Today Stories

Destiny Pharma Plc (AIM: DEST) a clinical stage innovative biotechnology company focused on the development of novel medicines that can prevent life threatening infections, today announces the appointment of Professor Mark Wilcox to its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). Professor Wilcox is a consultant microbiologist and Head of R&D in Microbiology at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals and is Lead on Clostridium difficile infection for Public Health England (PHE). He also has advisory roles to UK SAGE (COVID-19), NHS England’s Infection Prevention & Control national team and PHE’s Rapid Review Panel (reviewing the utility of infection prevention and control products for the NHS), and is a member of the UK NHS Antimicrobial Resistance Programme Board. Dr Bill Love, Chief Scientific Officer…

AstraZeneca has agreed, subject to certain limited exceptions, to divest its 26.7% ownership in Viela Bio, Inc. (Viela), as part of the proposed acquisition of Viela by Horizon Therapeutics plc (Nasdaq: HZNP). AstraZeneca is anticipating to receive cash proceeds and profit of c.$760-$780m upon closing for the sale of the holding, which will be recorded in Reported and Core Other Operating Income and Expense in the Company’s financial statements. The divestment is expected to complete by the end of the first quarter of 2021. The divestment does not impact the Company's financial guidance for 2020. Guidance for 2021 is anticipated to be issued with full-year 2020 results on 11 February 2021. VielaViela (Nasdaq: VIE), headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland, is a biotechnology company dedicat…

First of multiple agreements being explored by Novartis to leverage manufacturing capacity and capabilities to address pandemic, supporting global supply of COVID-19 vaccine Initial agreement signed with BioNTech to use Novartis manufacturing plant in Stein, Switzerland, to support production of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine Production to commence in the second quarter for estimated delivery commencing in the third quarter 2021 Basel, January 29, 2021 — Novartis announced today that it has signed an initial agreement to leverage its manufacturing capacity and capabilities in order to address the COVID-19 pandemic by supporting the production of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine. The agreement will see Novartis utilizing its aseptic manufacturing facilities at its site in Stein, Switzerland. U…

Ingelheim, Germany, January 25, 2021 – The Top Employers Institute awarded Boehringer Ingelheim for the first time as a “Global Top Employer”, one of the world’s 16 best employers. The award shows that the research-driven pharmaceutical company is strongly oriented to the needs and well-being of its employees. Boehringer Ingelheim has been listed among the top employers in many countries and regions for the past seven years. This year, Boehringer Ingelheim will receive the award in 27 countries, as well as  in Europe and the Latin America and Asia-Pacific regions. The independent Top Employers Institute certifies employers worldwide who wish to offer their employees excellent working conditions and support their development. Certification is based on a multi-level program to examine human…

London, England, January 27, 2021 - ADVANZ PHARMA Corp. Limited (“ADVANZ PHARMA” or “the Company”), a specialty pharmaceutical company with a strategic focus on complex medicines in Europe, today announced that its board of directors has reached an agreement on the terms of a cash offer, to be made by a subsidiary (“Bidco”) of Nordic Capital, pursuant to which Nordic Capital will acquire the entire issued and to-be-issued limited voting share capital of ADVANZ PHARMA (the “Acquisition”). “This offer highlights the value that our employees around the world have collectively contributed towards building ADVANZ PHARMA into the strong and diverse company it is today,” said Graeme Duncan, Chief Executive Officer of ADVANZ PHARMA. “In addition, this Acquisition will significantly help the busine…

£0.5M investment in mass spectrometry support accelerates biologics development and approval   Craigavon, Northern Ireland – 26 January 2021 – Almac Sciences, a member of the Almac Group, has announced additional  expansion of its biologics testing laboratory with significant investment in mass spectrometry equipment. The new high-resolution mass spectrometer has been installed at Almac’s global headquarters, located in Northern Ireland, and will support its biologics offering for the analysis of peptides, proteins, glycoproteins and antibody products. This adds to the existing industry support at its new biologic testing laboratory based in Athlone, Ireland, announced just three months ago, which supports QC release and characterisation of biologics. The £500,000 investment in a Thermo Or…

