Pending regulatory approval, a first clinical trial of a gene edited treatment for patients with beta-thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder, will start in Europe in early 2018. The therapy has been developed by CrisprTherapeutics AG and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.
The Italian reimbursement authority has reached an agreement with MolMed SpA under which it will reimburse the company’s cell therapy for patients who have received a stem cell transplant at €149,000 per infusion. Treatment can require up to four infusions.
Fate Therapeutics Inc has directed more resources toward NK cell-based immunotherapy with a new research deal covering potential allogeneic therapies for cancer. The agreement, announced on 6 December, is with the University of California at San Diego, US.
Bruno Strigini, chief executive of Novartis Oncology is retiring from the company in early 2018, the Swiss multinational announced on 15 December. Mr Strigini joined Novartis in 2014 and has led the oncology division since 1 July 2016. A successor has not yet been named.
Kåre Schultz has announced a sweeping restructuring programme for Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd that will see its workforce reduced by more than 25% and substantial changes to the company’s generic portfolio in the US.
A new oncolytic virus therapy that is intended to treat solid tumours is poised to enter clinical development triggering a $15 million milestone payment from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co to the developer PsiOxus Therapeutics Ltd of Oxford, UK.
NorthSea Therapeutics BV, a Dutch company established in November 2017 to exploit a licence for a NASH treatment called icosabutate, has raised €25 million in a Series A equity financing that will allow the company to run a critical Phase 2b, proof-of-concept study of the drug by the end of 2018.
Netherlands-based LSP (Life Sciences Partners) has raised €280 million in the first and final closing of a new medical technology fund that will invest in companies developing medical devices, diagnostics and applications for digital health.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a follow-on, or biosimilar, medicine for diabetes from Sanofi SA that is intended to improve the control of blood sugar in children and adults with both Type 1 and Type 2 forms of the disease.
Hookipa Biotech AG has raised €50 million in an oversubscribed Series C financing to support the clinical development of vaccines for infectious diseases and cancer. The round was led by an undisclosed US public investment fund.