Interviews

Immuneel’s COO, Dr Arun Anand, talks to Scrip about how things are shaping for the Indian start-up’s autologous CD19 directed CAR-T cell therapy and the ‘journey to be traversed’ on the pricing front. He believes India could potentially see cell therapies being commercialized in the next 12 to 18 months.

Dong-A ST’s president of R&D Jae-Hong Park talks to Scrip about the changes needed in the domestic pharma sector and wider industry if Korean biopharma firms are to step up to global levels.

Digital tools have long been of interest to pharma for their potential to transform many aspects of drug development, leading to many collaborations between pharma and medtech firms. Here, two companies that have been working together to develop a series of software-based tools for monitoring patients – AstraZeneca and Huma – discuss the value of these partnerships and their potential challenges.

KIMCo CEO Kevin Kyunghwa Huh talks about the consortium's efforts to become a platform of collaboration for Korean pharmas, including plans for the latest joint investment project as well as how the domestic industry is evolving in terms of globalization and open innovation.

Emerging Company Profile: The US biotech’s Trillium platform, which has caught the eye of Bayer, could enhance radioligand pharmacokinetics and bioavailability while reducing side effects, enabling the development of both therapeutics and imaging compounds.

The French firm’s stagnant neuroscience franchise will be revamped through a new, strategic focus on RNA-based precision medicines for neurodegenerative diseases including both small- and large-molecule drugs, the company tells Scrip.

The attractiveness of investing in R&D and launching new products in Europe is wearing off, especially when compared with the US marketplace, Bayer pharma head Stefan Oelrich tells Scrip.

“We're looking at opportunities almost on a weekly basis,” Bayer’s pharma chief Stefan Oelrich told Scrip as the German major posted a solid set of financials for the fourth quarter.

After securing US orphan designation for an artificial intelligence-assisted therapeutic, Insilico's co-CEO Feng Ren sits down for a wide-ranging interview in which he discusses why AI drug discovery is more predictable, efficient and cost-effective than the conventional bench-to-bed model. AI's limitations and validations, why the industry should get excited about algorithms, data sets and deep learning are other topics to consider in this fast-growing field. 

Despite facing two clinical holds for its gene therapy candidates, Astellas is committed to proceeding with R&D projects in this modality. Outgoing CEO Kenji Yasukawa says technical challenges have motivated the firm's recent deals with academia and bioventures, and also provided updates on other key pipeline assets in the second part of this exclusive interview with Scrip.

Last December, China's Akeso struck a major agreement worth up to $5bn with Summit Therapeutics, which set a new record in terms of total deal value for a single asset in the Chinese biopharma sector. Akeso founder and CEO Michelle Xia is now planning to pursue a more independent path in taking the firm global.

CEO Barry Greene and team spoke with Scrip about Sage and Biogen’s focus on short-term, episodic dosing, and said doctors and payers – pending zuranolone’s approval – are responding to the sales pitch.