Alphabet spells out biotech ambitions with new venture

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Today's Rundown

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UPDATE: Pfizer's oral COVID-19 antiviral cuts hospitalization, death by 85%, sending team barreling to FDA

Pfizer’s oral COVID-19 antiviral has cut the risk of hospitalization or death by 85% in a late-phase trial, prompting the Big Pharma to stop the study and race to seek emergency use authorization from the FDA.

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Top Stories

Moderna scraps lead mRNA chikungunya candidate after phase 1, slowing push beyond prophylactic vaccines

Moderna has suffered an early blow to its move beyond prophylactic vaccines, revealing it won’t take the lead candidate in one of its core modalities into phase 2. The mRNA player removed the drug candidate from its pipeline after wrapping up a phase 1 dose-escalation study.

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Veterans from GSK's GlycoVaxyn rally up $49M to advance Swiss biotech GlycoEra

Veronica Gambillara Fonck, Ph.D., has been one member of a group of scientists that have followed each other across a dizzying landscape of spinoffs and new ventures in vaccines R&D. Now, the team has come together once again to launch Swiss biotech GlycoEra AG with a $49 million series A. 

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Sponsored: A New Reference Model for Clinical Trial Recruitment, Enrollment and Retention Success

Rare diseases demand a modern recruitment approach grounded in uncovering the ideal, medically-eligible patient population with the highest propensity for study enrollment and retention.

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HitGen taps Cambridge Molecular for 'deep learning' drug discovery collab

Chinese drug discovery biotech HitGen is teaming up with U.K.-based Cambridge Molecular to better seek out new drugs.

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Sponsored: Intranasals in Clinic Now Positioned for $71 Billion Nasal Delivery Market

Australia’s Avance Clinical: how intranasal biotechs can expedite trials with rapid approval processes - including no IND and a 43.5% incentive rebate - to tap $71 billion market

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Alphabet launches AI drug discovery venture built on DeepMind's protein-folding expertise

The new Isomorphic Laboratories aims to deliver an “AI-first approach” for tackling biopharma research, with the goal of serving as a commercial partner to drugmakers.

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Novartis exits 20-year Roche stake, creating a $20.7B question about CEO Vas Narasimhan's next M&A move

After 20 years, Novartis is finally shedding its stake in Swiss rival Roche, gaining a handsome return on investment but leaving behind a big question of where CEO Vas Narasimhan plans to spend all the money.

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UnitedHealth-Change Healthcare deal could close in late February

UnitedHealth Group and Change Healthcare have agreed not to close their pending deal before Feb. 22—though the acquisition could close sooner if the Department of Justice wraps its probe early.

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Parkinson's gene therapy restores responses to dopamine-boosting drug in mouse models

Northwestern University researchers found that a gene therapy targeting the region of the brain that houses dopamine-releasing neurons could boost the effectiveness of the widely used Parkinson's drug levodopa in mice. The team also found a a path to diagnosing the disease early.

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Fierce Pharma Asia—Legend, J&J's CAR-T delay; BeiGene's Brukinsa data; Samsung Biologics CEO interview

Legend Biotech and Johnson & Johnson have to wait three more months for an FDA decision on their CAR-T medicine. BeiGene's Brukinsa posts competitive frontline leukemia data as key BTK showdown nears. Samsung Biologics' newly minted CEO talks about the CDMO's rapid expansion. And more.

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Chutes & Ladders—Mirati Therapeutics CMO, COO given the boot as FDA filing looms

Mirati Therapeutics parted ways with its chief medical and operating officers as the biotech gets nearer to asking the FDA to approve its first drug. Moderna's former chief medical officer chooses VC shop OrbiMed as his next stop. Lengo Therapeutics hiring spree doesn't abate as it poaches Turning Point, ex-Pfizer fellow.

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Resources

Webinar: The Faster Path From Pre-Filled Syringe to Auto-Injector

Ypsomed and Catalent Biologics experts discuss strategies for integrated PFS manufacturing and auto-injector assembly to accelerate timelines and more in this webinar.

Whitepaper: Formulation Strategies When Transitioning From Vial to PFS

Learn how formulation development for a PFS affects manufacturing to drive the industry toward optimizing delivery of injectable products and, ultimately, improving patient care.

Whitepaper: How the Chronic Insomnia Market Raises Big Questions About Digital Therapeutics

Paper describing how the chronic insomnia market offers big lessons for any biopharma company thinking about getting into digital therapeutics in any therapeutic area.

Whitepaper: Create a seamless experience across eConsent, eCOA & more

Find out how to improve clinical protocol adherence, and thus patient outcomes, by 15%+ with Medable’s latest White Paper.

2021 Report: Clinical Trial Management in a Post-Pandemic World

New market research provides valuable insight into the impact of adaptations made in clinical trials during the pandemic.

Whitepaper: A Checklist for eCOA Solution Deployment

Every detail is important when selecting a new eCOA solution; learn more about the current eCOA landscape, best practices, and crucial considerations for successful eCOA solution deployment in this white paper.

Whitepaper: Enhance the cost-effectiveness of your cGMP chemical supply chain

Learn how to develop a high-performing supply chain for cGMP chemicals used throughout your biologics workflow. Download the free whitepaper from Thermo Fisher Scientific

Paid Marketplace: 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.

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.

eBook: Get solutions to market faster

Read Get to Know Cloud Content Management for Life Sciences and learn how to eliminate silos across all workflows, from R&D to commercialization.

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