FarmaKology Newsletter - Issue #75

Jun 25, 2021

Today's Startup

bit.bio

bit.bio is an award-winning human synthetic biology enterprise. Our mission is coding cells for health. To do so, we apply the principles of computation to biology. Our current focus is to develop a scalable technology platform capable of producing consistent batches of every human cell. This has the potential to unlock a new generation of medicine: it will enable research and drug discovery to move on from inappropriate models and work with the cells that actually are affected by the human disease. A scalable platform of consistent cells will also be the basis for a new generation of cell and tissue therapies. To achieve our goals, we have assembled a team of pioneers in stem cells, cellular reprogramming, mathematical modeling, and cell therapy.

News

Bristol Myers Squibb Receives Positive CHMP Opinion for Anti-BCMA CAR T Cell Therapy Abecma (idecabtagene vicleucel) for Relapsed and Refractory Multiple Myeloma

Bristol Myers Squibb today announced the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency has recommended granting Conditional Marketing Authorization for Abecma (idecabtagene vicleucel; ide-cel), the company’s B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-directed chimeric antigen receptor T cell immunotherapy, for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma who have received at least three prior therapies, including an immunomodulatory agent, a proteasome inhibitor and an anti-CD38 antibody and have demonstrated disease progression on the last therapy.

Roche’s Actemra/RoActemra receives U.S. FDA Emergency Use Authorization for the treatment of COVID-19 in hospitalized adults and children

Roche announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for intravenous Actemra/RoActemra® (tocilizumab) for the treatment of COVID-19 in hospitalized adults and pediatric patients (two years of age and older) who are receiving systemic corticosteroids and require supplemental oxygen, non-invasive or invasive mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

Mirati Therapeutics' Adagrasib Receives Breakthrough Therapy Designation from U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Patients with Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Harboring the KRASG12C Mutation

Mirati Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage targeted oncology company, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation to adagrasib for the potential treatment of patients with non-small cell lung cancer who harbor the KRASG12C mutation following prior systemic therapy.

Antibe Therapeutics Collaborates With Dalriada Drug Discovery to Accelerate Pipeline Expansion

Antibe Therapeutics Inc., a clinical-stage company leveraging its unique hydrogen sulfide platform to develop next-generation safer therapies to target inflammation in a wide range of health conditions, today announced a strategic collaboration with Dalriada Drug Discovery to develop new drug candidates and fortify Antibe’s intellectual property (“IP”) position for its current pipeline.