pharma news

Cancer-killing virus flees immune destruction and attacks metastatic lung tumors in mice Several viruses have a natural ability to eliminate cancer; however translating them into treatments has proven difficult, partly due to the immune system tends to kill them before they can reach cancer cells. Researchers fr...

Novartis bags Mesoblast's cell therapy, Remestemcel-L for COVID-19 ARDS The COVID-19 pandemic has put tremendous pressure on scientists to develop a safe and effective vaccine as early as possible. According to the WHO, there are currently more than 100 COVID-19 vaccine candidates under development, with several...

FDA nods Boston Scientific's paclitaxel-coated Ranger balloon for peripheral artery disease Boston Scientific has received the FDA approval for its Ranger paclitaxel-coated balloon, designed to restrict a patient's systemic exposure to the chemotherapy used to reduce the closure of reopened arteries. The slim...

Bristol Myers' Experimental Psoriasis drug succeeds in late-stage study defeats rival Amgen's Otezla Bristol Myers' experimental psoriasis drug, deucravacitinib has outmarched Amgen's Otezla (apremilast) in the POETYK PSO-1 Phase III clinical trial in patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Deucravaci...

Novartis taps Molecular Partners for a novel approach to combat COVID-19 Novartis is spending USD 69 million upfront on a pair of experimental drugs from Molecular Partners. The pact is for MP0420 and MP0423, two antivirals out of the biotech’s so-called DARPin tech, which Molecular Partners says that it has ...

Bayer Set to Fork Over USD 4 Billion for AskBio’s Gene Therapies Germany-based Bayer is set to acquire North Carolina-based Asklepios BioPharmaceutical (AskBio) with motives to get its hands on its gene therapies.  Bayer will pay USD 2 billion in upfront payment in exchange for AskBio's AAV-based gene th...

GSK eyes robust immune response from RSV vaccine  Cold viruses mostly do not get much attention in terms of R&D. They usually make humans feel miserable for a few days, and later than clear up. However, some cold viruses can hit vulnerable people much harder, which leads to pneumonia and hospitalizations. Th...

Full FDA Approval for Venclexta Combinations for Acute Myeloid Leukemia   The US FDA has granted its full approval to Venclexta (venetoclax) for newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in adults 75 years or older who are unfit for intensive induction chemotherapies.  The approval is based on the res...

Cyclerion flunks sickle cell test, prompting pivot to CNS disease Cyclerion Therapeutics has terminated the development of olinciguat in sickle cell disease after getting a look at data from a phase 2 trial. The setback caused Cyclerion to switch its focus to IW-6463 and to treat central nervous system diseases....

Designing a universal flu vaccine by focusing on the immune system  A universal flu vaccine that can foster protection to people against any influenza strain is considered a goal in flu research as it could spare scientists from the often erroneous process of predicting the circulating strains each year and...