News

A new chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy has been approved for cancer – only the third such therapy to be authorised by the US Food and Drug Administration. The drug is Tecartus (brexucabtagene autoleucel), a cell-based gene therapy for the treatment of mantle cell lymphoma, a rare form of B cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma which usually occurs in middle-aged or older adults.

It has been approved for patients who have relapsed, after other kinds of treatment, and targets CD19, an antigen expressed in all B cell lineage malignancies.

Novartis reported a 4% fall in sales in the second quarter as the coronavirus pandemic depressed business activity, particularly for the company’s ophthalmology business. But sales are expected to recover in the second half, giving a mid single-digit increase at constant currencies for the year as a whole, the company announced on 21 July.

The first head-to-head study of drugs targeting the pro-inflammatory cytokine iterleukin-17 (IL-17) has shown the superiority of bimekizumab, an investigational monoclonal antibody for the treatment of plaque psoriasis, compared with secukinumab (Cosentyx), an approved drug for the same disease, according to UCB SA, the Belgium-based pharmaceutical company.

The results of the Phase 3b head-to-head trial were announced on 24 July.

AstraZeneca Plc has announced the US approval of its triple-combination therapy, Breztri Aerosphere, for the maintenance treatment of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The drug combines budesonide, an inhaled corticosteroid, with glycopyrrolate, a long-acting muscarinic antagonist, and formoterol fumarate, a long-acting beta2 agonist.

What makes a life science ecosystem flourish? Part of the answer is good universities, venture capital and a critical mass of entrepreneurs eager to commercialise new medicines. These are all features displayed by Cambridge, UK. How this plays out, and what might be done to improve the ecosystem were the subject of discussions at the virtual On Helix meeting on 13 July, organised by One Nucleus, a membership group.

Roche has struck a licensing and collaboration agreement with US-based Blueprint Medicines Corp for a drug entering registration for a group of cancers exhibiting mutations activated by the RET gene. The drug, pralsetinib, is being positioned to treat RET-altered non-small cell lung cancer, various types of thyroid cancer and other solid tumours.

The checkpoint antibody, Tecentriq (atezolizumab), in combination with three other drugs, did not meet its primary endpoint of progression-free survival in a Phase 3 trial of women with advanced ovarian cancer, the developer Roche announced on 13 July. Tecentriq was being investigated with Avastin (bevacizumab), paclitaxel and carboplatin.

A new venture capital fund backed by a syndicate of Swedish and Danish institutions, has been launched in the Nordic region to support promising life science companies. The fund, Eir Ventures I AB, is registered in Sweden as an alternative investment fund and will operate from offices in Stockholm and Copenhagen. On 10 July, it announced a first close of  €76 million.

Kiadis Pharma NV has secured its first major deal for a technology that involves the use of natural killer (NK) cells to detect and kill cancer. Under a collaboration with Sanofi SA, Kiadis will out-license rights to a preclinical asset for multiple myeloma as well as rights to two other undisclosed preclinical programmes.

In exchange, Sanofi will make an upfront payment to Kiadis of €17.5 million as well as commit to potential milestone payments of up to €857.5 million. Kiadis will also receive up to low double-digit royalties on the sales of any approved products.

Forbion Capital Partners has secured €185 million for the first close of a new venture fund that will support European companies with late-stage assets. The new Forbion Growth Opportunities Fund is being supported by returning investors Pantheon, a US private equity group; KfW Capital GmbH of Germany; and the European Investment Fund, a lending agency of the EU. New investors include Eli Lilly and Co, Horizon Therapeutics Plc, Belgian Growth Fund and New Waves Investments.