Other collaborations

In drug development, Sanofi has expanded its existing 2018 partnership with mRNA therapeutics firm Translate Bio for the development of mRNA vaccines against various infectious diseases. Saint-Gobain Life Sciences, Kanyr Pharma, the RI-MUHC and McGill University have formed a new interdisciplinary consortium to develop next-generation cell-based cancer vaccines. GSK and IDEAYA Biosciences have announced a strategic partnership in synthetic lethality, an emerging arm of oncology and a core research focus for GSK. AbbVie and Genmab have signed a pact to jointly develop and commercialise three of the latter's early-stage oncology products.  Abbvie has also signed a deal with clinical-stage immunotherapy firm Alpine Immune Sciences to develop a novel therapy for systemic lupus erythematosus and other autoimmune diseases. Evox Therapeutics has signed a collaboration deal with Eli Lilly centred on brain/CNS disorders, which could net the latter around $1.2 billion in development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments. Sarepta Therapeutics has signed a global research and option agreement with Codiak BioSciences for the design and development of therapeutics to treat rare, neuromuscular diseases.

For drug manufacturing, Bavarian Nordic has entered into a new supply contract to manufacture and deliver bulk drug substance of Janssen Vaccines & Prevention’s Ebola vaccine. Lonza has entered a partnership agreement with Anthos Therapeutics, for the development and manufacturing of abelacimab. PharmAbcine has entered into a strategic partnership with Thermo Fisher Scientific for the development and manufacturing of PMC-309, a next-generation immune checkpoint blockade to treat cancer. Oxford Biomedica has signed an agreement with the Vaccines Manufacturing and Innovation Centre (VMIC), a not-for-profit organization established to provide the UK’s first strategic vaccine development and advanced manufacturing capability.

For licensing and distribution, Roche has partnered with Entero Healthcare Solutions for the marketing and distribution of Roche’s key nephrology drugs in India. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries announced that one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries and Hikma Pharmaceuticals have entered into an exclusive licensing and distribution agreement for tildrakizumab, an innovative biologic product, for the Middle East & North Africa region. G1 Therapeutics and Genor Biopharma have announced an exclusive license agreement for the development and commercialisation of lerociclib in the Asia-Pacific region (excluding Japan).

Expansions
AztraZeneca is upgrading its manufacturing site in Ohio (USA) to deliver its potential COVID-19 vaccine, while Sanofi has unveiled plans to invest $679.4 million in France to increase its vaccines research and production capacities.

Gemini Bioproducts has opened a new cGMP facility in California, which will help meet increased demand after the company won a $3.6 million federal government contract to supply critical products in support of COVID-19 testing.

Integrity Bio has announced the validation of its second fill/finish manufacturing line, more than doubling the company’s manufacturing capacity. UPS has unveiled a series of facility expansions to its healthcare-dedicated warehouse and distribution network in key global markets.

M&A
Novo Nordisk has signed a deal to acquire Corvidia Therapeutics, while Melinta Therapeutics has announced plans to acquire Tetraphase Pharmaceutical. Gilead Sciences has exercised its option to acquire a 49.9% stake in Pionyr Immunotherapeutics.

Piramal Pharma Solutions has entered into an agreement with G&W Laboratories to acquire its solid oral dosage drug product manufacturing facility located in Pennsylvania (USA).

Naari Pharma has entered into an agreement to acquire 10 abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) for the US market from Intas Pharmaceuticals. Supernus Pharmaceuticals has acquired the CNS portfolio of US WorldMeds, a privately-held bio pharmaceutical company. BryoLogyx has acquired the rights to Neurotrope’s bryostatin-1. Celltrion has bought Takeda Pharmaceutical’s non-core over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription pharmaceutical assets available only in the Asia Pacific.

Regulatory approvals
Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’ dupilumab (Dupixent) has received approval from China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) to treat adults with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis.

Recent approvals from the US FDA include Viela Bio’s inebilizumab-cdon (Uplizna) injection for neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), Novartis’s secukinumab (Cosentyx) for active non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis, Epizyme’s Tazverik for follicular lymphoma, Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical’s burosumab-twza (Crysvita) injection for tumor-induced osteomalacia, Novartis’s Ilaris for Active Still’s disease treatment, Zydus Cadila’s Deferasirox Tablets to treat iron overload caused by blood transfusions and ViiV Healthcare’s Tivicay to treat HIV in children.

The FDA gas also granted orphan drug designation for Agios Pharmaceuticals’ mitapivat for the treatment of patients with thalassemia, Leap Therapeutics’ DKN-01 for gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancer, NeoImmuneTech’s NT-I7 for progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, CNS Pharmaceuticals’ berubicin for the treatment of malignant gliomas, and RenovoRx’s gemcitabine for treating bile duct cancer.

Continue to read:

What’s been happening in pharma? - Updates on COVID pandemic

Editor's Note:

Information in this article is originated from the Internet. For more details, please search and visit the official website of relevant news sources.

Author biography

Sarah Harding, PhD

Sarah Harding worked as a medical writer and consultant in the pharmaceutical industry for 15 years, for the last 10 years of which she owned and ran her own medical communications agency that provided a range of services to blue-chip Pharma companies. She subsequently began a new career in publishing as Editor of Speciality Chemicals Magazine, and then Editorial Director at Chemicals Knowledge. She now focusses on providing independent writing and consultancy services to the pharmaceutical and speciality chemicals industry.

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