Pipeline Watch is a weekly snapshot of selected late-stage clinical trial events and approvals announced by pharmaceutical and biotech companies at medical and industry conferences, in financial and company presentations, and in company releases and statements.

Recent executive moves in the industry include C-suite changes at Oncorus and Gamida Cell. Meanwhile, new directors were appointed at Orphazyme and Viatris.

Private Company Edition: Two companies raised multiple hundreds of millions of dollars each helping to keep the number of $100m-plus venture capital mega-rounds on the rise in May. Also, Ascend raised $132.5m to make gene and cell therapies, and Nido emerged with $109m for neurological diseases.

AvroBio retains rights to its other HSC gene therapy candidates. Alimera Acquires Further Commercial Rights To Eyepoint’s Uveitis Drug.

Trustworthiness in the pharmaceutical industry has settled since its peaks during the COVID-19 pandemic but it can move upwards again if companies assume responsibility to inform on wider issues, according to experts at Edelman.

The CEO of Korean bioventure Kanaph Therapeutics, Byoung Chul Lee, talks to Scrip about the difficulties such companies are going through amid generally weak investor sentiment, as well as the company's own financing and R&D plans.

Through partnerships with Bicycle and Metagenomi, Ionis is working on new chemistries and novel medicines. It is also expanding manufacturing capacity to enable its scientific growth.

Ionis will launch its first commercial product through a co-commercialization agreement with AstraZeneca early next year, in preparation for its first wholly-owned drug launches soon to follow.

Pipeline Watch is a weekly snapshot of selected late-stage clinical trial events and approvals announced by pharmaceutical and biotech companies at medical and industry conferences, in financial and company presentations, and in company releases and statements.

Recent executive moves in the industry include C-suite changes at Oncorus and Gamida Cell. Meanwhile, new directors were appointed at Orphazyme and Viatris.

Pipeline Watch is a weekly snapshot of selected late-stage clinical trial events and approvals announced by pharmaceutical and biotech companies at medical and industry conferences, in financial and company presentations, and in company releases and statements.

Leaders from Novartis, IQVIA and PwC discuss the ground situation for trials in India as regulatory reforms, improved infrastructure and clinical expertise provide opportunities. Potential in areas like orphan diseases and tips for peer Amgen on getting trials going in India were among other highlights.

The major’s attempt to break into Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis has been cut short as a highly competitive market and pipeline, intensified by the entrance of biosimilars, renders further development of brazikumab impractical.

The Swiss major should have a considerable first-to-market advantage over other IL-17 biologics from the likes of UCB and Acelyrin that are also targeting the hidradenitis suppurativa space.

Trustworthiness in the pharmaceutical industry has settled since its peaks during the COVID-19 pandemic but it can move upwards again if companies assume responsibility to inform on wider issues, according to experts at Edelman.

Drug shortages, stable prices and a demand recovery in the US helped drive Aurobindo’s growth in Q4. Meanwhile, the company is developing a biosimilar to Roche/Novartis’s multi-billion product Xolair, as predicted by Scrip earlier. Use of decentralized mode for its Phase III trials is a notable aspect

The CEO of Korean bioventure Kanaph Therapeutics, Byoung Chul Lee, talks to Scrip about the difficulties such companies are going through amid generally weak investor sentiment, as well as the company's own financing and R&D plans.

Chinese biotechs Biokin, Dizal, Junshi and Kelun Biotech are presenting four of the most closely-followed oral reports at ASCO on new clinical results for their candidates for non-small cell lung cancer.

The latest data from a Phase I/II study shows that pegtibatinase can yield a rapid, sustained reduction in homocysteine, the protein behind the underlying cause of the rare disease.

Also, CRO Syneos Health appointed an executive to its newly created DE&I position, while Alterity started a new Phase II study in multiple system atrophy, Antabio dosed the first patients in its Phase I study of an antibiotic for hospital infections, and Structure Therapeutics started a Phase IIa trial of its GLP-1 agonist in obesity and diabetes, with plans for a Phase IIb trial in 2024.

Sales of a global first-in-class dermatology drug that gained its first approval in China are falling well behind those of its overseas counterpart. In this case study, Scrip takes a deep dive into the multiple underlying factors determining success in the world's second-largest pharma market beyond pricing and reimbursement coverage, including complex hospital entry, dual channels and competition considerations. 

Lexicon gets broad indication across heart failure for its dual SGLT1/2 inhibitor, which will be positioned against Lilly/BI’s Jardiance and AstraZeneca’s Farxiga.

Through partnerships with Bicycle and Metagenomi, Ionis is working on new chemistries and novel medicines. It is also expanding manufacturing capacity to enable its scientific growth.

The drug showed efficacy in hemophilia A and B with no sign of clots, an issue that historically has dogged anticoagulation agents, but it remains unclear whether that advantage will hold.