LONDON – A pilot study has shown that whole genome sequencing can pinpoint the genetic causes of rare diseases, even in people who had previously not been given a diagnosis after undergoing sequencing of their protein coding exome.

A closely watched oral antiviral for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 will soon be available in Britain after a conditional authorization by the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. Developed by Ridgeback Biotherapeutics Inc. and Merck & Co. Inc., the drug will be marketed as Lagevrio (molnupiravir) and made available via a national study this winter, the government said.

A more than 20-year uneasy biopharma romance between two Swiss giants will be ending as Novartis AG plans to sell its stake in Roche Holding AG back to Roche for about $20.7 billion. Roche described it as a “disentanglement of the two competitors” that will allow it to regain “full strategic flexibility.” Basel, Switzerland-based Novartis currently owns about one-third of Roche, whose shareholders get the final say-so when they vote yea or nay at the company’s Nov. 26 extraordinary general meeting. Novartis was very clear about how it views its stake in Roche, as the company said it “does not consider the financial investment in Roche as part of its core business and therefore not a strategic asset” and that it’s time to “monetize our investment.”

Eli Lilly and Co. has withdrawn a filing for its COVID-19 antibody cocktail in Europe after health authorities backed rivals – the day after a $1.29 billion purchase of the same medicines from the U.S. government. Indianapolis-based Lilly began filing data from the combination of bamlanivimab and etesevimab in March to enable a fast authorization by the European Medicines Agency.

Astrazeneca plc has signed an agreement with liquid biopsy testing company Saga Diagnostics AB to develop dPCR assays. Lund, Sweden-based Saga Diagnostics will develop Sagasafe dPCR assays towards undisclosed methylated targets for analysis of tissue samples and liquid biopsies. The assay is part of Saga’s portfolio of “ultrasensitive technologies,” comprising Sagasign for personalized monitoring of cancer burden and minimal residual disease.

LONDON – Just nine months on from announcing the close of its $6.9 million seed round, Dunad Therapeutics Ltd. has landed a potential $1.3 billion deal with Novartis AG to discover and develop orally available protein degradation drugs. The cash is, of course, backend-loaded, but Dunad is getting a handy $24 million up-front payment and equity investment, and will receive full funding for the research.

DUBLIN – Novadip SA raised €19 million (US$22.1 million) in a first close of a series B round to progress its autologous bone regeneration therapy, NVD-003, on either side of the Atlantic. The company is also working on an allogeneic regenerative approach, which is still preclinical.

The EMA and the EU Heads of Medicines Agencies are launching a pilot project to support not-for-profit organizations and academia in the repurposing of an authorized drug for a new indication in an area of public health interest.

LONDON – Four decades of academic research at the University of California, San Francisco, is to be translated through to the clinic with funding from a €1 million (US$1.2 million) European Commission grant. The money, awarded to a Dutch/German consortium will fund the generation and optimization of antibodies designed to neutralize oxidized phospholipids that mediate inflammatory changes in a swathe of diseases. The consortium that won the Eurostars award is led by Oxitope Pharma BV.