LONDON – A new national consortium of virologists has been set up to systematically assess how mutations in SARS-CoV-2 affect key outcomes such as effectiveness of vaccines and therapies, transmissibility of the virus and the severity of COVID-19 infections. Now is the critical time to do this, as the level of both natural and vaccine-conferred immunity that might drive natural selection is increasing, said Wendy Barclay, head of the department of infectious disease at Imperial College London, who is leading the G2P-UK (Genotype to Phenotype-UK) project. Read More
As the world begins to emerge from a horrific pandemic, armed with high-efficacy vaccines and a roadmap of lessons learned, it has become abundantly clear that dangerous infections are here to stay, and it is up to health care leaders and citizens to remain prepared and vigilant in preventing another deadly and disruptive COVID-19. During the last day of the virtual 39th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, two health care leaders discussed the efforts and mistakes experienced, as well as the path forward toward herd immunity and the unknown outbreaks to come. Read More
Arcus Biosciences Inc., in a presentation on the opening day of the American Society of Clinical Oncology Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium (ASCO GI), reported a 41% objective response rate across the first four cohorts in its phase I dose-escalation study of AB-680, a small-molecule CD73 inhibitor for treating metastatic pancreatic cancer. The data also showed 88% of patients experienced at least some shrinkage of their lesions. Read More
Lantern Pharma Inc., a Dallas-based cancer medicines developer using a machine learning platform to accelerate its work, is raising $60 million through a public offering priced at $14 per share (NASDAQ:LTRN). Read More
With the table set for phase III data due next month from a trial testing Travere Therapeutics Inc.’s sparsentan against focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), investor appetite grows ever sharper for prospects in kidney disease. Read More
Biopharma happenings, including deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Innocan, Jubilant, Lilly, Metavant, Orion, Poxel. Read More
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Astrazeneca, DBV, Gracell, Pfizer, RDIF, Steba. Read More
