We can design chips that power self-driving cars and create physically-realistic video footage based on text descriptions. Yet, as Genentech’s Aviv Regev pointed out in a session about the company’s lab in the loop at NVIDIA’s GTC conference, the humble cells within us operate with a complexity that still eludes our full understanding. It turns out that a cell is itself like a computational device…

Technically, graphics processing and AI hardware powerhouse Nvidia is also a drug discovery company. It may not discover drugs in-house, but it has developed BioNeMo, a comprehensive generative AI platform for drug discovery and Clara, a collection of healthcare frameworks, applications, and tools, including for biopharma. Nvidia partners include Amgen, AstraZeneca, GSK and Insilico Medicine.…

Roche (SWX:ROG) division Genentech recently announced that it would build a new biologics manufacturing facility in Oceanside, California. Optimizing for both speed and modularity, the facility will use the latest digital technologies and in-house process improvements to maximize production volumes. Genentech is also designing the facility with sustainability in mind. The plant will reduce energy…

The FDA has approved Genentech‘s Lunsumio (mosunetuzumab-axgb), a novel bispecific antibody for relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma (R/R FL). The indication covers R/R FL patients who have received at least two prior systemic therapies.  Patients with the cancer subtype have had limited treatment options and significant morbidity and mortality.  The approval of Lunsumio is the…

At ASH 2022, Roche (SWX: ROG) subsidiary Genentech presented new data demonstrating the potential of glofitamab and mosunetuzumab, its investigational CD20xCD3 T-cell engaging bispecific antibodies, as fixed-duration, off-the-shelf treatment options for two types of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) – large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) and follicular lymphoma (FL), respectively. “The new data demonstrated durable and impressive patient…

Genentech has opened a novel clinical supply center at its birthplace in South San Francisco. The planning for the new $250 million center began in 2019 when Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, began earnest efforts to imagine what the future of biomanufacturing looks like. “We were looking at where we are going in…

Roche (SIX:RO, ROG; OTCQX:RHHBY) subsidiary Genentech announced that a study of the amyloid beta-protein inhibitor crenezumab failed to show statistically significant clinical benefit in Alzheimer’s patients. The failure is typical. Historically, 99% of Alzheimer’s drug candidate studies fail to show improvement over placebo, according to Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy. In the research, Genentech partnered with the…

The pharmaceutical industry continues to see strong growth and is poised to have a compound annual growth rate of 13.7% from 2020 to 2027, according to projections from Grand View Research. The best pharma companies to work for continue to offer a number of advantages to skilled workers. Pharma positions remain in high demand, and…

The research data platform Flywheel has announced that Roche (OTCMKTS:RHHBY) and its subsidiary Genentech are using its cloud-scale informatics platform to ingest, standardize and analyze medical imaging data to streamline drug discovery. Minneapolis-based Flywheel says the process provides a swifter and more efficient means to curate data at the terabyte and petabyte scales. Specifically, Roche and…

The Galien Foundation has revealed its latest nominees for the 2021 Prix Galien USA Award highlighting innovations in biotechnology, pharmaceutical agents, medical technology and digital health products. Entrants to the competition must have received FDA approval within the past five years and demonstrate exceptional therapeutic potential. The Galien Foundation does not use financial data to…

ROZLYTREK from Roche‘s Genentech division is FDA-indicated for adult patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer whose tumors are ROS1-positive. In addition, it is indicated for adults and children 12 and older with solid tumors. The latter indication requires that the tumors have a neurotrophic tyrosine receptor kinase gene fusion without a known acquired resistance mutation. Other requirements…

While biosimilar adoption remains at an early stage in the U.S., biosimilar adoption is ticking up. Biosimilar penetration for Roche’s Avastin (bevacizumab) is especially high at 69%. In addition, biosimilars for Genentech’s Herceptin and Amgen’s Neupogen have also achieved a market penetration of 57% and 62%, respectively, according to IQVIA data based on late June sales data.…

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is frequently a debilitating disease associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Although a rare disease, its incidence has increased in recent decades, and it leads to more deaths than some cancers.  The treatment landscape for the condition changed in 2014 when FDA approved the first drugs indicated for IPF, nintedanib from Boehringer…

The FDA has approved Enspryng (satralizumab-mwge) for the treatment of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) in adults with a certain antibody — patients who are anti-aquaporin-4 or AQP4 antibody-positive. NMOSD is a rare autoimmune disease of the central nervous system that mainly affects the optic nerves and spinal cord. Enspryng, made by Genentech, is the…

The Galien Foundation recently announced nominees for most innovative pharmaceutical agents for its 14th Annual Prix Galien USA Awards. The foundation bestows the Prix Galien Award annually to examples of outstanding biomedical, pharmaceutical drugs and medical technology products that are designed to improve the human condition. “As we celebrate 50 years of the Prix Galien…