FarmaKology Newsletter - Issue #53

Jul 27, 2020

Today's Startup

Inflazome

Inflazome is developing inhibitors of the inflammasome, a compelling biological target that regulates our innate immune response, now associated with a wide variety of diseases. Our small-molecule drugs – drugs that can be taken by mouth – block inflammasomes very precisely. By carefully targeting solely the inflammasome, our therapies have the potential to stop harmful inflammation while allowing beneficial inflammation and minimizing side effects.Clinical and scientific data suggests that inflammation causes many of our most challenging medical conditions such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, atherosclerosis and the II diabetes. By blocking the inflammasome we stop inflammation from progressing and inflammation-related diseases may never even develop

News

Sandoz announces plans for joint investment to help strengthen future of antibiotics manufacturing in Europe

Sandoz, the Novartis generics and biosimilars division, is pleased to announce plans for a joint investment, together with the Austrian federal government, to strengthen the long-term future of integrated antibiotics manufacturing in Europe.Sandoz CEO Richard Saynor said: “This plan is a great example of government and the private sector working closely together to protect the long-term interests of patients in Europe and beyond. Antibiotics are the backbone of modern medicine and our Kundl facility in Austria is the hub and center of the last remaining integrated production chain for antibiotics in the western world. This joint investment will help to keep it that way.

CARISMA Therapeutics Announces FDA Clearance of IND Application for First-Ever Engineered Macrophage Immunotherapy

CARISMA Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing innovative immunotherapies, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared an investigational new drug application for the Company's lead product candidate, CT-0508, an anti-human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) targeted chimeric antigen receptor macrophage . Under this IND, CARISMA intends to initiate its Phase 1, first-in-human, multi-centre study in patients with recurrent or metastatic HER2 overexpressing solid tumours after failure of approved HER2 targeted agents.

Moderna Announces Expansion of BARDA Agreement to Support Larger Phase 3 Program for Vaccine (mRNA-1273) Against COVID-19

Moderna, Inc. , a clinical stage biotechnology company pioneering messenger RNA therapeutics and vaccines to create a new generation of transformative medicines for patients, today announced a modification to its contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority for an additional commitment of up to $472 million to support late stage clinical development including the expanded Phase 3 study of the Company’s mRNA vaccine candidate (mRNA-1273) against COVID-19.

PerkinElmer launches open access COVID-19 data dashboards

PerkinElmer, Inc., a global leader committed to innovating for a healthier world, has announced that it has launched two online, free-access Perkin Elmer COVID-19 Data Dashboards to help the global scientific community accelerate the discovery of COVID-19 antivirals and vaccines. These dashboards are powered by PerkinElmer’s data analytics and data visualization solutions which help researchers more quickly and easily leverage the vast amounts of drug compound and clinical trial data that exist across reliable, yet disparate, sites and sources.

ImmuPharma notes new FDA submission for Lupuzor™

ImmuPharma said its licensing partner, Avion Pharmaceuticals, has submitted a Special Protocol Assessment request to the US Food & Drug Administration for Lupuzor™, a novel peptide therapeutics for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus. The specialist drug discovery and development firm said the SPA is an important regulatory milestone in preparation for the new optimised international Phase III trial of Lupuzor™.