Phase I data of oral amycretin, a co-agonist of GLP-1 and amylin receptors from Novo Nordisk A/S, showed a 13.1% reduction in body weight at 12 weeks, vs. 1.1% for placebo, pushing shares of the Bagsvaerd, Denmark-based company to their highest levels to date. The shares (NYSE:NVO) reached $138.27, up 10.8%, in early trading March 7 following Novo’s Capital Markets Day presentation to investors, with phase I amycretin findings including a safe and well-tolerated profile and adverse events that were in line with the company’s GLP-1 and Cagrisema trials. Analyst Umer Raffat, of Evercore ISI, said the data were “very intriguing” and the “magnitude of weight loss is at the highest end of weight loss seen.” He also suspected that it was not “capturing full potential” as Novo Nordisk “did not have an aggressive (dose) titration.”

Ultimovacs cancer vaccine fails a phase II

The phase II study of Ultimovacs ASA’s therapeutic cancer vaccine in treating unresectable or metastatic malignant melanoma did not meet the primary endpoint. Top-line results from the Initium study of UV-1, a vaccine used to generate immune response against human telomerase, showed median progression-free survival was not reached. The secondary endpoints also were a miss, as results didn’t show any difference in overall survival and objective response rates between the treatment and control arms. The company stock (OSE:ULTI) took a hammering on March 7 as shares closed 93% downward at NOK8.70 (US83 cents). Ultimovacs executives said “cash perseveration initiatives” will be implemented to keep the company going into 2025.

At CROI 2024, challenges and roads to new HIV vaccines

Overall, the story of HIV is one of astounding success. But to declare victory, it will be necessary to develop a vaccine. The opening session of the 31^st Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) 2024 looked back to the failures but also the advances in research, all the steps that over the years brought the basic science knowledge that could bring an HIV vaccine in the future.

BIA celebrates £500M pension funding unlocked for UK investment

A long-running lobbying effort has paid off, with the announcement of two U.K. government-backed investment vehicles through which pension funds will be able to invest in early stage private life sciences companies. The first brings together the venture capital firm Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) plc with the Phoenix Group, the U.K.’s largest pension provider. In a competitive process, ICG has been awarded £100 million (US$128 million) in government funding, which will be matched by Phoenix and dedicated to patient capital investments in life sciences. The second also involves Phoenix, which has partnered with Schroders Capital, the private markets arm of the investment bank. Schroders has been awarded £150 million, which will be matched by Phoenix. This fund will invest in both life sciences and technology companies. The two new funds will be open to further pension fund capital, with the initial £500 million expected to unlock more than £1 billion in total.

Stuff of ‘science fiction’ driving US-China biotech race

Superhuman soldiers. Designer babies. Genetically tailored weapons. A foreign database containing the DNA of every person on the planet. The list reads like the elements of a science fiction horror story, but there’s no fiction involved. These are potentially real threats from China raised by members of the U.S. House Select Committee on the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) at a hearing today on the growing stakes of the bioeconomy and American national security. Noting that it’s surprising for the U.S. biotech industry in general to be put in the middle of a conversation around national security, Jason Kelly, co-founder and CEO of Ginkgo Bioworks Inc., told the committee, “It’s important for the industry to recognize that the United States government and the CCP are in an era of strategic competition. . . . Us putting our heads in the sand about that is not a good idea.”

US Congressman calls out BIO amid proposed ban on China biotechs

As geopolitical tensions mount, bipartisan legislation introduced in both the U.S. Senate and the House is calling to prohibit government contracts with certain Chinese biotechs such as BGI (formerly known as Beijing Genomic Institute) and Wuxi Apptec, because they are increasingly seen as national security threats.

Newco news: Immunoscape to develop new, safe TCR therapies for solid tumors 

Seven years since the first approval of two chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies for hematological cancers, U.S. and Singapore-based Immunoscape Pte Ltd. is looking to develop novel T-cell receptor (TCR) therapeutics for solid tumors. “CAR T-cell therapies bring great benefits, particularly for hematological tumors, but so far their application in solid tumors has been limited,” Immunoscape co-founder Michael Fehlings told BioWorld. “T cell receptor-based therapies can offer a promising advantage with highly specific and sensitive receptors against a wide range of tumor-specific targets.”

Also in the news

Akeso, Astrazeneca, Avid, Biogen, Biomea Fusion, Biovie, Bioxytran, Boundless, Calliditas, Creative Medical Technology, Daiichi Sankyo, Gilead, Grace, Iecure, Innate, Johnson & Johnson, Jyong, Kalvista, Kura Oncology, Laminar, LSL, Lumicell, Maia, Menarini, Mitorx, Nektar, Novo Nordisk, NX, Oncusp, Psyence, Rakuten, Regenxbio, Salix, Sandoz, Telios, Vanda, Ventyx, Verastem Oncology