A rash of recent announcements in the diabetes market speak to the brisk pace of developments and keen competition in the field. Dexcom Inc. reported good news in the U.K. and Europe, offset by delays in the U.S., while Insulet Corp. gave investors assurance that it was moving full speed ahead in the release of its Omnipod artificial pancreas system. On the pharma side, Arecor Therapeutics plc signed a contingent agreement to acquire Tetris Pharma Ltd. and commercialize Ogluo in the U.K., E.U. and other countries.
The U.K.’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has added two placental growth factor (PIGF)-based tests developed by Perkinelmer Inc. to guidance on diagnosing suspected preterm preeclampsia. The Waltham, Mass.-based company’s kit and Delfia Xpress soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt-1) kit are recommended to screen levels of PIGF and Sflt-1, both key biomarkers in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia. The guidance means health care providers across the U.K. will be able to use the test, along with a standard clinical assessment, to confirm suspected preterm preeclampsia in women from 20 weeks of pregnancy onwards.
Institut Mérieux SA is offering equity to a preferred partner via a restricted capital increase. Exor NV has consequently acquired 10% of Institut Mérieux’s capital by investing $850 million. A third of this new funding, some $285 million, will be injected immediately this summer, with the balance following over the coming 12 months.
The U.K. NHS is implementing the use of Oxford, U.K.-based Genincode plc’s predictive genetic test for patients suffering with hypercholesterolemia and familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). The Academic Health Science Network for the North East and North Cumbria (AHSN NENC) is adopting the Lipid Incode test in Darlington following a successful pilot study which demonstrated the test can detect and diagnose people with high cholesterol, a known risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). It is the first commercial polygenic test for CVD to be implemented by the NHS.
Shares in Royal Philips NV fell by almost 10% on July 25 after the company stated that its second quarter Q2 sales deteriorated amid supply shortages and prolonged lockdowns in China. Group sales for Philips amounted to €4.2 billion (US$4.29 billion) in the second quarter of 2022, representing a 7% year on year decline. Management reduced its 2022 outlook to 1%-3% organic sales growth from a previously estimated 3% to 5% growth and said it expects growth of between 6% and 9% for the second half of 2022.
Eurekare SA, a technology commercialization and investment firm, has opened the doors to the first of a number of biotech “studios” it is setting up to hothouse synthetic biology and microbiome companies formed around intellectual property sourced from universities across Europe. It’s the most recent step forward in Eurekare’s ambition of creating a pan-European network for identifying, selecting and nurturing high quality European science in these two fields, which in the opinion of the firm’s founders, is at the same time of very high quality and seriously under-exploited.
Citing “the current political conditions,” Russian Minister of Health Mikhail Murashko laid out ways for Russia to strengthen its international role in the health care sector, including the development of innovative radiopharmaceuticals. Other promising opportunities involve the improvement of drug provision and an increase in the number of foreign students in Russian medical universities, Murashko said at a July 19 meeting with medical, educational and scientific institutions in Russia.
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s Amvuttra (vutrisiran), a treatment for the rare disease hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis, was among medicines recommended for approval by regulators from Europe’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) in a busy sitting.
The U.K.’s competition watchdog has found that a subsidiary of Pfizer Inc. and a generics firm jacked up the price of a life-saving epilepsy drug by up to 2,600%, fining them a total of £70 million (US$83.72 million). The Competition and Markets Authority’s decision is part of a long-running dispute against subsidiary Pfizer Ltd. and the generics firm Flynn Pharma Ltd.
Since the isolation of SARS-CoV-2 and the study of its infection mechanisms, scientists have been trying to understand how this virus accesses the brain and produces neurological symptoms.
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