

Bio Pharma Dive

While some see the new donanemab results as adding to a “watershed moment” in Alzheimer’s research, others say they reinforce the limitations of so-called anti-amyloid therapies.

Doctors 304
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Ginkgo and Boehringer partner to develop hard-to-treat disease therapies

Pharmaceutical Technology

Ginkgo Bioworks and Boehringer Ingelheim have collaborated to develop breakthrough therapies for hard-to-treat diseases. The companies will use the natural product discovery capabilities of Ginkgo Bioworks to expedite the discovery and development of new therapeutic molecules to address diseases with high unmet patient needs. They will also use the metagenomic sequence database of Ginkgo Bioworks which comprises more than three terabases of sequence data and over two billion protein sequences fr

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Researchers solve mystery of how statins improve blood vessel health

Medical Xpress

Using new genetic tools to study statins in human cells and mice, Stanford Medicine researchers and collaborators have uncovered how the cholesterol-lowering drugs protect the cells that line blood vessels.

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An Innovative & Creative Problem Solver Approach to Selling in the Medical Device Space

Speaker: Steve Goldstein, Sales Leader

Are you currently in sales, or involved in a business that depends on strong sales results? What about the extremely competitive world of medical device sales? What are some of the top challenges your customers face and how do you approach understanding what’s most important to them? Join Steve Goldstein, Sales Success Coach, Motivational Speaker and Medical Device Sales Leader from Gold Selling LLC., to discover critical strategies and approaches you can take to engage your customers, achieve g

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Vir Biotechnology awarded $10 million grant by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop HIV vaccine

BioPharma Reporter

Vir Biotechnology has been awarded a new $10 million grant by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support its novel T cell vaccine development program for the prevention of HIV.

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Gilead acquires San Diego startup for early-stage cancer, immune drugs

Bio Pharma Dive

The buyout of privately held XinThera continues a string of recent acquisitions of smaller biotechs by Gilead and hands it a group of drug prospects that could begin clinical testing later this year.

Drugs 278
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Researchers develop CRISPR-based drug candidate for microbiome targeting

Pharmaceutical Technology

The Technical University of Denmark (DTU) has announced that an international scientific team has developed a CRISPR-based drug candidate that targets E coli directly and leaves the microbiome intact. Blood cancer patients with E coli infection are at risk of bacteria infecting the bloodstream. An E coli infection can be fatal in these cases, with a 15-20% mortality rate.

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A potential pathway to improved stroke recovery

Medical Xpress

Ischemic stroke, caused by a blockage of blood flow to the brain, is a common cause of death and disability. Treatments are urgently needed to improve patient outcomes, because recovery currently depends largely on the timely injection of a blood clot-dissolving drug. Priorities for therapy include limiting inflammation at the ischemic site and rebuilding neuronal connections damaged by the stroke.

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Mandatory COVID Vaccination Policy Template

New vaccine mandates and testing policies will affect employers with more than 100 workers. Get Paycor’s free, customizable vaccination policy template to communicate critical details and new requirements to your employees. Get Paycor’s Template today!

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After Daybue’s Approval: Acadia Pharmaceuticals’ Next Steps for the Rett Syndrome Community

XTalks

Rett syndrome is a rare genetic disorder that predominantly affects girls and leads to severe physical and cognitive impairments. It affects around one in 10,000 girls born each year. Named after Austrian physician Andreas Rett, who first described the condition in 1966, Rett syndrome primarily manifests in early childhood, typically between six months and two years of age.

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EQRx resets strategy, abandoning plans to disrupt drug pricing

Bio Pharma Dive

Launched in 2020 with a "radical" vision, EQRx ran into roadblocks that stymied its efforts to develop new medicines and undercut competitors on price.

Drugs 294
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Takeda reports 12.8% rise in FY2022 revenue

Pharmaceutical Technology

Takeda has reported a 12.8% increase in its reported revenue to $29.96bn (Y4,027bn) during the fiscal year 2022 (FY2022) compared to that reported in FY2021. At a constant exchange rate (CER), the company’s core revenue grew by 3.5% compared to the previous year. In the FY2022 ending 31 March 2023, the company also reported a 6.4% rise in its operating profit to $3.65bn (Y490.5bn) compared to 2021.

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T cells can activate themselves to fight tumors

Medical Xpress

When you need a bit of motivation, it often has to come from within. New research suggests cancer-fighting immune cells have found a way to do just that.

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Sanofi, AstraZeneca strengthen case for RSV antibody with data from real-world trial

Fierce Pharma

Sanofi, AstraZeneca strengthen case for RSV antibody with data from real-world trial kdunleavy Thu, 05/11/2023 - 15:23

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Recursion to acquire two Canadian drug discovery startups

Bio Pharma Dive

The company agreed to buy Cyclica and Valence after winnowing down a list of more than 100 potential takeover targets, its CEO told BioPharma Dive.

Drugs 306
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Editas continues to trend efficacy signals with sickle cell disease gene therapy

Pharmaceutical Technology

Editas Medicine will release new efficacy and safety results of its gene therapy EDIT-301 in severe sickle disease as part of an oral presentation at the European Hematology Association’s (EHA) Hybrid Congress. The EHA Hybrid Congress will take place on June 8-11 in Frankfurt, Germany. Last month, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted the treatment an orphan drug designation for sickle cell disease.

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Gene-editing technique could speed up study of cancer mutations

Medical Xpress

Genomic studies of cancer patients have revealed thousands of mutations linked to tumor development. However, for the vast majority of those mutations, researchers are unsure of how they contribute to cancer because there's no easy way to study them in animal models.

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Do patients have to pay for clinical trials?

Antidote

One of the questions most frequently asked by patients is, “Do I have to pay to participate in a clinical trial?” While patients typically will not incur expenses for taking part in a research study, in some instances, they may be responsible for copays and payments towards their deductible depending on their insurance plan.

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Catalent cuts outlook, delays results as it reveals new hurdles

Bio Pharma Dive

The pharmaceutical CDMO said it found “significant” issues with its forecasts over the past year, compounding manufacturing problems at three of its plants.