Industry news

• As vaccine makers gear up for a busy season, Seqirus exec says influenza is poised for a return

  18 August 2022 Zoey Becker / FiercePharma

  As summer nears an end and fall looms, flu season is waiting right around the corner. While much of the public remains focused on the COVID-19 pandemic, influenza remains a threat, and top vaccine players are gearing up to help fight it.

• A low-toxic plant-based medicine for type 2 diabetes has been patented in the Russian Federation

  18 August 2022 GxPnews

  The researchers of the All-Russian Research Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (FSBRI VILAR) have developed and patented a drug based on elecampane inula, motherwort, lingonberry and rosehip, which reduces blood glucose levels. According to TASS, the drug has high biological activity and low toxicity and is suitable for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and its complications.

• Copper coated surfaces found to reduce COVID-19 transmission

  17 August 2022 Hannah Balfour / European Pharmaceutical Review

  While thin coatings of copper were found to reduce SARS-CoV-2 viral titers on surfaces, silver had a very limited effect.

• Does terminal sterilisation affect the quality of ophthalmic APIs?

  17 August 2022 Hannah Balfour / European Pharmaceutical Review

  EPR summarises research into the impact of gamma irradiation and ethylene oxide sterilisation treatments on European Pharmacopoeial compliance of common ophthalmic APIs.

• New screening platform reveals neurodegeneration drug targets in microglia

  16 August 2022 Nuala Moran / BioWorld

  As the resident innate immune cells of the brain, microglia are emerging as key drivers of neurological diseases, but as yet there is no systematic way of exploring their potential as drug targets.

• Is albumin the key to successful nasal vaccines?

  16 August 2022 Hannah Balfour / European Pharmaceutical Review

  A new method of mucosal vaccine delivery that uses albumin to help transport vaccine antigens could lead to better vaccines for HIV and COVID-19.

• Diabetes brand awareness in the doldrums despite plowing big bucks into ad campaigns

  15 August 2022 Ben Adams / FierceBiotech

  Diabetes drugs make up one of the biggest selling and most competitive markets in the pharma world. According to market research by Precedence, the global Type 2 diabetes market was just under $30 billion last year. And companies like Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are consistently among the highest TV ad spenders for their diabetes meds.

• Copper ions speed human tissue regeneration

  15 August 2022 Marchmont Innovation News

  An international group of scientists led by a team from Moscow’s MISiS University has developed special copper-coated nanostructured fibrous material that is believed to be able to rapidly release copper ions in a liquid environment.

• Band of biotechs cut pipeline prospects to focus cash on priority programs

  12 August 2022 Nick Paul Taylor / FierceBiotech

  Preparing for a prolonged bear market, a raft of biotechs have decided candidates that looked good a few months ago are now an extravagance, leading them to pull back from the programs. Bolt Biotherapeutics, which canned assets to extend its runway into 2025, was one of list of biotechs that have announced pipeline changes since markets closed yesterday.

• How does irradiation sterilisation impact herbal medicines?

  12 August 2022 Hannah Balfour / European Pharmaceutical Review

  EPR discusses the findings of a recent study exploring whether microbicidal treatments using radiation cause the degradation of crude herbal medicinal components.