Shire Plc is advancing a candidate gene therapy acquired from its 2016 purchase of Baxalta, with plans to take the product into a first human trial in patients with haemophilia A. The product is a factor VIII gene therapy delivered in an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector.
The first new drug for sickle cell disease in nearly 20 years has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. The treatment, Endari (L-glutamine oral powder), lowers oxidant damage to red blood cells thereby reducing complications of the disease.
Zealand Pharma A/S of Denmark has become the latest European biotech company to consider listing on the Nasdaq over-the-counter market in the US in order to raise capital to expand its business. The company has one product on the market for diabetes.
Three multiple myeloma studies in which Merck & Co’s checkpoint inhibitor Keytruda (pembrolizumab) was being investigated in combination with drugs produced by Celgene Corp have been stopped following patient deaths, Merck announced on 5 July.
A UK life science incubator located in the city of Nottingham has expanded its premises in order to accommodate more than 700 new bioscience positions over the next 30 years. The expansion will be a significant boost to the economy of the Midlands region of England.
Immunocore Ltd has made further progress with its T cell receptor technology following a decision by its partner GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK) to select a third target for an oncology programme directed against multiple cancers.
A UK-based company that uses artificial intelligence for drug discovery has entered into a collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline Plc to discover candidate small molecules against up to 10 disease-related targets. Exscientia Ltd is a 2012 spin-out of the University of Dundee.
TiGenix has joined the growing number of European companies with a presence in the US to open an office in Cambridge, Massachusetts and prepare for the registration of its lead stem cell therapy product intended to treat fistulas in patients with Crohn’s disease.
Evotec AG has expanded its capacity to discover new drugs through the use of adult stem cells that have been reprogrammed to produce any type of cell in the human body. These induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells can be used to model disease and identify prospective treatments.
The US Food and Drug Administration has made its first move to bring drug prices down under the new leadership of Commissioner Scott Gottlieb.