Industry news

• Russian Scientists are Synthesizing Ferrogels that Help Deliver Drugs and Repair Biological Tissues

  17 September 2020 GMP News

  Scientists at the Ural Federal University have analyzed the potential of using ferrogels with different concentrations of magnetic nano- and microparticles for drug delivery through blood vessels and as substitutes for damaged bone and cartilaginous tissues. In addition, they found it possible to track ferrogels in the body using ultrasound detection.

• From natural killer cells to off-the-shelf CAR-Ts, biopharma targets cancer with next-gen cell therapies

  16 September 2020 Arlene Weintraub / FiercePharma

  This month, Tmunity Therapeutics is dosing the first patients who have enrolled in an early clinical trial testing an engineered CAR-T immune cell therapy for metastatic prostate cancer. The trial's start is notable, and not just because it's been challenging to recruit patients for cancer trials during the COVID-19 pandemic. The experimental CAR-T is among the first cell therapies to target a solid tumor—an enemy that was once considered too difficult to tackle with that type of treatment.

• MIT researchers tap liquid dopamine for easier drug delivery in the gut

  16 September 2020 Fraiser Kansteiner / Fierceharma

  Taking inspiration from the sticky substance mussels use to cling to rocks, researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a drinkable coating for the lower intestine that could deliver treatments for a range of conditions, from lactose intolerance to diabetes—and boost drugs' staying power in the body, too. 

• Biosimilars Market Could Be Strengthened by Informing Payers and Patients

  14 September 2020 GMP News

• Distribution Problems: 8,000 Cargo Planes Will Be Needed to Supply COVID-19 Vaccines

  14 September 2020 GMP News

  The International Air Transport Association (IATA) urged governments to begin careful planning with industry stakeholders to ensure full preparedness when vaccines for COVID-19 are approved and available for distribution. The association also warned of potentially severe capacity constraints in transporting vaccines by air.

• Biopharma Warns about Upholding Regulatory Standards of Quality

  11 September 2020 GMP News

  Seven months into the pandemic, the innovative biopharmaceutical industry continues to step up work on researching and testing therapeutics that could lower mortality rates or lessen the severity of COVID-19. Over recent months, the results of rigorous clinical trials of repurposed medicines to achieve quick wins have been mixed, while the pipeline for new treatments does hold promise. Considerable efforts are going into planning to scale up and share manufacturing capacity should treatments prove safe and effective.

• India is Considering Russia’s Request for Conducting Phase-3 Trial and Manufacturing of Vaccine Sputnik V

  09 September 2020 GMP News

  India is considering Russia’s request for conducting phase-3 clinical trial and manufacturing of its COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V by Indian firms, officials said Tuesday (September 8), noting there has been “significant movement” on both these fronts and specific outcomes are expected soon.

• ‘Mighty mice’ sent to space could yield new treatments for bone, muscle loss

  08 September 2020 Amirah Al Idrus / FiercePharma

  Astronauts on the International Space Station work out two hours a day to fend off the bone and muscle loss that happens outside the pull of Earth’s gravity. But what if a drug could replace that exercise? A group of musclebound mice might hold the answer—and it could not only help astronauts that face longer and longer missions, but also people suffering from a range of diseases back on Earth.

• Moscow Plans to Start Mass Vaccination against the Coronavirus at the End of the Year

  08 September 2020 GMP News

  Moscow plans to start mass vaccination against the coronavirus at the end of the year, the city’s Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in an interview with Channel One.

• “Sputnik V” Vaccine May Obtain Permission to Release for Civilian Use in a Few Days

  08 September 2020 GMP News

  The Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology under the Russian Health Ministry may be granted permission to release a batch of the newly-developed vaccine Sputnik V against the novel coronavirus for civilian use next week, the institute’s deputy director for research, associate member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Denis Logunov, said on September 3.