News

A Phase 3 trial of a candidate vaccine to prevent infection from the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has failed and the clinical trial is being discontinued, Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies announced on 18 January. The decision was taken on the advice of the study’s independent Data and Safety Monitoring Board which concluded that the vaccine was not effective in preventing HIV infection compared with a placebo. No safety issues related to the vaccine were identified.

The Roche Group has reported the success of a combination therapy in reducing the risk of cancer recurrence in patients with early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma. A Phase 3 trial which combined the immune checkpoint inhibitor Tecentriq (atezolizumab) and Avastin (bevacizumab) and was administered as an adjuvant treatment after surgery, showed a statistically significant improvement in recurrence-free survival in patients at an increased risk of their disease returning.

The UK biotech, TC BioPharm (Holdings) Plc, has announced a research collaboration with the MD Anderson Cancer Center in the US to investigate how gamma delta T cells can be further mobilised to fight cancer. The Scotland-based company has already reported positive data from an early clinical trial of a gamma delta T cell product in patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). As this trial continues, it will also be working with researchers at MD Anderson, which is part of the University of Texas, to better understand how gamma delta T cells behave in patients.

Sanofi SA is to increase the capital available to Sanofi Ventures, its evergreen investment fund, in order to support small companies with promising technologies. The capital injection will raise the sums available to the fund to $750 million. The fund currently has 50 companies in its portfolio, many of which have ongoing research and development collaborations with the parent company.

BioNTech SE, the Germany-based vaccine and immunotherapy company, is to take full control of InstaDeep Ltd having made an equity investment in the company in January 2022. InstaDeep is a UK-based technology company that specialises in artificial intelligence and machine learning. BioNTech has a messenger RNA (mRNA) platform and was responsible, with Pfizer, for commercialising the first Covid-19 vaccine. InstaDeep has its headquarters in London, with offices in Paris, France and four other cities in the Middle East and Africa.

Asklepios BioPharmaceutical Inc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bayer AG, has entered into a multi-year research collaboration and option agreement with ReCode Therapeutics Inc. Under the agreement, the companies will work together to discover genetic medicines that precisely target a disease. This will be done by developing technology for the use of single vectors as delivery vehicles for gene editing and DNA cargoes.

Sanofi SA has expanded a collaboration with Innate Pharma SA giving it access to new assets in the field of natural kill (NK) cell antibody development. The French multinational has been working with Innate since 2016 and will now have rights to a programme targeting an immune checkpoint molecule known as B7H3 which is overexpressed in a number of solid tumours. Sanofi will also have an option to add up to two additional molecules to its repertoire of cancer targets.

Germany-based BioNTech SE, which together with Pfizer Inc commercialised the first Covid-19 vaccine, has entered into a partnership with the UK government to research and develop mRNA vaccines for other diseases. The multi-year collaboration will include the development of vaccines for cancer and infectious diseases. For cancer, the goal is to be able to provide personalised cancer therapies for up to 10,000 patients by the end of 2030, either in clinical trials or as authorised treatments.

Ipsen SA has announced a merger agreement with Albireo Pharma Inc which will give it a marketed product for the treatment of rare diseases affecting the liver. The acquisition is expected to provide immediate revenue from sales of Albireo’s lead drug Bylvay (odevixibat). However, given ongoing research and developments costs, it will be dilutive to Ipsen’s operating profit until the end of 2024.

AstraZeneca Plc is taking steps to strengthen its position in therapies for cardiovascular and and kidney diseases with the acquisition of CinCor Pharma Inc, a US based company whose lead product, baxdrostat, is in clinical development for blood pressure lowering. The transaction is expected to create new opportunities for treating uncontrolled hypertension as well as chronic kidney disease. In particular, baxdrostat could be combined with Farxiga, an approved medicine for diabetes, heart failure and kidney disease, AstraZeneca said on 9 January.