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May 26, 2020___

Today's Rundown

Featured Story

Merck inks Themis buyout to join COVID-19 vaccine race

Merck has struck a deal to buy Themis to accelerate the development of a COVID-19 vaccine. The takeover will see Merck, a latecomer to the response to SARS-CoV-2, apply its vaccine capabilities to a candidate based on Themis’ measles vector platform that is set to enter the clinic this year.

Top Stories

Argenx's autoimmune phase 3 hits goals, teeing up FDA filing

A phase 3 trial of Argenx’s efgartigimod in generalized myasthenia gravis patients has hit its primary endpoint, setting the European biotech up to file for FDA approval by the end of the year.

Muscle disorder biotech Avidity aims for the clinic with $100M IPO

Six months after banking a $100 million venture round, Avidity Biosciences is heading to the public market. The company filed to raise up to $100 million in its IPO, which will push its lead muscle disorder program through IND-enabling studies and into the clinic in 2021.

[Sponsored] How Treatment Technology is Advancing the Discovery of Cancer Medicines

Jazz Pharmaceuticals is applying its proprietary technology to recognize the potential of combination therapy for treating cancer patients and redefining what is possible in the treatment landscape.

Generation Bio tees up $125M IPO to push next-gen gene therapies

Another preclinical-stage biotech is taking to the public markets—Generation Bio filed for a $215 million IPO to advance gene therapies for hemophilia A and phynylketonuria and push one of them into the clinic. The deal comes on the heels of a $110 million venture round raised in January this year.

Insitro nets $143M to ramp up machine learning drug discovery

In the two years since it set up shop, insitro has been plugging away at a data- and machine learning-driven approach to drug discovery. Now, the company is picking up $143 million to build out its technology, pursue new targets and advance treatments for genetically defined patient groups.

The top 10 medtech deals of 2019

For medtech deals, 2019 started off with a bang. By the end of June, enough money had changed hands to completely eclipse 2018’s total M&A value. But that pace would not last.

Tufts team repairs brain defects in frogs with 'bioelectric' drugs

Scientists at the Tufts University Allen Discovery Center discovered that the anti-seizure drugs lamotrigine and gabapentin can restore normal bioelectric patterns in frog brains damaged by nicotine exposure. Administering the drugs to tadpoles reduced the formation of brain defects and promoted the development of normal learning capacity.

Trailing Big Pharma peers, Merck inks deals to advance COVID-19 drugs, vaccines

For months, as the world’s largest vaccine companies jumped into COVID-19 research and inked partnerships, Merck was conspicuously quiet. That changed in late April when the drug giant unveiled some of its early efforts—and now, Merck is publicly unveiling a vaccine partnership with the U.S. government, a biotech buyout and an R&D pact for a potential therapeutic.

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

[Whitepaper] The Evolution and Importance of Biomedical Ontologies for Scientific Literature

Dive into the history of biomedical classification and how these systems have evolved to address new technology and use cases.

[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.

[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