News

Austria-based Themis Bioscience GmbH has entered into a licencing agreement with Max-Planck-Innovation GmbH, the technology transfer arm of the Max Planck Society of Germany, for exclusive rights to an oncolytic measles virus platform that could be used to develop new oncology drugs.

The technology was jointly developed by Eberhard-Karls-University Tübingen and the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The European Medicines Agency has issued new guidance to industry on Brexit, warning that all products under review by the UK regulatory authority will need to be transferred to rapporteurs or co-rapporteurs from the other EU member states. The rapporteur is the leader of the scientific team that evaluates applications from companies for marketing authorisations. The activities of this team are supported by the EMA secretariat.

The US Food and Drug Administration approved Libtayo (cemiplimab-rwlc) on 28 September for the treatment of patients with metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) who are not eligible for curative surgery or radiation. The approval is the FDA’s first authorisation of a drug specifically for an advanced form of this disease.

The field of RNA therapeutics received a boost on 10 October when a group of investors provided Series A funding to Gotham Therapeutics Inc, a company founded by Versant Ventures to develop drugs that target RNA-modifying proteins. The new company will be exploiting discoveries in the field of epitranscriptomics, a discipline which describes the biochemical modifications of RNA within a cell. These modifications help determine the degree to which genes are translated into proteins.

GW Pharmaceuticals Plc has raised $300 million in a secondary offering on the US Nasdaq, providing it with capital to commercialise its recently approved cannabinoid medicine Epidiolex for the treatment of seizures associated with the childhood epilepsies, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome.

Two scientists who identified proteins which act as a break on the immune system have been awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery, which is the scientific basis for the ‘immune checkpoint’ class of medicines. James P. Allison, who discovered CTLA-4, and Tasuku Honjo, who discovered PD-1, were cited by the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet for their landmark work in the global fight against cancer.

Forbion Capital Partners of the Netherlands has closed its previously-announced Forbion IV biopharma fund at €360 million, significantly above the original target of €250 million. Forbion IV, like its predecessor fund Forbion III, will primarily invest in life science opportunities in the EU, including the UK, with the remainder targeting North America.

Scientists from University College London have identified a second source of endothelial cells that line the interior of blood vessels, potentially opening up a path for exploring the use of stem cells to grow new blood vessels and repair damaged ones.

An enzyme therapy developed by Hansa Medical AB has successfully inactivated donor-specific antibodies in patients with kidney disease enabling them to receive kidney transplants. The result comes from follow-up data from two Phase 2 trials of highly sensitised patients who otherwise would not have been eligible for transplantation.

Novartis has announced plans to reduce its workforce in Switzerland and the UK by a net 2,100 over four years as it shifts away from the production of high volume pharmaceutical products to personalised medicines such as gene therapies. The shift represents a focus on higher-value specialised products.