21st January 2021 – St. Andrews, Scotland – Pneumagen Ltd, focused on preventing and treating respiratory infections by targeting the human glycome, today announced a further GBP2.5 million investment from existing investors plus a new undisclosed global corporate investor, based in the US. The investment will be used to support the clinical development of Neumifil™ in 2021 as an intra-nasal formulation for the prevention and treatment of influenza, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) and COVID-19. This additional investment follows on from last year’s announcement of a GBP £4 million investment, and brings the total amount of financing raised to circa £9.5 million. Neumifil™ is a first-in-class Carbohydrate Binding Module (mCBMs), generated using the Company’s proprietary GlycoTarge™ platfo…

Laval, Quebec, and Marburg, Germany, January 20, 2021. Nexelis, a portfolio company of Ampersand Capital Partners, and a leading provider of advanced assay development and laboratory testing services in the infectious, oncologic, and metabolic diseases fields, has signed an asset purchase agreement with GSK to acquire its GCLP-certified clinical bioanalytical laboratory located in Marburg, Germany. The Clinical Laboratory Science (CLS) team in Marburg, consisting of approximately 80 scientists and analysts, will be transferred to Nexelis.  The CLS team in Marburg will continue to keep a strong relationship with GSK and support the development of future GSK vaccine candidates through a 5-year strategic collaborative agreement. This is the fifth acquisition by Nexelis in the last three years…

London, U.K. 21 January 2021: Digital therapy assistant Limbic has today partnered with mental health charity Black Minds Matter.  The partnership will see Black Minds Matter U.K.  roll out Limbic’s Self-Care platform to its community of 2600 people, ensuring they receive access to instant support while waiting for treatment or whilst currently accessing treatment.  Black Minds Matter U.K. provides free therapy sessions to Black individuals and families across the UK. Founded in June 2020 during the height of the pandemic and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter protests, the charity saw a surge in demand for their services and had to subsequently close their waitlist.  To date, the charity has already been able to help over half of their waiting list access therapy and 1000 additional…

Dolutegravir is the first integrase inhibitor available as a dispersible tablet for children weighing at least 3kg and from four weeks of age The authorisation is an important step in fulfilling ViiV Healthcare’s commitment to bring optimised paediatric formulations of dolutegravir to children ViiV Healthcare, the global specialist HIV company majority-owned by GlaxoSmithKline plc (“GSK”), with Pfizer Inc. and Shionogi Limited as shareholders, today announced that the European Commission has granted Marketing Authorisation for Tivicay (dolutegravir) 5mg dispersible tablets, which are used in combination with other antiretroviral agents for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection in paediatric patients (treatment-naïve or -experienced but INSTI- naïve) aged…

Genmab to receive USD 40 million milestone payment from AbbVie Milestone triggered by progress in Phase 3 study of epcoritamab in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma Copenhagen, Denmark; January 13, 2021 – Genmab A/S (Nasdaq: GMAB) announced today that it has reached the first milestone in its collaboration with AbbVie. A USD 40 million milestone payment was triggered by the first patient dosed in the Phase 3 study of subcutaneous epcoritamab versus investigator’s choice of chemotherapy in patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). “We are very pleased that the first Phase 3 study of epcoritamab has been activated at multiple clinical sites and the first cancer patient has been dosed. We look forward to continued rapid progress in this exciting and rapidly broa…

• Collaboration focuses on up to three types of lung and gastrointestinal (GI) cancers • Latest in a series of strategic acquisitions and partnerships that strengthens Boehringer Ingelheim’s position in the cancer vaccine and T-cell engager spaces • Agreement and partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim provides additional validation of Enara Bio’s EDAPT™ platform and Dark Antigen™ discovery work and supports ongoing cell therapy based therapeutic approach Ingelheim, Germany and Oxford and London, UK, January 12th, 2021 – Boehringer Ingelheim and Enara Bio, today announced that they have entered into a strategic collaboration and licensing agreement to research and develop novel targeted cancer immunotherapies, leveraging Enara Bio’s Dark Antigen™ discovery platform. This new collaboration…

