A new venture fund designed to provide seed funding to start-up companies in the UK life science sector has raised £15 million. Start Codon Fund I LP was created by the Start Codon business accelerator. The limited partner investors in the fund include Novartis International AG and Cambridge Innovation Capital, a venture investor focused on opportunities in the Cambridge University ecosystem.
Germany-based Cardior Pharmaceuticals GmbH has announced positive results from a Phase 1b study of its lead compound CDR132L, an antisense oligonucleotide, for heart failure. The study was performed in cooperation with Richmond Pharmacology Ltd in London, UK and the results were published in the European Heart Journal on 12 November 2020. In the trial, CDR132L met all the endpoints including safety and tolerability. The drug’s pharmacokinetic profile was found to be dose-dependently linear and target engagement data confirmed the mode of action.
Evotec SE posted further revenue gains in the nine months to 30 September on the strength of several new drug discovery alliances and the receipt of milestone payments from existing collaborators. Group revenue increased by 12% to €360.4 million and included gains from both its service and proprietary drug divisions. However operating profit declined by 24% to €35.3 million due to higher spending on sales and R&D, as well as a change in tax credit regulations in Italy.
MorphoSys AG nearly doubled revenue in the third quarter as it reaped the first benefits from its newly launched cancer treatment Monjuvi (tafasitamab). Revenue for the quarter increased to €22 million, up from €12.5 million a year earlier, of which €4.4 million represented sales of Monjuvi, an antibody therapeutic approved by the US Food and Drug Administration on 31 July. Monjuvi is to be used for the treatment, in combination with lenalidomide, of patients with refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. It is MorphoSys’ first proprietary product to reach the market.
The Roche Group is to in-license viral vector technology from the German biotech company CEVEC Pharmaceuticals GmbH in order to increase its manufacturing capacity for gene therapies. This will specifically enable the company’s subsidiary Spark Therapeutics to scale up production of its marketed product Luxturna for retinal diseases which is delivered by an adeno-associated virus (AAV). Luxturna was approved in the US for a rare form of inherited vision loss in 2017. An EU approval followed in 2018.
Bamlanivimab, a monoclonal antibody directed against the coronavirus spike protein, has been cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration for use in patients with mild-to- moderate Covid-19. The emergency use authorisation (EUA) was issued on 9 November.
BioNTech SE and its partner Pfizer Inc, have announced positive interim Phase 3 data for their Covid-19 vaccine which is based on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. The vaccine candidate was found to be more than 90% effective in preventing Covid-19 in participants without evidence of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection, the companies announced on 9 November.
With the help of a large Chinese investor, Congenica Ltd has completed a $50 million Series C funding round to advance its technology for analysing genomic data. The financing was co-led by Tencent Holdings Ltd, a Chinese conglomerate, and Legal & General Group, the financial services company. The proceeds will be used to expand the company’s analysis services to include somatic cancers as well as to generate information about wellness.
A new medical device designed to reduce sleep disturbances in adults affected by post-traumatic stress disorder has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. The digital device is intended for use with prescribed medications for the disorder and other recommended therapies for stress-related nightmares.
Merck & Co Inc is to acquire VelosBio Inc for $2.75 billion in cash giving it ownership of an early clinical stage antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targeting receptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 1 (ROR1). The drug, VLS-101, is being evaluated in Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of patients respectively, with haematologic malignancies and solid tumours.