Adagene Inc. has announced a research collaboration with Sanofi SA, to find “masked” monoclonal and bispecific antibodies that are safer than marketed drugs in oncology, in a deal worth up to $2.5 billion plus royalties. San Diego and Suzhou, China-based Adagene will generate masked versions of Sanofi antibodies, taking responsibility for early stage research activities using its Safebody technology. Sanofi will be responsible for later-stage research and all clinical, product development and marketing activities. Read More
After two years of developing its platform, Vesalius Therapeutics Inc. now has $75 million in its pocket from Flagship Pioneering to understand and treat the diseases that account for 90% of the world’s illnesses. To resolve this massive amount of biological and industry complexity, Doug Cole, Vesalius’ chairman and co-founder and Flagship’s managing partner, noted the distinction between illness and disease. “Illness is what bothers you, it’s the experience of being sick and what the doctor might find when you’re examined,” Cole told BioWorld. “Disease is the mechanistic problem with the biology underlying the illness.” Read More
LONDON – Epsilogen Ltd. has raised £30.8 million (US$41.5 million) in an oversubscribed series B, after its lead immunoglobulin E (IgE) program delivered positive results in a phase I in advanced solid tumors. The money is to fund a phase Ib trial of the product, Mov18 IgE – the first and only IgE antibody to have made it to the clinic – in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. Read More
Ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address March 1 in which he gave a shoutout to his cancer moonshot initiative, the FDA released a trio of final guidances aimed at speeding the development of new cancer drugs. First launched in 2016 with the goal of doubling the rate of progress against cancer by making a decade worth of advances in five years, the moonshot was reignited last month with a new target following setbacks in cancer screenings and treatments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, Biden’s catch phrase is “ending cancer as we know it.” Read More
New drug and device regulations going into effect in Canada are serving as a reminder of the extended life of the COVID-19 pandemic. After two years of interim orders regulating the importation and sale of drugs and devices for COVID-19 clinical trials and the conduct of those trials, Canada is issuing long-term regulations that will incorporate most of the provisions of the temporary orders. Read More
A new study from researchers at Aevisbio Inc. and the National Institutes of Health on the effect of 3,6’-dithiopomalidomide on neuroinflammation adds new detail to what might one day become a significant new therapeutic strategy to treat Alzheimer's disease and other neurological disorders. Read More
LONDON – The European Commission (EC) has put forward proposals for a Data Act that is intended to both give users greater rights over their own data and allow greater third-party access. The Act sets out who can use and access data generated in the EU across all sectors of the economy. It is pitched by the EC as opening the doors to an under-used resource that will in turn promote research and innovation and create new markets in information services. Read More
Biopharma happenings, including deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: 9 Meters, Accure, Affinivax, Akeso, Astellas, Blue Willow, BMS, Dragonfly, Gemini, Medigen, Oculis, Prokarium, Promis, Shenzhen Chipscreen. Read More
