Drug Discovery and Development

  • Home Drug Discovery and Development
  • Drug Discovery
  • Genomics/Proteomics
  • Oncology
  • Neurological Disease
  • Infectious Disease
  • Orphan Drugs
  • R&D 100 Awards

By Brian Buntz | January 21, 2021

6 questions about facial swelling and COVID-19 vaccines answered

Moderna COVID-19 vaccine

The news that Moderna’s (NSDQ:MRNA) COVID-19 had a small risk of facial swelling for patients with dermal fillers has spooked scores of patients. Dermatologists and plastic surgeons have been inundated with queries from concerned patients. But the risk of problems is minuscule, according to Dr. Wilbur Hah, the president of the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery…

By Chris Newmarker | January 21, 2021

SFW Capital Partners invests in lab equipment maker Caron Products and Services

Caron Products and Services

Private equity firm SFW Capital Partners recently announced the recapitalization of lab equipment maker Caron Products and Services. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Owned by the Christy family and management, Caron (Marietta, Ohio) manufactures a line of environmental testing chambers, incubators and growth chambers. The equipment goes toward FDA-required QA/QC stability…

By Brian Buntz | January 21, 2021

OncoSec eyes next steps with its cancer immunotherapy candidate

OncoSec (NASDAQ: ONCS), a cancer immunotherapy company currently focused on R&D, is planning U.S. promotion of its tavokinogene telseplasmid (TAVO) drug for a type of metastatic melanoma — and eventually other cancers. “We don’t currently have a sales force. If successful, we’re going to need to have a sales and marketing team embedded in the…

By Jennifer Rogers | January 21, 2021

How to make COVID-19 clinical trial statistics meaningful to the public

COVID-19 coronavirus

COVID-19 has brought a newly heightened awareness of the need to better understand clinical trial statistics and their direct impact on the public. I cannot remember when statistical data was more in the limelight than now. The pandemic’s first wave put many countries into lockdown. All governments and their local representatives delivered press conferences regularly…

By Brian Buntz | January 20, 2021

New COVID-19 variants could diminish vaccine efficacy

COVID-19 is mutating. And while early data suggest vaccines will be effective against more infectious COVID-19 variants that emerged in the U.K., South Africa and Brazil, the mutations could have a measurable impact on vaccine efficacy.   There’s perhaps a 50/50 chance that such new variants could lead to a “numerically meaningful drop” in vaccine efficacy,…

By Brian Buntz | January 19, 2021

Pharma researcher charged with theft of trade secrets  

A former director of medical and scientific affairs at Merck (NYSE:MRK) faces criminal charges in federal court in New Jersey for allegedly stealing and transmitting trade secrets. Shafat A. Quadri has been released on $100,000 unsecured bond. He was most recently employed at AstraZeneca (NSDQ:AZN). The single count of trade secret theft carries a maximum potential…

By Brian Buntz | January 15, 2021

Norway investigating deaths of 23 individuals who received COVID-19 vaccine

Norwegian flag

In Norway, authorities are investigating the deaths of nearly two dozen people who received the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech (NSDQ:BNTX). To date, it has analyzed data from 13 of those individuals. The Norwegian Medicines Agency concluded that common adverse reactions to mRNA vaccines, including fever and nausea, could have contributed to deaths in elderly…

By Brian Buntz | January 14, 2021

Here’s what molecular shape can tell you about pharma innovation

Pharma image

Is it possible that pharmaceutical innovation has accelerated over the past two decades — with the novelty of small molecule and peptide drugs steadily increasing? That’s the conclusion suggested by a recent study published in ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters, which found roughly 65% of FDA-approved drugs in 2020 were structurally novel. Last year’s drug approvals…

By Brian Buntz | January 14, 2021

3 notable types of innovative drugs from 2020

Remdesivir

Last year, FDA approved 53 drugs, leading the industry to describe 2020 as “a strong year for new drug therapy.” There are several drugs that stand out, according to Todd Wills, the co-author of a study that analyzes how innovative drugs are based on their structure. The drugs that follow are examples of notable innovative therapies.…

