News

Immunocore Ltd has secured $130 million in Series B funding from new and existing investors to progress its portfolio of biologic drugs for cancer, infection and autoimmune disease. The company’s technology involves engineering T cell receptors and linking them to an antibody fragment that can activate the immune system to kill a cancer or a viral cell. Proceeds from the offering will enable to company to advance two wholly owned clinical stage programmes for chronic hepatitis B and a compound targeting PRAME, an antigen expressed on a wide range of tumours.

The UK synthetic biology company Evonetix Ltd has raised $30 million in a Series B financing round led by Foresite Capital, a San Francisco, US-based venture capital company. Evonetix will use the proceeds for the development of technology enabling the synthesis of DNA on a chip. The silicon chip, which is made by a process technology known as MEMS, integrates physics with biology, and controls the synthesis of DNA at many thousands of independently controlled reaction sites or pixels on the chip surface.

A new antibiotic capable of treating infections from aerobic Gram-negative bacteria has been given a positive opinion by the European Medicines Agency. Fetcroja (cefiderocol) was shown to be effective in complicated urinary tract infections, nosocomial pneumonia and in critically ill patients with confirmed carbapenem-resistant infections. It was developed by Shionogi & Co Ltd in Japan and approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in November 2019. Once the EMA positive opinion is confirmed by the European Commission, the drug will be available to health authorities in Europe.

Results from a Phase 2 study of a new treatment for the chronic skin condition, prurigo nodularis, showed that the antibody performed better on a pruritus rating scale than placebo and also delivered clear or nearly clear skin for over one third of participants. Results of the trial were published in the New England Journal of Medicine on 20 February.

An experimental therapeutic cancer vaccine with a dual mode of action has passed its first clinical hurdle and will continue to be investigated as a first-line therapy in patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The vaccine, IO102 is being developed by IO Biotech ApS of Denmark in combination with Keytruda. An interim Phase 2 analysis, designed as a futility analysis, showed that the vaccine delivered an objective response rate that was substantially higher than Keytruda monotherapy had done in patients with a similar profile.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc is to acquire Qiagen NV of the Netherlands, significantly expanding its service offering to the global life sciences industry. The transaction values Qiagen at approximately $11.5 billion, which includes the assumption of Qiagen’s $1.4 billion in net debt. The offer price of €39 per share represents a premium of about 23% to the closing price of Qiagen’s shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on 2 March.

A Phase 3 trial designed to generate a new cancer indication for Venclexta (venetoclax) failed to meet its primary endpoint of a statistically significant improvement in overall survival in acute myeloid leukaemia, AbbVie Inc announced on 28 February. Venclexta is being jointly developed with Roche and already has been approved in four cancer indications. The newest trial compared Venclexta in combination with the chemotherapy cytarabine against a combination of cytarabine and placebo. Patients in the trial had AML and were ineligible for intensive chemotherapy.

Gilead Sciences Inc has launched two Phase 3 studies of an experimental nucleotide analog to treat adults diagnosed with infection from the COVID-19 coronavirus. The studies will assess two dosing durations of the drug remdesivir, administered intravenously. They follow the US Food and Drug Administration decision to accept Gilead’s clinical trial application.

Remdesivir has been tested in humans with Ebola virus disease and in animal models for Middle East respiratory syndrome and severe acute respiratory syndrome, which are caused by other coronaviruses.

Public health and border control officials at the European Commission currently believe that the risk of imminent transmission of the COVID-19 coronavirus across the EU is low to moderate – even as the virus continues to infect increasing numbers of people in Italy.

According to the BBC, the number of cases in Italy reached 400 on 26 February, up by 25% in just 24 hours. To date, there have been 12 fatalities.

Bicycle Therapeutics Plc has entered into a collaboration with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, to develop new therapies for cancer using its short peptide technology. The deal is potentially valued at up to $1.7 billion, giving the 11-year old company significant new resources to develop its technology. The company’s scientific founders are Gregory Winter, who invented a technique for humanising mouse monoclonal antibodies, and Christian Heinis, a researcher in the field of peptide therapeutics.