GARDP:?Six European states, together with the British Wellcome Trust and South Africa, have pledged €56.5m to help develop new antibiotics that break resistance. The ambitious goal of the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP) is to develop and deliver up to four new treatments that enter clinical development within the next six years.
Biomanufacturing?While the FDA and EMA have for the first time okayed the switch from batch to continuous manufacture of a pill – Janssen Cilag’s HIV protease inhibitor darunavir (Prezista) – the
industry is still waiting for such a signal in the biologics field. The FDA wants to boost adoption, and biopharma majors, such as Novartis, Amgen and Biogen, launched a pilot project to lay the groundwork for the next generation of production: continous USP and DSP, and alternatives to CHO cells.
Flexible and reliable contract manufacturing and development have become the key success factor in the development of biopharmaceuticals. Due to the long process time and high investment needed to build up production capacities, outsourcing of biologics manufacturing provides both access to advanced technologies and necessary capacity along with flexibility in timing and output.
Bioeconomy:?It could be a turning point for the fish meal and fish oil dependent animal feed industry in Europe. Since July, the European Commission has allowed the use of insect-processed animal proteins for aquaculture. According to experts, the use of insect meal as a sustainable alternative opens an US$90bn market.
Serialisation of drugs is confronting pharmaceutical companies all over the world with challenges, especially in relation to data handling and the integration of additional equipment and functions into existing packaging lines. Offline solutions, where secondary packaging is serialized directly by the folding-box manufacturer, combined with sophisticated data flow architectures, are a reliable, flexible, and immediately available alternative to inline serialisation.
Genetic Diseases:?Its a disease that often strikes people in the prime of life, slowly destroying control over body, mind and personality. It inevitably kills the patient, but usually only after at least a decade of suffering. The underlying cause of Huntingtons disease – a dominant mutation on Chromosome IV – was discovered almost 25 years ago. Now the first trials to target the condition at its source have begun. Chances of finding a cure have never been more realistic.
AYOXXAs LUNARIS platform:?In a case study "Translational proteomics: a new perspective for
ophthalmology research, Ayoxxa gives insights into the capabilities of its Lunaris multiplex protein
analysis platform.
Progress in process engineering and media optimisation has resulted in significant productivity increases in upstream processing driving transformations at drug developers and CDMOs. At BPI Europe in Amsterdam, companies showed strategies and product launches pinpointing the way towards what could become a new industry paradigm: continuous processing and flexible modular production plants, which both address changed production needs.
The possibilities offered by CRISPR/Cas9, TALENs and other new genome editing technologies are making the mouths of plant breeders water – and not just because the methods give seed developers new options when it comes to optimising traits such as yield, resistance to environmental stress, diseases or pests. Gene-edited plants could soon make inroads even with Europes strict regulators, and throw open the door to tastier, healthier food.
Belgian, Swiss, and US researchers have found a new way to boost efficacy in cancer immunotherapy. In mid-April, they reported that cancer cells actively block tumour infiltration of cytotoxic T cells, but that this process can be reversed using angiogenesis blockers. Some Big pharma companies have already jumped on the bandwagon of angiogenesis/PDL1 combination therapy.