Novartis has revealed plans to pause development of Lifonebart (VHB937), an experimental monoclonal antibody drug targeting the TREM2 protein to treat neurodegenerative diseases. The news comes just days after the company announced its Phase III trial of antibody oligonucleotide conjugate (AOC) del-desiran had failed. VHB937… Read More
Novartis and Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) have both paused clinical trials of CAR-T cell therapies for lupus and other autoimmune diseases due to concerning safety findings. Novartis has placed holds on trials of rapcabtagene autoleucel (rap-cel), stopping screening, randomisation, and treatment administration in trials in lupus, myasthenia… Read More
UK biotech Myricx Bio has reached an agreement to be acquired by Novartis for up to $1.5 billion. The companies say the acquisition advances antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) innovation by bringing together the strengths of Novartis in oncology with Myricx Bio’s two lead ADC assets and next-generation first-in-class N-myristoyltransferase inhibitor (NMTi) payload platform, having potential… 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, the UK made headlines for both the investment it has attracted and… Read More
News round-up for 27 April – 1 May by Bruno Quinney, Content Team at DDW. This week, the UK has made headlines for both the investment it has attracted and the clinical trial reforms it has rolled out. Elsewhere, the world’s first antimalarial drug for newborns could soon address a critical unmet… Read More
The world’s first and only malaria drug for newborns has been cleared globally, marking a crucial step towards addressing a long-standing gap in malaria care. Coartem (artemether-lumefantrine) Baby, developed by Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) and Novartis, has been prequalified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the first… Read More
The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has adopted a positive opinion recommending marketing authorisation for Novartis’ Itvisma (intrathecal onasemnogene abeparvovec). The opinion supports its use for the treatment of children two years and older, teens, and adults… Read More
Novartis has agreed to acquire Excellergy, a biotechnology company developing a novel class of allergy therapeutics, in a transaction with a total potential value of up to $2 billion in upfront and milestone payments. Excellergy’s Exl-111 is a trifunctional effector cell response inhibitor (ECRI) designed to disarm… Read More
Novartis has agreed a deal with Synnovation Therapeutics to acquire Pikavation Therapeutics and its portfolio of PI3Kα inhibitor programmes, including SNV4818. Pikavation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Synnovation. SNV4818 is a potentially best-in-class pan-mutant selective PI3Kα inhibitor currently in Phase I/II clinical trials for the treatment of… Read More
Novartis Pharma and SciNeuro Pharmaceuticals have agreed a worldwide licensing and collaboration agreement to advance SciNeuro’s novel amyloid beta targeted antibody programme for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. The programme has identified de novo antibody candidates that incorporate SciNeuro’s proprietary blood brain barrier shuttle technology… Read More
UK biopharmaceutical company Relation has partnered with Novartis to advance therapeutics for atopic diseases. The collaboration will pair Relation’s AI-powered drug discovery platform and human data generation capabilities with Novartis’s expertise in immuno-dermatology to identify, validate, and advance potential first-in-class targets in atopic diseases driven by immune dysregulation. Under the terms… Read More
Novartis has entered into a definitive merger agreement with antibody oligonucleotide conjugates (AOCs) developer Avidity Biosciences. The acquisition will follow the separation of Avidity’s early-stage precision cardiology programmes into SpinCo, which is expected to be a publicly traded company. SpinCo will be led by Kathleen… Read More
Novartis and ProFound Therapeutics have announced a four-year collaboration to discover and develop novel therapeutics for cardiovascular disease. The collaboration will join ProFound’s capabilities in the identification of novel proteins from the expanded proteome as drugs and drug targets with Novartis’ cardiovascular drug development expertise. … Read More
Novartis has entered into an agreement to acquire Regulus Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing microRNA therapeutics. Regulus’ lead asset, farabursen, is a next-generation oligonucleotide targeting miR-17 for the treatment of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). “With limited treatment options currently available… Read More
Health Canada has granted a Notice of Compliance for Fabhalta (iptacopan capsules), the first oral monotherapy treatment for adult patients with paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria (PNH) who have haemolytic anaemia. In clinical trials, treatment with Fabhalta offered superior haemoglobin improvement in the absence of red blood cell (RBC)… Read More
Novartis has agreed to acquire Anthos Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing abelacimab, a potential first-in-class monoclonal antibody targeting the FXI inhibition pathway. Abelacimab is currently in Phase III development, with the lead indication for prevention of stroke and systemic embolism in patients with atrial fibrillation. … Read More
