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Today's Rundown

Featured Story

Amgen's up-and-coming KRAS inhibitor gets a name: Lumakras

The pharma world is eagerly watching as Amgen moves its KRAS inhibitor toward a regulatory decision, and they now have a name for the much-anticipated new drug: Lumakras. Amgen listed off a laundry list of clinical trials and regulatory milestones for Lumakras while reporting first-quarter earnings April 27.

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Top Stories

GlaxoSmithKline culls early-stage Immunocore med as well as DMD asset in Q1 clear-out

GlaxoSmithKline is calling time on two phase 1 assets in oncology and a rare, fatal disease in young children because of “portfolio prioritisation.”

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Pfizer buys Amplyx to grow infectious disease pipeline

Pfizer has bought infectious disease biotech Amplyx Pharmaceuticals for an undisclosed sum. The deal gives Pfizer control of a pipeline led by phase 2 antifungal candidate fosmanogepix.

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Sponsored: Look before you leap: How a joined-up development strategy pays off for early-stage biotechs

A well-thought-out strategic development plan that brings together nonclinical, clinical, regulatory and commercial experts can improve efficiencies, cut costs, shorten timelines, and increase the chances of success for a new drug program.

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Trillium unveils CD47 clinical research priorities as investors await solid tumor data

Trillium Therapeutics is up against some stiff competition to become a leader in the new class of drugs called CD47, which turn off the “don’t eat me” signal transmitted by cancer cells, but CEO Jan Skvarka believes his biotech’s data will stand for themselves.

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Sanofi plans 2021 restart for pediatric hemophilia trial hit by fallout from thrombotic events

Sanofi is planning to restart dosing and recruitment in its pediatric fitusiran clinical trial later this year. The study has been on hold since the identification of vascular thrombotic events in the wider hemophilia program late last year.

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SoftBank leads funding that could net up to $525M for Exscientia's AI drug platform

With two partnered drugs in the clinic, Exscientia is reeling in up to $525 million to push its own pipeline into clinical testing and continue developing an artificial intelligence-based technology toward autonomous drug design.

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Arch Oncology scores $105M for anti-CD47 med in solid tumors, multiple myeloma

Having moved its anti-CD47 antibody into a phase 1/2 study, Arch Oncology collected $105 million from new and old backers to fuel the drug’s journey through the clinic and into new trials. Arch is testing the drug alone in patients with multiple myeloma and alone and in combination with the chemotherapy drug paclitaxel in patients with “select solid tumors.”

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Forget the competition. Sanofi still plans to usher its COVID-19 shot across the finish line

With a half-dozen COVID-19 vaccines on the market or close to it, one of the world's top vaccine players called it quits after R&D delays and setbacks. But not Sanofi. The company still thinks its shot can help meet global demand.

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Could unclogging the brain's drainage system improve the efficacy of Biogen's aducanumab in Alzheimer's?

Scientists have proposed a possible explanation for the disappointing clinical trial results from Biogen's anti-amyloid Alzheimer's drug aducanumab. The team pointed to the brain’s newly discovered drainage system, suggesting drugs could be developed to enhance its function, in turn improving the efficacy of drugs like aducanumab.

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Versiti rolls out antibody tests to screen for COVID-19 vaccine-related blood clots

Versiti’s blood tests screen for antibodies that may make typical clot treatments harmful to help healthcare providers choose alternative therapies.

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PPD sees major sales jump for its last financial update, as Thermo Fisher begins buyout

Major CRO and soon-to-be Thermo Fisher unit PPD saw a major boost in sales in its financials this week as it continued to break free of the pandemic chaos that engulfed the CRO sector in 2020.

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Resources

Executive Brief: Seven Secrets to Patient Experience Breakthroughs: Improving the Patient Experience and Study Retention

The average clinical trial spends $40,000 per patient. Yet despite these high costs, most trials struggle to retain patients.

Article: Make the right move at every step of the drug commercialization process

Developing a quality product and getting it approved for distribution is not enough to guarantee commercial success.

eBook: The New Standard: Virtual Study Training in Clinical Trials

The new standards in study training help sponsors and CROs reduce costs by 60%, cut training time by 50%, and start enrollment 55 days faster – learn more today.

Report: New research indicates an accelerated shift to decentralized clinical trials

New research indicates an accelerated adoption of decentralized clinical trials due to COVID-19.

Content Hub: Process Intensification Resource Center

A one-stop hub for Cytiva resources to support process intesification

Whitepaper: COVID-19 Survey report: The Lasting Impact on Outsourcing Decisions

How has COVID-19 impacted CRO/CDMO customer (dis)satisfaction and outsourcing decisions for pharma and biotech companies in 2021 and beyond?

Content Hub: Emerging Biotech Resource Center

A one-stop hub for Cytiva resources to support process development and manufacturing of your novel molecule

Whitepaper: Top 5 Benefits of a Cloud ELN

Discover the benefits of a cloud-native ELN that delivers better performance, security, connectivity, total cost of ownership PLUS sub-second search results through even the largest data volumes.

Content Hub: How to improve the virtual work you do every day

We enable virtual work — offering over-time sessions where participants are more focused, insights are more diverse and business goals are met.

Whitepaper: Roche to pick up GenMark Diagnostics in $1.8B infectious disease testing deal

Roche has inked a $1.8 billion, all-cash deal for GenMark Diagnostics, to acquire its molecular tests designed to screen patient samples for multiple infections simultaneously.

Content Hub: Remarque Systems Resource Hub

Remarque Systems consolidates data, then layers on visualization and automated metrics to generate consistent, actionable data insights in real-time. Click here for more info. 

Whitepaper: New Data: A Better Way to Run CHO Cell Culture Experiments

Find out how upstream bioprocess scientists can use Culture Biosciences’ bioreactor system and real-time data visualizations to get faster insights and get their product to market more quickly.

Whitepaper: Overcoming the hurdles of Real-World Data Access through a federated global network

Those wishing to unlock RWD’s true value must have access to a variety of data sources/types and the technological capabilities to use the data to uncover meaningful insights.

Report: New research indicates an accelerated shift to decentralized clinical trials

New research indicates an accelerated adoption of decentralized clinical trials due to COVID-19.

Executive Summary: Manufacturing Strategies to Effectively Industrialize Autologous Cell Therapies

Autologous cell therapies have seen propelled growth since 2017, with the spotlight on the first FDA approval of a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell immunotherapy, Kymriah® (tisagenlecleucel), for the treatment of relapsed/refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

eBrief: Drug Product Process Development: Ensuring a Consistent, High-quality Biologic

Learn about drug product process development challenges and risks, the difference between innovator and biosimilar drug product process development, and more during the drug product process development phase.

Whitepaper: Achieving a Successful Drug Product Technology Transfer

Get insights on key considerations for a successful tech transfer process for manufacturing a biologic drug product, including a case study on overcoming challenges in a process transfer for a sterile diluent.

Whitepaper: The Art of Recognizing Clinical Supply Risk Factors

In a BioPharma Dive industry survey, planning and forecasting were identified as top concerns for trial sponsors. In response to this need, the CSM team at Catalent has developed a methodology for identifying, evaluating, and proactively managing the inherent risks involved in clinical trial supply chain management.

eBook: Expecting the Unexpected: Strategies for Efficient Clinical Supply Management and Forecasting

Learn how to drive excellence within the forecasting process and utilize forecasting throughout the clinical study to better plan clinical supply budgets and project timelines. Explore how to identify potential supply-related issues before they can negatively impact your study.

Events