Oz Azam and Carl June
June 2, 2021 11:00 AM EDTUpdated June 3, 05:22 AM
R&D

Ex­clu­sive: Carl June’s Tmu­ni­ty en­coun­ters a lethal road­block as 2 pa­tient deaths de­rail lead tri­al, raise red flag forc­ing a re­think of CAR-T for sol­id tu­mors

John Carroll

Editor & Founder

The multifaceted campaign to create a CAR-T for solid tumors has run into a lethal problem.

In exclusive interviews, Tmunity founders Carl June and Oz Azam tell me that they have had to scrap their lead program for prostate cancer following the deaths of 2 patients earlier in the year — the last a little more than a month ago — after they experienced lethal bouts of neurotoxicity. What started as a voluntary halt by Tmunity in the face of these deaths flipped to an FDA-enforced red light for the clinical trial, while the biotech scrambled to rework its CAR-T design with a plan to get “version two” back into the clinic as soon as possible, with a new IND planned for the second half of the year.

Endpoints News

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Illustration: Assistant Editor Kathy Wong for Endpoints News
February 8, 2023 09:05 AM ESTUpdated 09:59 AM
Pharma
In Focus

How Pur­due's $272M ad­dic­tion pay­out fund­ed a new home for its dis­card­ed non-opi­oid re­search

Jared Whitlock

Features Editor

Don Kyle spent more than 20 years working for Purdue Pharma, right through the US opioid epidemic that led to the company’s rise and eventual infamy. But contrary to Purdue’s focus on OxyContin, Kyle was researching non-opioid painkillers — that is, until the company shelved his research.

As the company’s legal troubles mounted, Kyle found an unlikely way to reboot the project. In 2019, he took his work to an Oklahoma State University center that’s slated to receive more than two-thirds of the state’s $272 million settlement with Purdue over claims that the drugmaker’s behavior ignited the epidemic of opioid use and abuse.

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President Joe Biden at the State of the Union address with Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (Patrick Semansky/AP Images)
February 8, 2023 06:51 AM EST
Law

The drug pric­ing pres­i­dent: Biden warns of ve­to for any IRA re­peal at­tempts

Zachary Brennan

Senior Editor

President Joe Biden made clear in his “finish the job” State of the Union address last night that one of those jobs to be finished is insulin prices.

Biden’s push again to tackle insulin prices, after Republicans rebuffed the idea last summer and just after Biden won Medicare drug price negotiations/caps via the Inflation Reduction Act, shows how heavily he’s leaning into this work.

Rupert Vessey, Bristol Myers Squibb head of research and early development
February 6, 2023 09:00 AM ESTUpdated February 6, 10:54 PM
Bioregnum

Up­dat­ed: R&D tur­bu­lence at Bris­tol My­ers now in­cludes the end of a $650M al­liance and the de­par­ture of a top re­search cham­pi­on

This morning biotech Dragonfly put out word that Bristol Myers Squibb has handed back all rights to its IL-12 clinical-stage drug after spending $650 million to advance it into the clinic.

The news arrives amid a turbulent R&D stage for the pharma giant, which late last week highlighted Rupert Vessey’s decision to depart this summer as head of early-stage R&D following a crucial three-year stretch after he jumped to Bristol Myers in the big Celgene buyout. During that time he struck a series of deals for Bristol Myers, and also shepherded a number of Celgene programs down the pipeline, playing a major role for a lineup of biotechs which depended on him to champion their drugs.

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Bill Haney, Dragonfly CEO (Dave Pedley/Getty Images for SXSW)
February 7, 2023 06:35 AM ESTUpdated 07:39 AM
Deals
Bioregnum

Drag­on­fly chief: Bris­tol My­ers shouldn’t blame IL-12’s clin­i­cal per­for­mance for de­ci­sion to scrap the deal — eco­nom­ics played a key role

Bristol Myers Squibb says the IL-12 drug they were developing out of Dragonfly Therapeutics was scrubbed from the pipeline for a simple reason: It didn’t measure up on clinical performance.

But Bill Haney, the CEO of Dragonfly, is taking issue with that.

The early-stage drug, still in Phase I development, has passed muster with Bristol Myers’ general clinical expectations, advancing successfully while still in Phase I, he says.

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Utpal Koppikar, new Verily CFO
February 8, 2023 04:15 PM EST
People
Pharma

Ex­clu­sive: Ver­i­ly wel­comes Atara Bio­ther­a­peu­tics vet­er­an as new CFO

Nicole DeFeudis

Editor

Verily, Alphabet’s life sciences outfit, has plucked a new CFO from the ranks of Atara Biotherapeutics, the company announced on Wednesday.

