A few months after winning its first regulatory clearance in China, Beone Medicines Inc.’s next-generation BCL2 inhibitor, sonrotoclax, gained the U.S. FDA’s accelerated approval for use in patients with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) following treatment with a BTK inhibitor. The therapy, branded Beqalzi, marks the first BCL2-targeting drug for MCL in the U.S., but the company has pointed to a bigger opportunity in the potential combination with blockbuster BTK drug Brukinsa (zanubrutinib). Read More
Nvision Imaging Technologies GmbH raised $55 million in a series B financing round led by Abbott Laboratories for its quantum-enhanced sensing platform, Polaris, which uses quantum technology to boost the MRI signal of sugar-based imaging agents to enable real-time measurement of metabolism on standard MRI systems. Sella Brosh, CEO and co-founder of Nvision, told BioWorld that the funds are extremely important as the company is scaling the Polaris systems to many more sites worldwide, which is a capital intensive process. Read More
Of all the issues that could be on the table at the talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and China President Xi Jinping, the life sciences sector is the “sweet spot” for collaboration between the two countries in a way that would benefit the world, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said in a Brookings Institution webinar in advance of the two-day summit that starts May 14. Read More
Eli Lilly and Co.’s buyout of Ventyx Biosciences Inc. for $1.2 billion at the start of the year brought to the forefront NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inhibitors on which a handful of developers have been working, and research in the space continues to roll out, as with the paper published March 26 in Nature that delved into mechanisms that rev up the NLRP3 inflammasome. Read More
Circular RNA (circRNA) is not a new concept, but it is a novel strategy in the field of gene and cell therapy. While mRNA vaccines have revolutionized medicine, this RNA fragment without free ends surpasses their performance in both efficacy and durability, bringing it to the attention of several pioneering companies. The latest advances in circRNA presented at the 29th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) clearly surpass the performance achieved with linear mRNA. Read More
Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. secured an exclusive license to Innovo Therapeutics Inc.’s INV-008, a novel oral 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase inhibitor for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), through a potential ₩662.5 billion (US$443.6 million) deal. Read More
The recent hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship has brought increased attention to an infection for which there are no widely available or FDA-approved therapeutics or vaccines, with limited research occurring only at the earliest stages. The rare Andes strain identified in the outbreak is known for human-to-human transmission, although the original infection comes from rodents. While hantavirus does not spread as easily as an infection like COVID-19, the mortality rate, at 30% to 40%, is significantly greater, and serves as another example as to why biopharmas must be at least two steps ahead with technology that can pivot to quickly address the spread of infectious diseases. Read BioWorld’s ongoing coverage of the current hantavirus outbreak. Read More
New hires and promotions in the biopharma and med-tech industries, including: AC Immune, Achieve Life Sciences, Astronautx, Chiesi, Exciva, Humacyte, Infinitopes, Miach, Neuwire, Qiagen. Read More
Clinical updates for biopharma and med tech, including data readouts and publications: Abcellera, Alkermes, Alnylam, Astrazeneca, Blossomhill, Braveheart Bio, Brightgene, Cytokinetics, Daré, Ektah, Enterome, Enterprise, Exero , Hengrui, Mink, Moleculin, Novo Nordisk, Viking, Vistagen. Read More
Biopharma and med-tech happenings, including deals and partnerships, and other news in brief: Ap, Aop Health, Boehringer, Brainomix, Collegium, Corium, Delos, Durin, Impetis, Insilico, Neurovision, PrognomiQ, Ribo, Vyome. Read More
Regulatory snapshots for biopharma and med tech, including global submissions and approvals, and other regulatory decisions and designations: Agios, Bayesian, Coya, Eli Lilly, Roche. Read More
