Element have announced the launch of its Rapid Response Pharmaceutical Testing Service from its Manchester Life Sciences laboratory. This offering will support the pharmaceutical industry by providing expedited and comprehensive testing solutions for customers worldwide to meet the demands of today’s fast-paced market. In response to the growing need for timely and reliable testing services in the pharmaceutical sector, Element has developed a facility that streamlines the testing process without compromising accuracy or quality. Leveraging advanced technologies and industry expertise, Element’s Rapid Response Pharmaceutical Testing Service delivers results with unprecedented speed and efficiency. The service covers a wide range of testing…

SolasCure has been awarded a highly competitive Biomedical Catalyst Grant for industry-led research and development (R&D) from Innovate UK. The funding, totalling £405K, will support the continued clinical development of SolasCure’s first investigational product, Aurase Wound Gel, a hydrogel containing tarumase (provisional INN), an enzyme cloned from medical maggots, for the treatment of millions of patients worldwide with chronic wounds. SolasCure is one of 32 companies to be awarded the grant, which aims to support the development of solutions to significant health and healthcare challenges, out of 358 candidates that applied. The grant will be used to improve the ambient temperature stability of Aurase…

Ahead of World Tuberculosis (TB) Day, which is marked on 24 March, WHO has released an investment case for TB screening and preventive treatment. A modelling study developed with Governments of four countries – Brazil, Georgia, Kenya and South Africa – highlights the impact to be achieved from expanding TB screening and preventive treatment. The analysis shows that modest investments could lead to significant health and economic benefits in all four countries, with a return on investment up to US$ 39 gained for every dollar invested. The investment case has been released to support countries in advocating for and allocating increased resources…

Cognizant is advancing the application of generative AI (gen AI) technology with the NVIDIA BioNeMo platform to solve complex challenges of drug discovery in the life sciences industry, such as improving productivity in the development process and increasing the speed at which new, life-saving treatments can be brought to market.  Traditional drug discovery methodologies are process intensive and require the analysis of vast repositories of scientific literature and clinical data in order to reveal relevant insights. Moreover, traditional methods are burdened with high costs and long development lifecycles with a high rate of failure. By leveraging gen AI technologies, clinical researchers can…

Bristol Myers Squibb have announced that it has successfully completed its acquisition of Karuna Therapeutics, Inc. With the acquisition’s completion, Karuna shares have ceased trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market and Karuna is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Bristol Myers Squibb. “We are excited to expand our neuroscience portfolio as we welcome Karuna to Bristol Myers Squibb,” said Chris Boerner, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, Bristol Myers Squibb. “Importantly, this transaction aligns with our commitment to strengthening BMS’s growth profile in the latter half of the decade and beyond. We look forward to working with Karuna’s talented team to bring…

Pfizer Inc have announced that the European Commission (EC) has granted marketing authorisation for the company’s 20-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, marketed in the European Union under the brand name PREVENAR 20, for active immunisation for the prevention of invasive disease, pneumonia and acute otitis media caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae in infants, children and adolescents from 6 weeks to less than 18 years of age. “The EC’s authorisation of PREVENAR 20 for infants and children represents a significant opportunity to improve public health by helping to protect against the 20 serotypes responsible for the majority of currently circulating pneumococcal disease in the EU,” said Alexandre…

Novartis recently announced it broke ground for the expansion of its biopharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Singapore. The $256 million investment will facilitate Novartis in deploying digital and automation solutions to enhance manufacturing productivity, improve operational efficiency, and upskill the workforce. The expanded site will focus on manufacturing therapeutic antibody drugs to deliver breakthrough treatments to patients globally.  “In the next phase of growth for the biopharma sector, we should seek to make manufacturing more sustainable and productive, as well as to make products that are more targeted, precise and effective. This will require constant and persistent innovation. With Singapore’s biomedical investments…

AstraZeneca have announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Amolyt Pharma, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing novel treatments for rare endocrine diseases. Under the terms of the agreement, AstraZeneca will acquire all of Amolyt Pharma’s outstanding shares for a total consideration of up to $1.05 billion, on a cash and debt free basis. This includes $800 million upfront at deal closing, plus the right for Amolyt Pharma’s shareholders to receive an additional contingent payment of $250 million payable upon achievement of a specified regulatory milestone. The proposed acquisition will bolster the Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease…

Mission Therapeutics have announced it has raised £25.2 million to progress the clinical development of its drug candidates. The financing was jointly led by existing investors Pfizer Venture Investments, Sofinnova Partners, Roche Venture Fund, SR One, IP Group, and Rosetta Capital. Mission plans to use the funds to accelerate development of its lead drug candidates, MTX325 and MTX652, through clinical trials. MTX325 and MTX652 both inhibit USP30, a mitochondrial de-ubiquitylating enzyme (DUB), increasing damage-associated mitochondrial ubiquitylation to promote mitophagy – the essential process cells use to rid themselves of dysfunctional mitochondria. A growing body of scientific evidence has linked a build-up of dysfunctional…