By Brian Buntz | January 14, 2021

Catalent to acquire Acorda’s manufacturing and packaging operations

Catalent

Catalent (NYSE:CTLT) has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase a dry-powder inhaler (DPI) capsule manufacturing and packaging facility from Acorda Therapeutics (NSDQ:ACOR). The acquisition will enable Catalent to establish a center of excellence for spray-dried dispersion for DPI capsule manufacturing. The transaction will also expand Catalent’s existing U.S.-based commercial-scale capabilities in metered-dose inhalers and nasal…

By Brian Buntz | January 13, 2021

What’s behind the severe allergic reactions from COVID-19 vaccines?

COVID-19 vaccine

Reports of severe allergic reactions to COVID-19 vaccines have made consistent headlines in recent weeks. Still, such anaphylactic reactions are rare, occurring in approximately 11 out of every million doses for the vaccine from Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech (NSDQ:BNTX), according to CDC. While that is roughly 10 times the flu vaccine rate, COVID-19 vaccines so far…

By Brian Buntz | January 12, 2021

Phastar wins investment from Charterhouse Capital Partners

Phastar

The contract research organization Phastar (London) plans to expand its statistics and data science services with funding from Charterhouse Capital Partners, a European private equity firm. Phastar will also use the funds to expand its international footprint, opening an office in China. “We continue to see strong growth across pharma and biotech services,” said Kevin Kane,…

By Brian Buntz | January 11, 2021

Facial swelling and COVID-19 vaccines: 4 facts

COVID-19 vaccine

Patients with dermal fillers have a small potential risk of developing facial swelling after obtaining mRNA vaccines. To date, the FDA has noted the problem in three clinical trial recipients of the COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna (NSDQ:MRNA). The agency hasn’t observed facial swelling in the Phase 3 clinical trial for the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer…

By Brian Buntz | January 9, 2021

Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine apparently effective against ‘UK strain’ 

Pfizer BioNTech

The BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech (NSDQ:BNTX) seems to offer protection against the new, more transmissible variant of the novel coronavirus identified in the U.K., according to a study from Pfizer and the University of Texas Medical Branch.  The study has not been currently peer-reviewed.  In additional testing, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine appeared to be…

By Brian Buntz | January 8, 2021

As organs-on-chips advance, their potential for drug discovery grows

Emulate brain chip

Engineered microchips with living human cells have the potential to accelerate drug development and replace animal testing, said Dr. Donald Ingber, the founding director of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. The organ-on-a-chip technology could also enable the industry to rethink its business model, Ingber said in a webinar from the…

By Brian Buntz | January 6, 2021

Researchers at Genuity and Yale shed light on aortic aneurysms

aortic aneurysm

Researchers at privately-held Genuity Science and Yale University Medical School have revealed why aortic aneurysms form. The scientists discovered that an expansion in abnormal cells in smooth muscle tissue of the aorta can contribute to aortic aneurysm. The researchers came to that conclusion by using a combination of generative artificial intelligence, single-cell biology and RNA sequencing to…

By Brian Buntz | January 6, 2021

EU OKs Moderna COVID-19 vaccine

Moderna

The European Union has authorized the mRNA-1273 COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna (NSDQ:MRNA) ahead of schedule, responding to criticism that it had been too slow in its mass vaccination plans. The E.U. drug regulator had planned on meeting later in the month to discuss the vaccine.  “This vaccine provides us with another tool to overcome the current emergency,”…

By Brian Buntz | January 6, 2021

NIAID-backed COVID-19 trial to investigate monoclonal antibodies from Brii Biosciences

Monoclonal antibodies could play a vital role in the battle against COVID-19. To date, such infusion-delivered antibodies from Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NSDQ:REGN) have received emergency use authorization from FDA.  Now, a phase 2/3 clinical trial will study the potential of investigational monoclonal antibody therapy for patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19.  The antibodies, known…

