The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given the go-ahead to Genentech’s Gazyva (obinutuzumab) in adult and paediatric patients two years of age and older. It is approved to reduce the risk of relapse in patients with frequently relapsing or steroid dependent childhood-onset idiopathic nephrotic syndrome… Read More
Eli Lilly has announced plans to acquire Merida Biosciences, a biotechnology company advancing a new class of precision therapeutics for serious autoimmune and allergic diseases. Merida is developing biologics engineered to selectively degrade pathogenic autoantibodies, the disease-causing agents behind a range of immune-mediated conditions. The… Read More
Roche has acquired exclusive global rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialise SIM0660, a trispecific antibody targeting CD79a, CD19, and CD3, with therapeutic potential across B-cell-mediated diseases. Under the terms of the agreement, developer Simcere Zaiming is eligible to receive up to $1.530 billion in total payments, including… Read More
Evotec has entered a strategic R&D collaboration with Odyssey Therapeutics to discover potential new treatments in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Under the agreement, Odyssey will use Evotec’s data-driven discovery platform, screening capabilities and AI-enabled data science technologies to discover and validate differentiated small molecule drug candidates across… Read More
Mirador Therapeutics has entered into an exclusive worldwide license agreement with Kira Pharmaceuticals for KP-301, a potentially long-acting, sweeping anti-C5a antibody designed to inhibit C5a/C5aR-mediated inflammation. The agreement expands Mirador’s precision immunology portfolio into inflammatory vascular disease. Kira will receive $12 million upon signing. The… Read More
mRNA technology could help treat autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes, researchers say. Scientists at the Biomedical Research Institute (BIOMED) at Hasselt University and the Belgian biotech company etherna have demonstrated that mRNA technology, which gained recognition for its use in Covid-19 vaccines, also holds promise for the targeted… Read More
News round-up for 18 – 22 May by Bruno Quinney, Content Team at DDW. This week, a report showed patients in Europe face barriers to patient access. Elsewhere, Wellcome prizes are facilitating research in both tropical disease and mental health. The… Read More
The latest episode of the DDW Highlights Podcast is now available to listen to below. DDW’s Bruno Quinney narrates five key stories of the previous week to keep DDW subscribers up-to-date on the latest industry news. Last week, research uncovered new treatment pathways for hard to treat breast cancers. Elsewhere,… Read More
News round-up for 11 – 15 May by Bruno Quinney, Content Team at DDW. This week, research has uncovered new treatment pathways for hard to treat breast cancers. Elsewhere, therapies given the green light could combat type 2 diabetes and generalised myasthenia gravis. The top stories: … Read More
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first treatments for all serotypes of patients living with generalised myasthenia gravis (gMG). The FDA’s label expansion of Vyvgart (efgartigimod alfa-fcab) and Vyvgart Hytrulo (efgartigimod alfa and hyaluronidase-qvfc) now means gMG adult patients can treat all serotypes, including anti-AChR-Ab positive, anti-MuSK-Ab positive, anti-LRP4-Ab positive,… Read More
Techbio company Genomics has partnered with biotech company Greywolf Therapeutics to advance novel antigen modulation treatments to treat autoimmune diseases. Under the agreement, Genomics is set to curate and analyse large-scale genetic datasets to assess how variants of the ERAP (Endoplasmic Reticulum Aminopeptidases) enzymes influence disease risk across… Read More
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended Rystiggo (rozanolixizumab) as a treatment for adults with antibody-positive generalised myasthenia gravis (gMG). Rystiggo is the first targeted therapy for gMG, a rare, chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease. The condition is characterised by fluctuating muscle weakness and fatigue and can lead to difficulties with vision,… Read More
Biotechnology company Laigo Bio has appointed Dr Richard Sainson as Chief Scientific Officer as part of a swathe of board appointments. The company, which specialises in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, says Sainson will lead scientific strategy and oversee the advancement of Laigo’s proprietary SureTACs platform and programmes towards the clinic. Sainson has over 25… Read More
Gilead Sciences has entered an agreement to acquire Ouro Medicines, a biotechnology company focused on developing T cell engager therapies for autoimmune diseases. The acquisition adds OM336 (gamgertamig), a clinical‑stage BCMAxCD3 T cell engager, to Gilead’s inflammation portfolio. OM336 is designed to enable… Read More
Biotechnology company Commit Biologics has appointed Thomas Montgomery Andresen as CEO as it aims to take its complement-powered immune engagers into clinic. Commit described Andresen as “a serial biotech entrepreneur”, with over 20 years of experience building high-value biotech ventures at the intersection of therapeutic innovation and bioengineering. … Read More
Asahi Kasei Pharma has announced a global license agreement with Alchemedicine to strengthen its drug discovery pipeline. The agreement means Asahi Kasei Pharma can research, develop, manufacture, and commercialise Alchemedicine’s novel lead compounds, which are currently at the preclinical stage. The compounds were identified using Alchemedicine’s drug discovery platform, HiSAP1 and are expected to… Read More
