CRISPR genome-editing biopharma firm Caribou Biosciences (NSDQ:CRBU) has appointed Nancy Whiting to its board of directors. Whiting had previously worked at Seagen (formerly known as Seattle Genetics) for 14 years and had three years of experience at GSK. At Seagen, she was involved in the development of several drugs, including Adcetris, Padcev, Tukysa, tisotumab vedotin…
NVIDIA debuts supercomputer for healthcare and AI research
Santa Clara, Calif.–based NVIDIA has launched the Cambridge-1, which it hails as “the United Kingdom’s most powerful supercomputer.” Developed with healthcare applications in mind, NVIDIA invested some $100 million in the supercomputer. Initial applications of the Cambridge-1 include using AI to improve drug development, explore the causes of dementia and identify genomic-based disease risk factors.…
An inside look at GSK’s digital twin initiative
Digital twins, functional computerized models of physical objects, are a staple of smart manufacturing. Their use in the pharmaceutical industry, however, is still in an early phase. GlaxoSmithKline (LON:GSK) is one of the first pharmaceutical companies to announce a digital twin initiative. Partnering with Siemens (ETR:SIE) and Atos (EPA:ATO), GSK has created a real-time simulation of…
CureVac’s interim vaccine efficacy is 47% in Phase 2b/3 study
Germany-based CureVac (NSDQ:CVAC) announced that its mRNA vaccine was 47% effective against COVID-19 in a second interim analysis of a pivotal study involving approximately 40,000 participants in 10 countries. The rise of COVID-19 variants played a role in the disappointing results. At least 13 COVID-19 variants were present in the study population who contracted the…
How lupus clinical trials are evolving
In the past half-century, scores of investigational drugs for lupus have seemingly failed in clinical trials. GSK’s Benlysta (belimumab) is unique in winning approval from the FDA and European regulatory authorities. Anifrolumab from AstraZeneca, which would be a first-in-class type I interferon inhibitor, is one of the most promising investigational drugs for treating systemic lupus…
CureVac’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate inches forward to Phase 2b/3 efficacy readout
CureVac (NSDQ:CVAC) has announced that its first-generation COVID-19 vaccine has passed its first interim analysis but has chosen not to share efficacy data until a statistically significant efficacy analysis is ready. The Tübingen, Germany–headquartered company is developing two mRNA-based vaccines. The mRNA vaccines from Moderna (NSDQ:MRNA) and Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) are currently two of the most popular…
Sanofi and GSK start Phase 3 trial of COVID-19 vaccine
Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline announced today that they began enrollment in the Phase 3 clinical trial for their COVID-19 vaccine candidate. The companies will evaluate the safety, efficacy and immunogenicity of their adjuvanted recombinant-protein COVID-19 vaccine candidate in a global, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 3 study of more than 35,000 participants aged 18 and older, according…
CureVac and GSK announce promising preclinical data for next-gen COVID-19 vaccine
As CureVac (NSDQ:CVAC) awaits European authorization for its mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, it is conducting preclinical research on a second-generation vaccine candidate known as CV2CoV, which it is developing with GSK. In a study involving rats, the new mRNA vaccine candidate yielded high levels of antigen and strong neutralizing antibody titers after the first vaccination. Tübingen, Germany–based…
GSK and Vir Biotechnology seek EUA for COVID-19 monoclonal antibody
GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology have filed for emergency use authorization (EUA) for VIR-7831 (GSK4182136), a dual-action SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibody. VIR-7831 is designed to stop SARS-CoV-2 viral entry into cells and accelerate the clearing of infected cells. VIR-7831 would have a similar indication to other monoclonal antibodies that have won an EUA. It is intended for…
Former head of Operation Warp Speed leaves two more drug companies
Following allegations of sexual harassment, former head of Operation Warp Speed Moncef Slaoui has left roles at two more companies. Yesterday, Slaoui was terminated as the Galvani board of directors’ chair, GlaxoSmithKline’s board of directors announced. The same day, Vaxcyte confirmed in an SEC filing that it had axed Slaoui as its chairman of the…
GSK, Sanofi launch new study for protein-based COVID-19 vaccine
Sanofi (NYSE:SNY) and Glaxo Smith Kline (NYSE:GSK) are moving forward with their development plans of a COVID-19 vaccine. In December, the two companies announced that their vaccine development efforts had been delayed after the product failed to mount a robust immune response in older adults. The two companies believe the setback resulted from an insufficient…
GSK and CureVac team up on COVID-19 vaccine to battle viral variants
Late last year, GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) and Sanofi (NYSE:SNY) announced that their joint COVID-19 vaccine was delayed. Now, GlaxoSmithKline is hooking up with Germany-headquartered CureVac (NSDQ:CVAC) to develop a COVID-19 vaccine that can target multiple variants of the virus simultaneously. GSK plans on spending €150 million on the project, paying the first half to CureVac initially and the latter half…
11 COVID-19 therapies you need to know
The pharmaceutical industry launched a herculean effort to battle the COVID-19 pandemic early in 2020, developing an array of vaccines and other therapeutics while also identifying existing drugs suitable for treating patients sick with severe coronavirus infections. FDA recently granted emergency authorization to two SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and several other treatments. Here are 11 of the…
Launch of Sanofi and GSK COVID-19 vaccine could be delayed until late 2021
Sanofi (NYSE:SNY) and Glaxo Smith Kline (NYSE:GSK) have confirmed a delay in their adjuvanted recombinant protein-based COVID-19 vaccine owing to an inadequate immune response in older adults in a Phase 1/2 trial. Sanofi and GSK now plan to launch a Phase 2b study in February 2021 to investigate a new vaccine formulation. If that study reaches primary endpoints,…
Medicago and GSK partner on COVID-19 vaccine trial
The Canadian biotech firm Medicago (CVE:MDG) is hooking up GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) on a study involving 30,000 participants. The Quebec City-based Medicago had recently announced promising data concerning its plant-based vaccine candidate. Medicago’s vaccine is unique in that it uses virus-like particles that resemble the structure of the novel coronavirus but contain no genetic material from the virus. …
Sanofi, GSK offer 20M COVID-19 vaccine doses to COVAX alliance
Sanofi (NSDQ:SNY) and GSK (LON: GSK), which have teamed up to produce a COVID-19 vaccine candidate, have signaled their intent to work with the legal administrator of the COVAX Facility. The two companies have vowed to produce 200 million doses of a vaccine based on the protein subunit AS03 adjuvant. Governments, businesses and health organizations…
Sanofi, GSK seek to have an adjuvanted COVID-19 vaccine ready by late 2021
Sanofi and GSK recently announced that they have signed a letter of intent to collaborate on an adjuvanted vaccine for COVID-19 — with a goal of having the vaccine available by the second half of 2021. Sanofi is contributing its S-protein COVID-19 antigen. The company’s recombinant DNA technology produced an exact genetic match to proteins…