By Brian Buntz | January 6, 2021

Moderna and NIH assessing whether COVID-19 vaccine doses can be halved

Moderna

AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) inadvertently discovered halving the first dose of its COVID-19 vaccine could boost its efficacy. Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Moderna (NSDQ:MRNA) are examining vaccine data to determine whether they can halve the 100-microgram dose to vaccinate twice as many people. Some data from Moderna’s clinical trial support that possibility,…

By Brian Buntz | January 5, 2021

Akston Biosciences and LakePharma team up on second-generation COVID-19 vaccine

Akston

An inexpensive investigational vaccine known as AKS-452 is stable for weeks at room temperature and can potentially be used for both prime and boost vaccination. The vaccine developer, Akston Biosciences (Beverly, Mass.), has hooked up with LakePharma, a San Carlos, Calif.-based contract research, development and manufacturing outsourcing organization, to manufacture the vaccine. Phase 1/2 clinical…

By Sean Whooley | January 5, 2021

AstraZeneca completes Atacand divestment to Cheplapharm

AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) announced yesterday that it completed the divestment of the commercial rights to Atacand to Cheplapharm. United Kingdom-based AstraZeneca’s Atacand (candesartan cilexetil) is a selective AT 1 subtype angiotensin II receptor antagonist indicated for managing hypertension in adults and children, along with heart failure in adults. In addition to the commercial rights to Atacand, AstraZeneca…

By Brian Buntz | January 5, 2021

Pfizer and BioNTech to offer COVID-19 vaccine to placebo recipients  

COVID-19 therapies vaccines coronavirus

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech (NSDQ:BNTX) have decided to offer to inform clinical trial volunteers in its COVID-19 vaccine whether they received a vaccine or placebo. Those who received a placebo will be eligible to receive the first dose of vaccine by March 1 and stay in the study. A second dose will be administered roughly three weeks…

By Nancy Crotti | January 4, 2021

FDA releases guidance to speed personalized drug development

The FDA today released draft guidance designed to make it easier for researchers to seek approvals for drugs designed for individuals with severe genetic diseases. The draft guidance focuses on investigational new drug submissions for antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) products because these are the most common drugs being developed for severely debilitating or life-threatening genetic diseases.…

By Brian Buntz | December 31, 2020

UK authorities OK increased gap between Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses

NHS

The National Health Service in the U.K. is increasing the maximum interval between shots for recipients of the Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech (NSDQ:BNTX) vaccine to 12 weeks. In a letter to hospitals, NHS advised that patients scheduled to receive the second dose of the vaccine on Jan. 4 should receive it nine weeks later.  The developers of…

By Brian Buntz | December 31, 2020

China approves COVID-19 vaccine from Sinopharm

Sinopharm

Chinese health authorities have authorized a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine from state-owned Sinopharm (OTCMKTS: SHTDY). The vaccine has an efficacy of 79% based on an interim analysis of a Phase 3 study.  China plans to distribute the BBIBP-CorV vaccine to citizens at no cost and distribute it to other countries that test Chinese vaccine candidates.  The country has…

Next >

DeviceTalks Tuesdays

DeviceTalks Tuesdays

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.

Need Drug Discovery news in a minute?

We Deliver!
Drug Discovery & Development Enewsletters get you caught up on all the mission critical news you need. Sign up today.
Enews Signup

R&D Twitter

Tweets by @RandDWorld
Drug Discovery and Development
  • Enews Signup
  • Contact Us
  • R&D World
  • Pharmaceutical Processing
  • Drug Delivery Business News

Copyright © 2021 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search Drug Discovery

  • Home Drug Discovery and Development
  • Drug Discovery
  • Genomics/Proteomics
  • Oncology
  • Neurological Disease
  • Infectious Disease
  • Orphan Drugs
  • R&D 100 Awards