News

The first vaccine for the active immunisation of individuals at risk of infection from the Ebola virus is being recommended for use in countries affected by the disease including the Democratic Republic of Congo where a public health emergency has been declared by the World Health Organization.

The European Medicine Agency’s chief scientific committee has issued a positive opinion for Evenity (romosozumab) for the treatment of severe postmenopausal osteoporosis after initially rejecting the drug on the basis of cardiovascular safety concerns.

Paris-based Sofinnova Partners has announced the close of an oversubscribed €333 million life science fund that will invest in early-stage healthcare companies – predominantly in Europe. This is the latest addition to the Sofinnova business which also includes funds for industrial biotech and seed investments in gene and cell therapy companies.

GammaDelta Therapeutics Ltd, a UK biotech exploring the potential of gamma delta T cells as a basis for cell therapies, has created a new company that will investigate potential antibody therapeutics for cancer using the same technology.

The Roche group has nudged its sales forecast higher for 2019 following a strong performance of its multiple sclerosis, haemophilia and cancer drugs and four regulatory approvals in the first nine months of the year. The Switzerland-based company said it expects to raise its dividend again this year after paying CHF 8.70 per share in 2018.

Adverse market conditions were the reason cited by ADC Therapeutics SA in cancelling its proposed US initial public offering on 2 October. The IPO was intended to raise up to $200 million through the issue of 8.2 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange.

But the offering was cancelled a little more than a week after the launch.

Mogrify Ltd has raised $16 million in an initial Series A round to support development of its direct cellular conversion technology. This represents a new approach to drug discovery by potentially enabling researchers to transform any mature human cell type into any other without going through a pluripotent stem cell state. Leading the round was Ahren Innovation Capital, an existing investor, with participation from Parkwalk, 24Haymarket and the University of Bristol Enterprise Fund III.

bluebird bio Inc and Novo Nordisk A/S have entered into a research collaboration to jointly  develop in vivo genome editing treatments for genetic diseases, including haemophilia. During a three year research collaboration, the two companies will focus on identifying a gene therapy candidate for haemophilia A.

The Italian biotech company MolMed SpA is withdrawing its cell therapy for use in transplantation procedures, Zalmoxis, from the market. Announcing the decision on 10 October, the company said the decision had been taken “for commercial reasons.”

Zalmoxis (allogeneic genetically modified T cells) was approved for reimbursement in Italy in 2017. It was not immediately clear whether the product was being financially supported by any other European healthcare authorities.

GlaxoSmithKline Plc has entered a five-year collaboration with Lyell Immunopharma, a San Francisco biotechnology company, to develop new technologies to improve cell therapies for cancer patients. To date, two cell therapies have been approved for blood-borne cancers, but engineered T cells have not yet delivered strong clinical activity in solid tumours. Improving the fitness of T cells and delaying the onset of T cell exhaustion could help engineered T cell therapies become more effective, GSK said.