Company News

Intellia Therapeutics Inc is to out-license rights to its ex vivo Crispr/Cas9 genome editing platform to ONK Therapeutics Ltd enabling the Irish company to develop engineered natural killer (NK) cell therapies for cancer. ONK is developing off-the-shelf NK cell therapies. In addition to the genome editing platform, ONK will also have access to the US company’s lipid nanoparticle delivery technologies. The agreement will enable the development of up to five allogeneic NK cell therapies.

Life Sciences Partners (LSP) of the Netherlands has raised an additional €150 million for its LSP 7 fund, bringing the total amount for investment up to €1 billion. This represents the final close of one of the largest venture funds in Europe. The monies will be used to invest in 15 to 20 companies which are developing new drug therapies and medical technologies, LSP said on 11 February.

The financial performance of H. Lundbeck A/S in 2021 was negatively affected by the loss of patent protection for Northera, a key neurology drug. Despite this, the company is forecasting a rebound in 2022 on demand for Vyepti, a recently launched medicine for migraine prevention. Group sales in 2021 were DKK 16.3 billion ($2.5 billion), down by 8% from a year earlier following a 74% decline in revenue for Northera. Northera, a drug for neurogenic orthostatic hypotension, lost exclusivity in February 2021.

Novo Nordisk A/S maintained its leading position for glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) diabetes medicines with a 52.7% global market share in 2021, up by 2.3 percentage points from a year earlier. Novo's portfolio consists of just three GLP-1 medicines, but together they generated 38% of the company's sales.  Group sales were DKK 140.8 billion ($21.4 billion) in 2021, an increase of 11% from a year earlier. The GLP-1 medicines generated DKK 53.6 billion, while insulins produced revenue of DKK 56 billion.

AstraZeneca Plc grew revenue by 41% to $37.4 billion in 2021, achieving significant increases across its four business sectors and in nearly all geographies except China where drug prices came under pressure. The top-line figure includes nearly $4 billion in revenue from the company’s Covid-19 vaccine, Vaxzevria, as well as $3.1 billion from drugs for rare diseases generated by the recent acquisition of Alexion Pharmaceuticals.

In the fourth quarter, revenue was $12 billion, up by 62%.

Bayer AG has decided to discontinue development of the Phase 2 drug candidate, eliapixant, a P2X3 receptor antagonist that was being evaluated in endometriosis, refractory chronic cough, overactive bladder and diabetic neuropathic pain.

This is based on a review of data showing that the overall benefit no longer outweighs the risk in these indications. The drug was developed in collaboration with Evotec SE which will regain rights to the assets. Bayer announced its decision on 4 February 2022.

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Pfizer Inc and Valneva SE have reported further positive Phase 2 data for their Lyme disease vaccine candidate, VLA15. As a result, the companies plan to proceed with a three-dose primary series vaccination schedule in a planned Phase 3 trial. The trial is expected to start in 2022.

Dupixent and a group of other specialty care products lifted sales of Sanofi SA in 2021 offsetting declines for legacy cardiovascular and diabetes products. At the same time, the company refreshed its portfolio with three acquisitions in the fourth quarter. Group turnover was €37.76 for the year, up by 4.8% from 2020. The increase was 7.1% when calculated using constant exchange rates. Sales of Dupixent, a treatment for asthma and other auto-immune diseases, amounted to €5.25 billion, up by 52.7% from the previous year.

The Roche Group reported sales of CHF 62.8 billion ($68.12 billion) in 2021, a rise of 8% from a year earlier and largely driven by brisk demand for its Covid-19-related diagnostic products. Diagnostic sales increased by 29% during the year. By contrast, the pharmaceutical division, which accounts for 72% of group turnover, reported a sales increase of just 1%. Measured in constant exchange rates, this increase was 3%.

Novartis saw its profit margin expand in 2021 as operating expenses were kept in check while sales grew. However the pace of expansion was limited to the company’s proprietary medicines division. Sandoz, its generics business, had flat sales for the year as volume growth was more than offset by a decline in prices. In a statement on 2 February, Novartis said it is exploring several options for Sandoz, including a separation of the business. Further information is expected, at the latest, by the end of 2022.