Biocryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. caught some industry observers by surprise early in 2022 when it upped its peak sales estimate for Orladeyo (berotralstat), its oral therapy for prevention of hereditary angioedema attacks, from $500 million to $1 billion. But blockbuster status appears more attainable following the latest setback from a potential competitor, as safety concerns prompted Kalvista Pharmaceuticals Inc. management to ax its phase II study testing KVD-824 in prevention of HAE attacks. Read More
The 2022 Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded to Carolyn Bertozzi of Stanford University, to Morten Meldal of the University of Copenhagen, and – for the second time – to Barry Sharpless of The Scripps Research Institute “for the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal
chemistry.”
Click chemistry, the Nobel Committee’s Olof Ramström told reporters while announcing the prize, “is almost like it sounds – it’s all about linking different molecules.”
He likened click chemistry to a seatbelt buckle, whose interlocking parts can be attached to many different materials, linking them by snapping the two parts of the buckle together.
“The problem was to find good chemical buckles,” Ramström said – chemicals that “will easily snap together, and importantly, they won’t snap with anything else.” Read More
X4 Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s recent stock-boosting phase Ib news with lead candidate mavorixafor fueled already-strong interest in finding an alternative therapy for neutropenia and deepened esteem for the drug’s long-known mechanism of action. Read More
It’s been 20 years since Andrew Hopkins, founder and CEO of artificial intelligence drug research firm Exscientia plc, co-authored the seminal paper “The Druggable Genome,” which laid the foundations for the company and gave insights about how to make research more efficient and less costly. Now Hopkins’ colleagues at Exscientia have taken stock of progress in a new paper, “The druggable genome: Twenty years later,” that summarizes advances in the field and evolution in thinking over the past two decades. Read More
The Biden administration has released a blueprint for an artificial intelligence bill of rights, which is accompanied by an acknowledgement that these algorithms can be crucial in guiding treatment of cancer patients. Read More
Although it’s a make-or-break market for many novel drugs, the U.S. is still testing the waters with biosimilars to some extent. That’s expected to change when at least seven biosimilars, including an interchangeable, referencing Abbvie Inc.’s Humira (adalimumab) are set to launch in the U.S. within the first seven months of next year. Next week, BioWorld will look at the significance of that looming competition and how the global biosimilars market is evolving amid a changing landscape of players, policies and pipelines. Read More
Clinical updates, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications: Abeona, Aridis, Connect, Kalvista, Kubota, Paradigm, Pfizer, Saol, Synairgen. Read More
Biopharma happenings, including deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Biohaven, BMS, Exelixis, Mereo, Mirecule, Oligomerix, Pfizer, Praetego, Sapience, Theseus. Read More
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Cue, Galapagos, Immutep, Kezar, Kira, Oncternal and Theratechnologies. Read More
