Entries by Thomas Gabrielczyk

Near-term capital for Neurimmune

US biotech company Biogen has exercised the option of a one-off payment to Swiss developer Neurimmune. If Biogen’s Alzheimer’s candidate Aducanumab is approved, the sales-related payments to Neurimmune will thus be reduced by 5%.

Diabetes drug reverses PAH

A new study shows that a drug approved for the treatment of diabetes reverses pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and prevents right heart failure in rats. Ekaterina Legchenko and colleagues say their findings could lead to new therapies for PAH and other chronic heart and lung conditions.

AZ’s Durvalumab/Tremelimumab combo flops in NSCLC

British drug maker AstraZeneca has failed to expand the reach of  its combo of PD-1/CTLA4 checkpoint blockers Durvalumab/Tremelimumab. The approved second-line NSCLC treatment missed to prolong progression-free and overall survival in patients with low PD-L1 expression.

Palbociclib companion biomarker unraveled

Researchers at the Universities of Dundee and Newcastle have identified a previously unknown target for the breast cancer drug palbociclib, which can be used to identify treatment responders. 

GMP and new processes: be prepared for hassle

Poor aseptic practices can rapidly ruin market supply of products outsourced for production. This year, Celltrion came under fire from FDA inspectors. At the end of January, the producer received a warning letter affecting the production of Inflectra biosimilar infliximab-dyyb (CT- P13) co-marketed with Pfizer. In mid-February, the FDA added a warning concerning rituximab and trastuzumab biosimilars produced for Teva, as well as for its fast-track migraine mAb fremanezumab.

German biotech sector growing

The German biotech industry has shown tremendous growth in 2017. According to figures of BIOCOM, turnover, employees or number of start-ups – many key figures for 2017 exceeded those of the record year 2016.