This week in pharma… 16th December

In this week’s news, Quotient Sciences announce a manufacturing and clinical testing partnership, Micro-Sphere launches R&D services, and more.

Quotient Sciences announce an integrated manufacturing and clinical testing partnership for Emplicure’s first clinical pharmacokinetic study for EMPLI03.

Micro-Sphere launches R&D services at Swiss site. The new department will specialize in particle engineering to offer reliable techniques at lab scale and deliver clinical product in gram-scale.

Novartis prostate cancer drug succeeds in study key to company’s sales hopes. The positive results for the radiopharmaceutical drug Pluvicto could help Novartis secure approval for earlier use for a broader group of patients with a kind of metastatic prostate cancer.

DNA that was frozen for 2 million years has been sequenced. The ancient DNA fragments come from a Greenland ecosystem where mastodons roamed among flowering plants. It may hold clues to how to survive a warming climate.

Improving the delivery of gene therapy for neurological disorders. Scientists now employ directed evolution of AAVs to escort gene therapies across the highly selective barrier to treat neurological diseases. 

Also in the news

Positive Moderna, Merck cancer vaccine data advances mRNA promise and shares rise. 

An experimental cancer vaccine from Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) based on the messenger RNA (MRNA) technology used in successful COVID-19 vaccines has been shown to work against melanoma, sending Moderna shares more than 20% higher and driving up of other biotechs working on similar treatments.

CDMO trends

CordenPharma joins global science initiative SBTi and announces commitment to ambitious reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in alignment with the Paris agreement.

Kindeva Drug Delivery and Meridian Medical Technologies announced today the completion of the transaction to combine the two companies. The combination has created a leading global CDMO focused on drug-device combination products. The combination will operate under the Kindeva name, with Meridian operating as, ‘Meridian Medical Technologies, a Kindeva Company’.

Another $65 million is music to the ears of the team at August Bioservices, a contract manufacturer in Nashville. The company announced the Series B round last week, which will fund equipment in a new building expected to open in 2023, according to CEO Jenn Adams.