Utpal Koppikar joins Verily after a nearly five-year stint as CFO and senior VP at Atara, though his résumé also boasts roles at Gilead and Amgen.

The news follows a major reshuffling at Verily, including several senior departures earlier this year and a round of layoffs.

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Singer Nick Jonas is back at work for Dexcom, this time for its new G7 glucose monitor.
February 8, 2023 03:36 PM EST
Pharma
Marketing

Dex­com's spokescelebri­ty Nick Jonas re­turns to Su­per Bowl in new glu­cose mon­i­tor com­mer­cial

Beth Snyder Bulik

Senior Editor

Dexcom is going back to the Super Bowl with its pop singer and patient spokesperson Nick Jonas. Jonas takes center stage as the lone figure in the 30-second commercial showcasing Dexcom’s next-generation G7 continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) device.

Jonas’ sleight-of-hand tricks populate the commercial — he pinches his empty fingers together and pops them open to reveal the small CGM — even as he ends the ad, saying, “It’s not magic. It just feels that way.” Jonas then disappears in a puff of smoke.

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Richard Francis, newly-appointed Teva CEO (Novartis via Facebook)
February 8, 2023 03:26 PM EST
Pharma

New Te­va CEO Richard Fran­cis repri­or­i­tizes to 'get back to growth'

Nicole DeFeudis

Editor

Six weeks into his new role at the helm of Teva Pharmaceutical, Richard Francis said it’s time to “get back to growth,” starting with a good look at the company’s priorities.

The chief executive has kicked off a strategic review, he announced during Teva’s quarterly call, which will continue over the next several months and produce results sometime in the middle of 2023. That means some pipeline cuts may be in store, he told Endpoints News, while declining to offer much more detail.

FDA Commissioner Robert Califf on Capitol Hill, Feb. 8, 2023 (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
February 8, 2023 02:49 PM EST
FDA+

FDA com­mis­sion­er floats ideas on how to bet­ter han­dle the pan­dem­ic

Zachary Brennan

Senior Editor

FDA Commissioner Rob Califf joined the heads of the CDC and NIH in the hot seat today before a key House subcommittee, explaining that there needs to be a much faster, more coordinated way to oversee vaccine safety, and that foreign biopharma inspections, halted for years due to the pandemic, are slowly ramping up again.

Califf, who stressed to the House Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Health that the CDC also needs better data, made clear that the FDA’s ability to monitor the safety of vaccines “would also benefit greatly by a coordinated federal public health data reporting authority.”

Sanofi is renewing its #VaccinesForDreams campaign with more stories, such as Juan's in Argentina (Sanofi)
February 8, 2023 02:45 PM EST
Pharma
Marketing

Sanofi re­news so­cial cam­paign to re­mind that vac­cines let peo­ple ‘Dream Big’

Beth Snyder Bulik

Senior Editor

Sanofi is highlighting people’s dreams — both big and small — to make the point that vaccines make them possible.

The renewed “Dream Big” global social media campaign’s newest dreamer is Juan, a teacher in the Misiones rainforest in Argentina whose story is told through videos on Instagram and Sanofi’s website with the hashtag #VaccinesForDreams.

The campaign ties to Sanofi’s broader umbrella initiative “Vaccine Stories” to promote the value of vaccines and drive awareness of the need for improved vaccination coverage.

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Ex­clu­sive: Carl June’s Tmu­ni­ty en­coun­ters a lethal road­block as 2 pa­tient deaths de­rail lead tri­al, raise red flag forc­ing a re­think of CAR-T for sol­id tu­mors

How Pur­due's $272M ad­dic­tion pay­out fund­ed a new home for its dis­card­ed non-opi­oid re­search

The drug pric­ing pres­i­dent: Biden warns of ve­to for any IRA re­peal at­tempts

Up­dat­ed: R&D tur­bu­lence at Bris­tol My­ers now in­cludes the end of a $650M al­liance and the de­par­ture of a top re­search cham­pi­on

Drag­on­fly chief: Bris­tol My­ers shouldn’t blame IL-12’s clin­i­cal per­for­mance for de­ci­sion to scrap the deal — eco­nom­ics played a key role

Ex­clu­sive: Ver­i­ly wel­comes Atara Bio­ther­a­peu­tics vet­er­an as new CFO

Dex­com's spokescelebri­ty Nick Jonas re­turns to Su­per Bowl in new glu­cose mon­i­tor com­mer­cial

New Te­va CEO Richard Fran­cis repri­or­i­tizes to 'get back to growth'

FDA com­mis­sion­er floats ideas on how to bet­ter han­dle the pan­dem­ic

Sanofi re­news so­cial cam­paign to re­mind that vac­cines let peo­ple ‘Dream Big’