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Today's Rundown

Featured Story

Pfizer halts BCMA trial amid safety woes, hit by DMD delay

Pfizer has paused enrollment in a pivotal trial of its anti-BCMA bispecific antibody after seeing three cases of peripheral neuropathy in an earlier-stage study. The Big Pharma shared the news alongside details of a delay to the start of the U.S. part of its Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) phase 3.

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Top Stories

Novartis loses 2nd oncology R&D exec as Hammerman leaves through the door left open by Engelman

Days after Novartis lost Jeff Engelman M.D., Ph.D., ex-director of cancer drug discovery at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Peter Hammerman, M.D., Ph.D., has followed his boss out the exit as both answer the call of biotech.

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Lilly takes variant-busting COVID-19 antibody into the clinic

Eli Lilly has begun clinical development of an anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody designed to work against all currently known circulating variants of concern. The action comes weeks after the FDA revoked the single use emergency authorization of Lilly’s first COVID-19 antibody due to the rise of variants. 

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Sponsored: Mitotech brings novel approach to treating eye disorders

Mitotech focuses its clinical development efforts on ophthalmology, hoping to deliver its mitochondria targeted therapies to patients suffering from age-related as well as rare genetic eye diseases.

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Sarepta thinks it may have a more effective DMD drug, but new side effects could be a problem

Sarepta Therapeutics says its RNA therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, SRP-5051, could be more effective than the company’s existing therapies, but a dose-escalation study also dug up some new—and serious—adverse events in patients.

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Sponsored: Risk Mitigation in Direct-to-Patient Clinical Trials

The COVID-19 pandemic has made society very aware of the need to be flexible in the approach to daily life. Use and acceptance of DTP has grown due to the pandemic, and sponsors quickly began to rethink their Direct-to-Patient (DTP) approach as patients increasingly requested that their study drugs be shipped to their homes.

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MoonLake debuts with Cosentyx challenger from Merck KGaA

MoonLake Immunotherapeutics launched on Monday with backing from BVF Partners and a mission to develop single-domain antibodies, or “nanobodies” for several inflammatory diseases. Its first program? A nanobody licensed from Merck KGaA that’s already been tested in phase 2.

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How new 'lung-on-a-chip' models from Harvard are advancing COVID-19 drug discovery

Pitting COVID-19 drug candidates against the virus in cell cultures doesn’t accurately predict how effective they’ll be in the human respiratory tract. Now more accurate models of the human lung airway are uncovering new treatment candidates. They include the antimalarial drug amodiaquine, which reduced viral load in animal models of the virus by 70%.

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Apple Watch could gain long-sought glucose tracking with Rockley Photonics deal: report

While the Apple Watch has evolved from a fashionable phone accessory to a high-tech health monitor—capable of scanning for heart conditions and calling for help after injuries—future generations may tap into a deeper set of features to track the body’s inner workings.

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Resources

Guide: How to Establish a Successful Clinical Data Standards Program

Learn how to develop a standards program that has your full team’s buy-in and improves the efficiency and quality of your clinical trials.

Whitepaper: Unlocking the True Value of Digital Therapeutics Through Partnerships

As clinical treatment options become more patient-centric, digital therapeutics provide forward-looking biopharma players the opportunity to augment the value of their offerings to stakeholders.

Whitepaper: The Journey to a Global Modular Content Strategy

One top 10 pharma outlines three key steps to launching a modular content strategy to generate localized content faster.

E-Book: 7 Keys to Success in Europe

This 77-page e-book explores 7 keys to success that any biopharma company needs to keep in mind as it enters Europe.

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

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