Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven tools have the ability to design new drugs, with a bit of help from humans, said Anders Hogner, from Astrazeneca plc’s R&D department at the Bio-IT World Conference & Expo Europe in London. “We don’t have anything out there yet,” he added, but the company appears to be working on it.
With drug shortages becoming a fact of life, U.S. President Joe Biden said he plans to issue a presidential determination to broaden the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) authorities under the Defense Production Act to enable investment in the domestic manufacturing of essential medicines, medical countermeasures and other critical inputs that the president deems essential to the national defense.
Astrazeneca plc launched a health-tech business aimed at bringing to market digital technological solutions that will optimize clinical trial design and delivery. The company, called Evinova, will offer solutions to reduce the time and cost of developing new drugs, bring care closer to patients at home and reduce the burden on health systems.
Along with Enhertu, Astrazeneca plc now has another breast cancer treatment in its portfolio and it may also become a blockbuster. Truqap (capivasertib), combined with the company’s Faslodex (fulvestrant), is now U.S. FDA-approved for treating hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer.
CLDN18 is a cell surface membrane protein involved in the formation of tight junctions, and the expression of its CLDN18.2 isoform has been observed in pancreatic, gastric and esophageal tumors.
Astrazeneca plc will pay up to $2 billion for Eccogene Co. Ltd.’s oral weight loss candidate, ECC-5004, as big and small pharma players alike work to gain ground in the burgeoning obesity market where Eli Lilly and Co. scored the latest U.S. FDA approval of Zepbound (tirzepatide).
Astrazeneca plc will pay up to $2 billion for Eccogene Co. Ltd.’s oral weight loss candidate, ECC-5004, as big and small pharma players alike work to gain ground in the burgeoning obesity market where Eli Lilly and Co. scored the latest U.S. FDA approval of Zepbound (tirzepatide).
Carrying through on a policy it adopted a few months ago to crack down on potentially anticompetitive FDA Orange Book listings, the U.S. FTC put 10 drug companies on notice that it’s challenging several of their “improperly or inaccurately listed” patents through the FDA’s regulatory dispute process.
Myeloid cells expressing LILRB2 are abundant in the tumor microenvironment and can both drive cancer progression and hinder immune responses. Thus, targeting LILRB2 offers a potential strategy to boost immune-based cancer therapies, as it counteracts their suppressive effects on pro-inflammatory pathways.
Astrazeneca plc is making a $220 million equity investment and tossing in $25 million up front to Cellectis SA as part of a new collaboration agreement. The deal is part of Astrazeneca’s efforts, including a July licensing agreement worth about $1 billion with Pfizer Inc., to delve deeper into gene therapy for treating cancer and rare diseases.