The RESILIENCE Centre of Excellence for UK Medicines Manufacturing Skills will deliver training and outreach materials and programmes that addresses skills demands in the life sciences sector. The Centre will be run by an academic consortium of UK universities and will receive £4.5m of funding from Innovate UK and the Office for Life Sciences, and will work with healthcare and pharmaceutical organisations to provide a single-entry point for training and career input including a pipeline of continuing professional development courses. Students across the UK will benefit from access to training that draws on the best and most innovative teaching being…

Biocon Biologics Limited have announced a long-term commercial collaboration with Eris Lifesciences to expand patient access to its portfolio of Metabolics, Oncology, and Critical Care products in India. This collaboration is in-line with Biocon Biologics’ strategy to unlock value from its legacy business of branded formulations built over the past two decades and extends its existing partnership with Eris for Biocon’s Nephrology and Dermatology business announced in Dec 2023. As a part of this collaboration, Biocon Biologics will continue to leverage Eris’ strong commercial footprint to significantly expand patient access to its world class biosimilars in India. The terms of…

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals have announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted accelerated approval for Rezdiffra (resmetirom) in conjunction with diet and exercise for the treatment of adults with noncirrhotic NASH with moderate to advanced liver fibrosis (consistent with stages F2 to F3 fibrosis). Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in ongoing confirmatory trials. Bill Sibold, Chief Executive Officer of Madrigal, stated, “NASH with moderate to advanced liver fibrosis is a serious and progressive liver disease that, until now, has not had an FDA-approved therapy. The accelerated approval of Rezdiffra is a culmination of…

Zephyr AI, Inc. have announced it has successfully closed a $111 million Series A funding round with participation from Revolution Growth, Eli Lilly & Company, Jeff Skoll, and EPIQ Capital Group, among others. The company is developing improved data federation tools along with various machine learning algorithms in the areas of oncology and cardiometabolic disease. “The US has the highest rate of avoidable cancer and cardiometabolic-related deaths among any high-income country. We must do better,” said Grant Verstandig, Zephyr AI’s Co-Founder and Executive Chairman. “At Zephyr AI, we are harnessing the power of AI to extract novel insights to better define…

Further investment in high quality lab and research space is vital if the life sciences sector in Scotland is to continue to grow, according to leading real estate advisor CBRE. Speaking at an event in Edinburgh, Chris Dougray, Head of Development at CBRE Scotland, and Chris Williams, CBRE’s Head of Life Sciences, joined forces to examine the burgeoning sector’s place in Scotland. The importance of world-class science parks and innovation hubs where academia and the public sector can collaborate was top of the agenda, with discussion highlighting Scotland’s success in this area and underlining opportunities for further development. Dougray said:…

IFM Therapeutics have announced that Novartis has exercised its option to acquire all of the outstanding capital stock of IFM Due, a subsidiary company of IFM. Launched in February 2019, with a focus on developing small molecules that inhibit the cGAS-STING pathway, the company entered into an option and collaboration agreement with Novartis in September, 2019 whereby Novartis made fixed payments sufficient to fully finance IFM Due’s research and development costs for the cGAS-STING program in exchange for the option to acquire the IFM Due subsidiary (link). Under the terms of the option exercise, IFM received $90 million in upfront payment and will be…

Ricoh Company, Ltd. have announced a non-exclusive licensing agreement in the USA and Japan with ERS Genomics Limited for access to the foundational CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology patents managed by ERS Genomics. CRISPR/Cas9 stands as a breakthrough gene editing technology, enabling modification of targeted genome sequences with ease. The technology is an essential tool in drug discovery research and finds application across various fields. In 2022, Ricoh completed the acquisition of Elixirgen Scientific, Inc. (Baltimore, Maryland, USA). Elixirgen Scientific possesses core technologies in rapid and efficient differentiation of human iPS cells, and mRNA design, production, and management.  We aim to predict the mechanism…

Allumiqs and Prolytix, have announced their long-term, strategic partnership focused on delivering collaborative and integrated solutions to help customers optimise drug development pipelines.  Together the partners empower customers with bioanalytical solutions to advance drug candidates from the early R&D phases through to lot release. This strategic collaboration comes after several successful joint customer engagements, leveraging Allumiqs’ expertise in multiomics and LC-MS/MS solutions and Prolytix’s complementary large-molecule drug product lifecycle management. Collectively the partners offer cohesive solutions that optimise efficiency and accelerate advancements in the drug development pipeline. “We found many synergies in working with the team at Prolytix in collaborative customer projects,…