(Reuters) – U.S. chemical maker Dow Inc said on Thursday it had signed a long-term supply agreement with bio-conversion company New Energy Blue for plastic materials made from corn residue, in a bid to move towards renewable energy sources for production. “This collaboration can help redefine how we source raw materials for our products, allowing […]
Immuno-oncology combination for melanoma using Nektar drug boosts cell therapy in mice
TFT-admin | January 31, 2020
Therapies that entail removing immune cells from patients and engineering them to recognize and fight cancer have revolutionized the treatment of some blood cancers, but they’ve proven difficult to translate to other […]
Roche dumps antisense hep B drug after bagging rival asset
TFT-admin | January 30, 2020
Roche has dropped an antisense hepatitis B drug shortly after licensing a rival therapy from Dicerna Pharmaceuticals. RG6004 fell off Roche’s pipeline as part of a periodic cull that affected a handful of other experimental programs.
Synthetic locked nucleic acid modified antisense oligonucleotide RG6004 moved into the clinic early in 2017, opening […]
More than half of clinical trials still hidden from public view: report
TFT-admin | January 30, 2020
A new report out of the U.K. has spotlighted the continuing opacity of clinical trial reporting, with nearly 60% of more than 4,200 studies not showing results within a year, as mandated by new rules in the U.S.
Researchers from the University of Oxford led by transparency […]
Racing Blueprint, Lilly drug gets priority review for RET hopeful
TFT-admin | January 29, 2020
The FDA has granted a priority review to Eli Lilly’s selpercatinib, setting the stage for a third-quarter decision on whether to approve the RET inhibitor. Lilly based its filing on a phase 1/2 trial that linked selpercatinib to objective response rates (ORRs) of over 50% in heavily pretreated…
Monitoring emerging coronaviruses with next-generation sequencing
TFT-admin | January 29, 2020
Coronaviruses can cause fatal respiratory illnesses, and they are the culprits behind several outbreaks, including the current one ravaging China. An international team of scientists is suggesting that next-generation sequencing (NGS) be used to track the 2019 […]
Pfizer cans early-stage trials for cancer, sickle cell targets
TFT-admin | January 28, 2020
As Pfizer posts its full-year financials today, as usual it’s also sneaked in several dropped projects from its pipeline.
A few years back, Pfizer pretty much canned its entire neuro pipeline, but today the ax isn’t quite so red with blood. There’s a load of trials with its Merck-partnered Bavencio cancer drug that have […]
Adrangi mounts short attack on ‘worthless’ drugs of Sanofi ally
TFT-admin | January 28, 2020
Sahm Adrangi’s Kerrisdale Capital has trained its sights on Principia Biopharma, arguing the pipeline of the Sanofi partner is “worthless.” The short seller thinks Principia’s approach to the treatment of autoimmune diseases is “misguided” and likely to lead to clinical […]
Parkinson’s discovery could yield new treatment strategy for young onset patients
TFT-admin | January 27, 2020
The protein alpha-synuclein is a major culprit in Parkinson’s disease because it misfolds and clumps up in the brain, causing cells that produce needed dopamine to die. In up to 10% of Parkinson’s patients, the symptoms strike before age 50, and researchers at Cedars […]
GSK hands TB vaccine to Gates Foundation’s nonprofit biotech
TFT-admin | January 27, 2020
GlaxoSmithKline has licensed a tuberculosis vaccine to the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute. The deal sets the stage for a push to build on recent phase 2b data and make the vaccine available in low-income countries where TB is prevalent.
The vaccine […]