國際新聞精選周五（2017年4月7日）

2017年4月7日 | Filed under: | Posted by: 編輯 D

Novartis finds its next mass-market ophthalmology drug candidate at a small virtual biotech with a global view

Like me, you may never have heard about Lubris BioPharma before today. But Novartis has. And that is by far more important.

Today the pharma giant reached out and took an option on a recombinant lubricant Lubris drew from nature’s medicine chest and applied for dry eye disease. There are no terms, no big biobucks on the record. But the deal marks a definite transition phase for little Lubris as it shifts its focus on the same therapy to a different set of ailments in mind, while Novartis eyes an addition to its late-stage pipeline.【閱讀原文】

The stellar antibody shop at Regeneron wins a ‘breakthrough’ tag for its next big PhIII drug

Regeneron $REGN has one of the best track records in the business when it comes to building amazingly effective antibodies. It did it with Dupixent for eczema and Praluent for cholesterol. And now one of its Phase II stars just earned a breakthrough tag from the FDA, which puts it on the inside track at the agency as it goes into pivotal studies for slashing triglyceride.【閱讀原文】

Nanoparticle-delivered combo boosts cancer immunotherapy

Cancer cells often evade immune attacks by displaying proteins that disguise them as normal. Checkpoint inhibitors block these proteins and reveal tumor cells to the immune system, but they don't work for many patients. Now University of North Carolina researchers have found that using nanoparticles can boost the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy treatments.【閱讀原文】

Innocrin Pharmaceuticals Appoints Fred Eshelman, PharmD as CEO and is Granted Fast Track Designation by FDA for Seviteronel Treatment of Women with Triple-negative Breast Cancer and Women or Men with Estrogen Receptor-positive Breast Cancer

Innocrin Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage company focused on the development of the oral, selective CYP17-lyase/androgen receptor (AR) inhibitor, seviteronel, announced today the appointment of Fred Eshelman, PharmD, of Eshelman Ventures? as Chief Executive Officer, effective March 15, 2017.【閱讀原文】

Mena Expression is Associated with Paclitaxel-mediated Increase in Cancer Cell Dissemination

MetaStat, Inc., a precommercial biotechnology company, developing diagnostics for risk of cancer metastasis and anti-metastatic therapies, today announced the presentation of supportive data for the role of Mena protein isoforms in tumor dissemination at the 2017 American Association of Cancer Research Annual meeting in Washington D.C. The poster was presented on April 4, 2017 by the company’s collaboration partner, Albert Einstein College of Medicine.【閱讀原文】

Mid-cap biopharma stocks pick up in the first quarter

After a terrible performance over the past year mid-cap biopharma stocks picked up in the first quarter of 2017, echoing gains among larger drug makers. US companies in particular showed a return to health, with three featuring in the biggest risers of the quarter: Vertex, Incyte and Jazz.【閱讀原文】

Spark hemophilia B gene therapy clears another early test

Spark Therapeutics has posted fresh data from a phase 1/2 trial of its hemophilia B gene therapy, SPK-9001. The data suggest Spark’s tapering courses of steroids successfully arrested the factor IX (FIX) declines seen in two patients who appeared to have an immune reaction to the Spark100 vector capsid.【閱讀原文】

BerGenBio completes IPO, raising $49M for cancer trials

BerGenBio has completed (sub. req.) its IPO in Oslo. The Norwegian cancer biotech hit its target price and sold out the overallotment, resulting in it pulling in NOK 425 million ($49 million) to invest in a clutch of phase 2 trials of Axl inhibitor BGB324.【閱讀原文】