Biopharma News

Connected Services program will link cGMP-manufacturing services with supply chain technology management solution.

South Africa’s Biovac Institute, which develops and produces vaccines for the country, launched a public-private partnership with Pfizer to enable local manufacturing of Prevenar 13, a vaccine against pneumonia-causing bacteria.

At least 70 patents for Humira will protect the legacy product from biosimilar competitors, according to information presented during the company’s third-quarter earnings call.

The “next-generation” design for the pods will build on Pfizer’s existing modular prototype for oral solid-dose manufacturing.

ProBioGen plans to develop and scale-up production of a biosimilar to the mAb cancer drug trastuzumab and will transfer the commercial manufacturing process to Indonesia’s government-owned Bio Farma.

Univercells will integrate its single-use bioprocess with the Takeda vaccines production platform to allow local production.

Regeneron announced additional investments to its Limerick, Ireland biologics production facility.

Biogen, Sobi, and the World Federation of Hemophilia collaborated to enable a sustained humanitarian supply of hemophilia treatment to developing countries, and the first shipments have begun to arrive.

Cell Therapy Catapult will provide manufacturing scale-up services to enable Asterias’ future clinical trials and commercial supply for Asterias’ allogeneic dendritic cell immunotherapy, AST-VAC2.

Probiodrug has signed an agreement with Rentschler Biotechnologie GmbH for the development of PBD-C06, a pGlu-Abeta-specific monoclonal antibody, as treatment for patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

Merck Millipore’s collaboration with celares GmbH launches pegylation services for protein-based therapeutics.

Aging populations and increased access to healthcare translates into opportunities for biopharmaceutical companies. JLL’s 2015 Life Sciences Outlook report highlights global clusters worth watching.

The results from an international study on nivolumumab, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggest a paradigm shift in the standard of care for previously treated lung cancer patients.

Although the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) gave Blincyto a positive opinion, full approval of the drug in the EMA will rely on additional clinical studies.

Roche says its trial results validate the hypothesis that B lymphocytes are key targets in the mediation of the inflammatory damage characteristic of multiple sclerosis.

MedImmune and 3M Drug Delivery Systems collaborate to develop toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists for immuno-oncology.

ABP 215, an investigational biosimilar for Avastin, was shown to be as safe and effective as its branded counterpart in trials for the treatment of advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer.

The fully humanized monoclonal antibody is licensed to Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Under terms of the agreement, Amgen will license Xencor’s XmAb technology platform for five Amgen programs and one Xencor program.

Novovax’s investigational vaccine targeting respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) demonstrated clinical effectiveness in animal models.

Nexvet Biopharma, a veterinary biologics developer, secured a dedicated, cGMP biologics manufacturing facility in Tullamore, Ireland, and plans to invest in disposable technology.

Daiichi Sankyo signed an exclusive licensing agreement with clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Translational Sciences to develop and commercialize its novel thrombus (blood clot) dissolving agent, TS23.

According to AstraZeneca, the purchase of the biologics bulk plant will double the company's biologics manufacturing capacity in the US.

Aragen Bioscience has licensed ProteoNic Biotechnology’s 2G UNic recombinant protein production technology, which increases manufacturing efficiency and reduces cost of goods for recombinant biologicals.

The investigational monoclonal antibody targets interleukin-17 and is in clinical trials for the treatment of plaque psoriasis.

When should CMOs and their pharma clients share the details of their partnerships with outside parties?

The drug was the first PCSK9 inhibitor approved in Europe and the second approved in the US.

GSK announces plan to divest its rights in ofatumumab for auto-immune indications for up to $1 billion.