Industry news

• Why R&D innovation holds the key to greater patient impact

  04 May 2023 Dr Mieke Borgs, Dr Nils Eckardt / European Pharmaceutical Review

  How can innovation in clinical trials drive greater patient impact? BeiGene’s Dr Nils Eckardt and Dr Mieke Borgs highlight how novel systems and ways of working can support the delivery of high-quality medicines faster and more efficiently, helping to deliver greater and faster patient access in Europe.

• Dual CRISPR therapy plus long-acting ART eliminates HIV in mice

  03 May 2023 Helen Floersh / FierceBiotech

  In a study published May 1 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a research team led by scientists from the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) described how they used CRISPR to inactivate or snip out two different genes in HIV-infected humanized mice. By combining this approach with a long-acting form of antiretroviral therapy, the researchers were able to eliminate the virus in around 60% of the models—a big boost from the 29% they reported back in 2019

• Pharma responds to proposed EU pharmaceutical legislation reform

  02 May 2023 Catherine Eckford / European Pharmaceutical Review

  The European Commission’s (EC’s) reform of the EU pharmaceutical legislation published on 26 April 2023, adopted a proposal for a new Directive and a new Regulation. These amend and replace the existing general pharmaceutical legislation.

• Global research consortium to help address antimicrobial resistance

  02 May 2023 Catherine Eckford / European Pharmaceutical Review

  Researchers in the UK, South Africa, Uganda and Brazil have formed the Centres for Antimicrobial Optimisation Network (CAMO-Net) to optimise antimicrobial use globally.

• Monoclonal antibody combination treatment given NICE approval

  28 April 2023 Catherine Eckford / European Pharmaceutical Review

  Shown to increase myeloma remission times by more than two years, a combination treatment that uses a monoclonal antibody has been approved by NICE.

• The Russian Ministry of Health has authorized the first Russian originator for the treatment of multiple sclerosis

  28 April 2023 PharmProm.net

  The Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation has authorized the first Russian originator for the treatment of multiple sclerosis developed by the scientists of the biotechnology company BIOCAD. The medicinal product was given the trade name Ivlizi®. The launch of a Russian originator can significantly increase the efficacy of therapy and the patients’ quality of life.

• Immunotherapy to become standard treatment for infants with ALL

  27 April 2023 Catherine Eckford / European Pharmaceutical Review

  First-line immunotherapy blinatumomab significantly improved survival in babies with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in an international trial.

• Pharma within planetary boundaries

  27 April 2023 Dorothea Baltruks / European Pharmaceutical Review

  Regulatory changes along a drug’s lifecycle should ensure that the health benefits of pharmaceuticals, which have a large ecological footprint, do not cost the environment. Dorothea Baltruks, Research Associate at the Centre for Planetary Health Policy, outlines how forthcoming EU pharmaceutical legislation could pave the way to solutions.

• Novosibirsk scientists are trying to raise funds for the second phase of the trials of an anti-parkinsonian drug

  26 April 2023 GxPnews

  In 2022, Prottermin, a drug for Parkinson’s disease developed in Novosibirsk Institute of Organic Chemistry named after N. N. Vorozhtsov (NIOH) of SB RAS, completed the first phase of clinical trials. The result turned out to be promising: the drug demonstrated high antiparkinsonian activity. Nevertheless, the second phase has not started for lack of funding, Interfax reports.

• Interneuron cell therapy results in up to 94% seizure reduction in focal epilepsy

  26 April 2023 Robert Herpen / Healio

  Human GABAergic interneurons were implanted in two patients with drug-refractory focal epilepsy. Preliminary results show participants have experienced greater than 90% seizure reduction since surgery.