Research & Development

The US biotech’s DB-OTO has made headlines worldwide after a baby with profound genetic deafness experienced improved hearing to normal levels within 24 weeks after a single intracochlear injection.

Combination mechanisms, less frequent dosing and scalability are the goals of the collaboration.

As Astellas pivots through several candidates in an attempt to create its next blockbuster, a decision to terminate its only prospect in the core mitochondrial R&D area leaves very few other competitors in the market.

The ranks of B7-H3-targeting antibody-drug conjugates under development in China have seen their first dropout, although elsewhere there are two FGFR2b-directed ADCs with first-in-class potential on the horizon. Meanwhile, there have been other discontinuations of KRAS G12C inhibitors and anti-BCMA CAR-T cell therapies in the country, while new players have surfaced in the areas of mRNA cancer vaccines and amyloid-beta-targeting antibodies for Alzheimer’s disease.

Early-stage companies pioneering new modalities discussed the future of cardiometabolic therapy and partnering with big pharma at the LSX conference in London.

Aiming to help create China’s first original treatment for under-researched rare diseases, the Hope for Rare Foundation is racing against a funding crunch to support translational research in China, its co-founder and secretary-general tells Scrip in an interview.

As COVID-19 vaccine sales decline, the company is investing billions in a diverse oncology pipeline including antibody drug conjugates, immunotherapy and cancer vaccines

The Sweden-headquartered biotech has emphasized the promising survival data in a head and neck cancer study of setanaxib rather than the NOX inhibitor’s inability to shrink tumors.

Pipeline Watch is a weekly snapshot of selected late-stage clinical trial events and approvals announced by pharmaceutical and biotech companies at medical and industry conferences, in financial and company presentations, and in company releases and statements.

The company said an NCI trial and a China study remain ongoing despite a Phase III study in relapsed/refractory disease failing, with an unusually long OS result in the control arm.

Emerging Company Profile: The eight-year-old vaccine firm is planning clinical trials in the Philippines and Brazil to see how its synthetic viral peptide vaccine technology stands up against coronaviruses and dengue fever.

BioNTech and the UK government's alliance to bring personalized cancer immunotherapy to patients is making progress, but the National Health Service has to show it can deliver on clinical trials recruitment.

Moderna has cut short its alliance with Metagenomi, giving it more work to do in persuading skeptical investors about its gene-editing platform.

Astellas is building off an existing relationship with the biotech formed last August, joining the growing number of large pharmas looking at tackling solid tumors with cell therapy.

Things are looking up for the UK company with growing dominance for Arexvy among respiratory syncytial virus shots and international growth for shingles vaccine Shingrix