SEATTLE – Ten years after "Berlin patient" Timothy Ray Brown, a second patient has achieved long-term undetectable viral load in the absence of antiretroviral treatment (ART) after receiving a bone marrow transplant with hematopoietic stem cells with a nonfunctional version of the CCR5 receptor, a surface molecule on helper T cells that is used as an entry co-receptor by HIV. Read More
HONG KONG – In the aftermath of last year's highly controversial case of a researcher announcing the birth of two gene-edited babies in China, the National Health Commission (NHC) released a set of draft regulations that increases scrutiny over the use of new high-risk biomedical technologies, such as gene editing, stem cell technology, cloning and assisted reproduction. Read More
HYDERABAD, India – As China surges ahead in the biosimilars space, Indian biopharma companies are increasingly concerned about their ability to keep pace due to lack of policy support and pricing controls. Read More
HONG KONG – Hangzhou-based Chinese oncology drugmaker Betta Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. said Chinese regulators have given a green light for the company to conduct clinical trials for its novel compound, BPI-17509. Developed in-house, the oral small molecule is designed to selectively target fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) 1, 2 and 3 to treat intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, bladder cancer and lung squamous cell carcinoma, among other FGFR-relevant solid tumors. Read More
HYDERABAD, India – Indian pharma companies have started taking baby steps toward using data analytics and artificial intelligence in drug discovery and development, joining a global trend of pharma companies embracing digital and cloud technologies. But those efforts are still ad-hoc and experimental. Read More
Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co. Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, established corporate communications and frontier business offices, effective April 1, 2019, and plans to close its Ibaraki and Ehime manufacturing plants. The company also announced plans to rename its Singapore subsidiary, Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., to Sumitomo Pharmaceuticals Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. in April. The move comes as Sumitomo has established a new Thailand-based subsidiary, Sumitomo Pharmaceuticals (Thailand) Co. Ltd., that will be housed under Sumitomo Pharmaceuticals Asia Pacific. Read More
