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May 20, 2020___

Today's Rundown

Featured Story

It’s too soon to assume success for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine: analyst

Evercore ISI analyst Umer Raffat analyzed the data Moderna released earlier this week on its experimental COVID-19 mRNA vaccine and found some shortcomings that he believes the company will have to address in phase 3 trials. They include questions about the validity of comparators the company used and the durability of protection the vaccine offers.

Top Stories

Atea raises $215M to support midphase COVID-19 antiviral trial 

Bain Capital Life Sciences has powered Atea Pharmaceuticals to a $215 million financing round. The series D sets Atea up to run a phase 2 trial of its oral purine nucleotide prodrug in people hospitalized with moderate cases of COVID-19.

Cowen raises $493M fund, further expanding biotech VC pot

Cowen Healthcare Investments has raised a $493 million fund, breezing past its original goal by close to $100 million. The fund closure positions Cowen to continue following an investment strategy that has seen it invest in biotechs such as Akouos, AM-Pharma and Keros Therapeutics in recent months. 

AstraZeneca-partnered RNA player Silence plans Nasdaq listing

Silence Therapeutics has outlined plans to list its stock on Nasdaq, giving it access to U.S. investors to support the progress of its internal and AstraZeneca-partnered RNA therapeutics.

Eiger's progeria drug nabs speedy review

Children with progeria age too quickly, developing symptoms common in much older people. Treatments focus on managing symptoms, but the FDA could approve a drug that changes the course of the rare, genetic disease later this year. Eiger BioPharmaceuticals scored a priority review tag for its progeria prospect, lonafarnib, with a target action date of Nov. 22.

Pandion recruits Gilead alum Sundy as CMO

On the heels of an $80 million series B round, Pandion Therapeutics nabbed itself a new chief medical officer. John Sundy, M.D., Ph.D., joins from Gilead, where he led clinical research in its inflammation and respiratory therapeutics unit. Sundy arrives at Pandion as it moves its lead program, a treatment for ulcerative colitis, toward the clinic.

Cell therapy repairs multiple sclerosis damage and restores motor functions in mice

University of Rochester spinoff Oscine Therapeutics is developing a method for using progenitor glial cells to regenerate myelin, the protective sheath around axons that's lost in multiple sclerosis. In mouse models of MS, the cell therapy rebuilt myelin and restored motor functioning.

New Zolgensma 'inflection point' is here as Novartis snags EU nod for SMA gene therapy

As the number of U.S. spinal muscular atrophy patients Zolgensma treats each quarter stabilizes, Novartis is counting on a set of “inflection points” for future growth. Now, it has reached one of them, nabbing an EU nod that enables it to reach almost all patients there under the age of 5.

Verily seeks to establish new COVID-19 'Baseline' with coronavirus antibody research project

Verily has launched a new clinical research effort focused on COVID-19 antibody testing and exploring the body’s immune response to the novel coronavirus.

Enrollment Showcase

Online Graduate Programs Designed for Your Career

Drexel University’s online graduate programs in biomedicine, clinical research, drug discovery, and molecular medicine were developed with working professionals in mind, providing you with the education, practical skills, and competitive edge you need to be successful in your career. Learn more.

Resources

[Case Study] Establishing Parameters for Success

Learn about a real-world example of how clinical supply management expertise was applied to overcome inventory challenges for a complex, global study.

[Fact Sheet] Forecasting to Optimize Clinical Trial Supply Management

Whether a study is simple or highly complex, forecasting and simulation reports serve as data driven communication tools to help minimize risks and keep the study on track. Learn more about forecasting solutions for informed decision making and supporting contingency planning for clinical study.

[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.

[Podcast] Developing residual HCPs ELISA assay for biopharmaceutical products

Listen to our brand-new Frontage Laboratories podcast where you’ll take home tips for developing residual host cell proteins ELISA assay for biopharmaceutical products using commercial kits.

[Virtual Event] Cardiac Safety London Online

Join us for a day of discovery as global experts in Cardiology, Pharmacology and Diabetes discuss state of the art methods in early phase clinical research.

[Whitepaper] The great data transition: Making the move from claims to EHR data

The immediacy of EHR data availability can be significantly impactful, particularly as the health care system works to address COVID-19. Download this whitepaper to learn more.

[Report] Decentralized Trials - Where Does the Industry Stand?

Patient-facing digital technologies are playing an important role in clinical trials for new drugs and medical devices, to the point where conducting virtual trials is becoming mainstream. But terms like remote trials, direct-to-patient trials, hybrid trials, decentralized trials, and more all add to the confusion of what makes a trial "virtual."

[Whitepaper] Why Your Business Needs An Effective Cloud Strategy To Survive Now

Businesses must maintain pre-pandemic levels of productivity with smaller IT budgets. Learn why an effective Cloud Strategy is imperative for success in these unprecedented times.

[Webinar] Optimizing your excipient screening for vaccine formulation

You are invited to join Rousselot Biomedical for an insightful webinar on excipients for vaccine formulation. Highly purified gelatins can help accelerate vaccine development.

[Whitepaper] Continuous Manufacturing vs Batch: Deciding on the Best Solution for your Oral Solid Dose Product

Continuous Manufacturing vs. Batch for Oral Solid Dose

[Whitepaper] Flexible Design for Novel Trials

Download this case study to read about how Cenduit navigated these challenges, and successfully supports the trial sponsor to execute the umbrella trial with agility.

[Whitepaper] Critical API Attributes and the Major Impact They Can Have on Drug Product Development

Download this whitepaper to learn more about the importance of an integrated approach to formulation.

[Case Study] More Powerful Analytics Capabilities

Case Study: Oncology-focused pharmaceutical company strengthens product launch by identifying hundreds of high-value physicians with Acorn AI.

[Case Study] Precision Analytics for Product Launch and Growth

Pharma launch teams spend significant resources on data and analytics with limited ROI. Read this case study to learn how a Life Sciences company identified two times more patients best suited for therapy, using Clarify’s deep and longitudinal patient and HCP insights. 

[Whitepaper] Is Wurster Processing the Right Choice for My Multiparticulate Modified Release Dosage Form?

Wurster processing is a versatile technique for developing and manufacturing multiparticulates for modified release dosage forms. Read this whitepaper to determine whether Wurster processing is the right option for your project.

[Webinar] Chemistry Through Biology: Translating Molecular Biology Technologies into Practical Processes for API Production

In this webinar, the featured speaker will explore the key advances and critical hurdles for translating these emerging molecular biology technologies into real-world applications and commercial processes.

[Whitepaper] Assessing the Financial Impact of Translational Pharmaceutics®

Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development (CSDD) white paper sharing study results that indicate Quotient Sciences’ Translational Pharmaceutics® platform reduces development times by more than 12 months and lowers R&D costs by more than $100 million per approved new drug. Download the whitepaper.

[Magazine] Perspective: the patient edition

Report: Think you’re patient-centric? Think again. Find out how patients really feel about patient-centricity. Learn what they would like to experience along with tools and tips for maximising patient engagement across the product life cycle¬ – from clinical trials to service design and creative campaigns.

[Whitepaper] New Lonza Whitepaper on Modulating lgG Effector Function

This whitepaper summarises approaches for modulating antibody effector functions and pharmacokinetics, and provides examples of antibodies in clinical studies.

[GUIDE] Managing Clinical Trial Patient & Site Engagement During COVID-19

Leverage strategic solutions to respond to immediate challenges to patient and site engagement from COVID-19, and learn to maximize the FDA guidance on the conduct of clinical trials during a pandemic.

Events