Drug Development

Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies and PhotonPharma announced a collaboration to develop a novel tumor-specific immunotherapy for solid tumors.

The companies announce the results of a research collaboration that applied machine learning to significantly advance the scalability of spirulina-based biologic drugs.

A research team at the Keck Graduate Institute will work to adapt its decade-long low-cost vaccine R&D for developing countries into a COVID-19 vaccine.

AGC Biologics has acquired Novartis’ Longmont, Colorado, manufacturing facility for the commercial production of cell and gene therapies.

Syngene International appoints two US-based executives to senior level positions.

Nanoform and Boehringer Ingelheim have executed a master services agreement in relation to pre-clinical development projects.

A research collaboration will combine Imugene’s oncolytic virus technology with Celularity’s allogeneic CAR T-cell therapy.

BioMed X Institute and Janssen Research & Development to start two new research programs in the field of autoimmune diseases and drug delivery.

FDA has approved AstraZeneca’s Saphnelo, a type I interferon receptor antibody for treating systemic lupus erythematosus.

FDA has accepted Genetech’s BLA for faricimab, a bispecific antibody in development for treating wet age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema.

The European Commission has entered into a supply agreement with GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology for up to 220,000 doses of sotrovimab, an investigational mAb for treating COVID-19.

Dosage form priorities are shifting to focus on user-friendliness, leading to greater engagement with outsourcing partners earlier in development timelines.

Data sharing facilitates traceability, transparency, and accuracy while driving efficiencies and boosting quality of active pharmaceutical ingredients.

Amorphous solid dispersions can overcome the pH effect encountered with oral oncology medications.

Collaborative partnerships can foster success in formulation development projects.

Recent research has highlighted the underlying mechanisms of amorphous solid dispersions and theory behind the formation of drug-rich phases.

The choice of delivery platform for inhaled drug products is contingent on API-related factors, as well as the development stage of the product.

Developers might invest in small-scale equipment to produce packaging for stability studies in-house, or they might outsource production. Manufacturers should consider the benefits and risks to both approaches.

Byondis and Glycotope have formed an agreement to discover and develop antibodies that target specific glyco-epitopes.

Meissa Vaccines’s MV-014-212, an intranasal recombinant live attenuated COVID-19 vaccine, induced mucosal and systemic antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 and two variants of concern.

The companies collaborate to develop and commercialize ARV-471, an investigational oral PROTAC (proteolysis targeting chimeras) estrogen receptor protein degrader.

Cellares has entered into a strategic relationship with Poseida Therapeutics to advance a closed, automated, and scalable cell therapy manufacturing system.

Modeling the manufacturing process benefits both development and operations.

The US federal government awarded new funding to the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals, including funding under the American Rescue Plan that will be used to advance vaccine manufacturing.

The new lab near Continuus Pharmaceutical’s current facilities in Massachusetts will expand the company’s process development capabilities to high-potency drugs.

Eli Lilly and Company has announced its acquisition of biotech firm Protomer Technologies, giving it a protein-engineering platform for next-generation protein therapeutics.

Sparx Therapeutics will build its first commercial manufacturing facility in Yangzhou, China, for antibody drug production.

GlaxoSmithKline and Alector have partnered to co-develop two mAbs for a range of neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.

The collaboration continues as the companies design bioprocess impurity reagent sets to detect residual HCP from HEK 293 cells.

The ever-increasing complexity of biotherapeutic molecules presents unique analytical challenges for developers.