News

Astra Zeneca Plc has announced the publication on 8 December of interim Phase 3 data of a Covid-19 vaccine that it is developing with the University of Oxford in The Lancet. The interim analysis for efficacy and safety, as outlined in the article, are in line with previous disclosures, the company said.

An estimated 44% of patients with advanced lymphoma are still alive four years after receiving a single infusion of Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel) for their disease. The new long-term survival data were presented by Gilead Sciences Inc at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), further illustrating the efficacy of the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy class.

Syncona Ltd has provided £26.6 million in Series A funding to Resolution Therapeutics Ltd, a company it founded in August 2020 to exploit the wound healing capabilities of macrophages. Macrophages are cells of the innate immune system involved in the inflammatory response to injury or infection as well as in orchestrating the wound healing process that follows.

An agreement setting the terms of trade between the UK and the European Union following Brexit remains unresolved, according to the European Commission. The two sides have been negotiating for weeks to reach a trade agreement that would take effect from 1 January 2021. A telephone call on 5 December between the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen did not resolve differences on three issues. These issues are maintaining a level playing field for trade; fishing rights and governance.

Artios Pharma Ltd has negotiated a collaboration potentially worth up to $6.9 billion with Merck KGaA to develop new oncology compounds on up to eight targets using technology that kills cancer cells by blocking their ability to repair damaged DNA. The technology, known as DNA damage response, targets the genetic background of tumours irrespective of where they are located in the body.

Norway-based Targovax ASA has reported promising Phase 1 data for its oncolytic virus treatment ONCOS-102 in combination with pembrolizumab in patients with advanced, unresectable melanoma. The patients had experienced disease progression despite treatment with a checkpoint inhibitor, yet in the study tumour responses were observed in seven out of 20 evaluable patients.

The first drug for imaging prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) positive lesions in men with prostate cancer was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration on 1 December. It is designed to be used with positron emission tomography (PET). The drug, Gallium 68 PSMA-11, is indicated for patients with suspected prostate cancer metastasis who are potentially curable by surgery or radiation therapy. It is also indicated for patients with suspected prostate cancer recurrence based on elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels.

The UK government has authorised the emergency use of a new vaccine for the prevention of Covid-19 from Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE – the first approval of a pharmaceutical product based on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. The decision, announced on 2 December, was based on a recommendation of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the independent regulator. It follows the publication of Phase 3 data for the vaccine showing that it achieved an efficacy rate of 95%.

France-based MaaT Pharma SA has raised additional money through a government supported programme to accelerate development of a fermentation process for its microbiome-based products. Bpifrance, the national investment bank, has secured an additional €7.35 million for the company in an extension to an existing Series B financing round. This brings the total raised from the round to €25.35 million.

A Swiss start-up co-founded by a former executive at Roche has raised CHF 54 million in a Series A financing round to advance projects for orphan neurological disorders including four products in-licensed from Roche. The company, Noema Pharma AG, was launched in 2019 with seed funding from Sofinnova Partners. Now, less than two years later, it has a pipeline of clinical stage assets.