A new COVID-19 drug screening and resistance hub will be established in Scotland, based at the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (CVR). The ground-breaking project, CRUSH (COVID-19 Drug-Screening and Resistance Hub), has received £2.5million to establish a national resource which will initially be dedicated to supporting and accelerating vital COVID-19 antiviral innovation drug  translation. The facility is funded by £2m from medical research charity LifeArc, with additional funding from the Medical Research Council. CVR CRUSH will be delivered by the University of Glasgow in collaboration with partners LifeArc and the University of Dundee Drug Discovery Unit. Global control of the COVID-19 pandemic is dependent on the availability of effective medical treatments and vacc…

January 5th, 2021:  University of Birmingham researchers have invented a COVID-19 test that reduces testing time from 30 minutes to under five, and delivers accurate results.  The method is described in a preprint paper (yet to be peer-reviewed) published on MedRxiv, where the researchers also demonstrate the rapidity and sensitivity of their method using patient sample RNA provided by Public Health England.  Professor Tim Dafforn from the University’s School of Biosciences commented: “We have designed a new method for testing that combines the ease of use and speed of lateral flow testing with the inherent sensitivity of an RNA test.  It features reagents that can be used in existing point of care devices and meets the need for testing in high throughput, near-patient, settings where peop…

AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for emergency supply in the UK, with the first doses being released today so that vaccinations may begin early in the New Year. The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has provided authorisation for emergency supply of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca, formerly AZD1222, for the active immunisation of individuals 18 years or older. The authorisation recommends  two doses administered with an interval of between four and 12 weeks. This regimen was shown in clinical trials to be safe and effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19, with no severe cases and no hospitalisations more than 14 days after the second dose. AstraZeneca is working with Public Health England and National Health Service England to support the deploy…

LifeArc announces Seed Fund investment of £2 million in DJS Antibodies, a biotech start-up company pioneering the development of novel antibody therapeutics for inflammatory disease.  LifeArc is co-leading the c.£6 million funding with Sedgwick Yard, with new investment from Amgen Ventures and follow-on investment from Oxford Sciences Innovation (OSI). DJS Antibodies has developed HEPTAD, a novel platform for antibody discovery which was built to overcome the challenges associated with discovering therapeutic quality antibodies to intractable G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) targets.  This funding round will support the development of two candidate antibody therapeutics including an antibody therapeutic for chronic kidney disease (CKD), a long-term condition that leads to the irreversible…

Edinburgh, Scotland UK, Monday 21st December 2020; Arrayjet, the Scottish-based bio-printing and microarray technology company, has announced the appointment of its new non-executive Chairman. Dr Joe Keegan, a San Francisco-based biotechnology entrepreneur and one of the most respected leaders in the global life sciences industry, will replace Edinburgh-based serial entrepreneur and business strategist Alan Faichney, who is stepping down as Chairman after seven years in the role. Dr. Keegan’s appointed as Chairman is a huge boost for Arrayjet and the wider Scottish life sciences community. Joe joined Arrayjet as a non-exec Director three years ago and has been pivotal in helping the company accelerate a bold global expansion strategy.  He has helped identify and open up new international c…

COMIRNATY® (also known as BNT162b2) receives conditional marketing authorization from the European Commission; this milestone represents a global joint effort to advance the first authorized mRNA vaccine Pfizer and BioNTech are ready to immediately ship initial doses to the 27 EU member states Pfizer and BioNTech previously announced an agreement with the European Commission to supply 200 million vaccine doses to EU member states; the EU also has an option to purchase an additional 100 million doses in 2021 The vaccine has now been granted a conditional marketing authorization, emergency use authorization, or temporary authorization in more than 40 countries worldwide, including all 27 EU member states NEW YORK & MAINZ, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and BioNTech…

AstraZeneca and Amgen today announced high-level results from the SOURCE Phase III trial which assessed the efficacy and safety of the potential new medicine tezepelumab compared to placebo in 150 severe asthma patients who required maintenance use of oral corticosteroids (OCS) on top of standard of care (SoC). The 48-week trial did not meet the primary endpoint of a statistically significant reduction in the daily OCS dose, without loss of asthma control, with tezepelumab compared to placebo. Tezepelumab’s effect on other efficacy parameters was similar to those observed in previous trials, including the registrational Phase III NAVIGATOR trial. Mene Pangalos, Executive Vice President, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, said: “Based on the totality of evidence, including the compelling exacerbat…