Novartis brings BeiGene’s promising checkpoint inhibitor into the fold, but what about highly touted spartalizumab?

Vas Narasimhan, Novartis CEO (Jason Alden/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

January 11, 2021 05:26 PM ESTUpdated 05:42 PM

Novartis brings BeiGene's promising checkpoint inhibitor into the fold, but what about highly touted spartalizumab?

Kyle Blankenship

Arriving on the Chinese market among a wave of PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors in late 2019, BeiGene’s tislelizumab has earned laurels for its outstanding data and broad pipeline. Now, Novartis has signed a deal to take BeiGene’s drug abroad in what could be seen as a snub for its own touted in-house PD-1 antibody.

Novartis will drop $650 million in upfront cash for commercial and co-development rights to most major markets outside of China for tislelizumab, a PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor that already sports marketing approval in China for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and metastatic urothelial carcinoma, the Swiss drugmaker said Monday.

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IDC: Life Sciences Firms Must Embrace Digital Transformation Now

James Allgood

Sr Product Marketing Manager, Life Sciences, Egnyte

Pre-pandemic, the life sciences industry had settled into a pattern. The average drug took 12 years and $2.9 billion to bring to market, and it was an acceptable mode of operations, according to Nimita Limaye, Research Vice President for Life Sciences R&D Strategy and Technology at IDC.

COVID-19 changed that, and served as a proof-of-concept for how technology can truly help life sciences companies succeed and grow, Limaye said. She recently spoke about industry trends at Egnyte’s Life Sciences Summit 2022. You should watch the entire session, free and on-demand, but here’s a brief recap of why she’s urging life sciences companies to embrace digital transformation.

Martin Landray, Protas CEO (Illustration: Assistant Editor Kathy Wong for Endpoints News)

August 18, 2022 10:00 AM EDT

R&D

In Focus

Those big billion-dollar PhIII studies? Martin Landray says they can be done for a tiny fraction of the cost

Martin Landray knows what controversy in clinical drug development feels like, from first-hand experience.

Landray was the chief architect of RECOVERY, a study that pitted a variety of drugs against Covid-19. And he offered some landmark data that would help push dexamethasone out into broader use as a cheap treatment, while helping ice hydroxy’s reputation as a clear misfire.

“Lots of people told us we shouldn’t use it,” Landray says about dexamethasone and Covid-19. “It was dangerous. We shouldn’t even do a trial. They also cared about hydroxychloroquine and lots of people said we shouldn’t do a trial because it must be used. I’ve got the letters from both sets of people.”

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August 17, 2022 01:45 PM EDTUpdated 3 hours ago

Cell/Gene Tx

FDA approves one of the priciest new treatments of all time — bluebird's gene therapy for beta thalassemia

Zachary Brennan

Senior Editor

The FDA on Wednesday approved the first gene therapy for a chronic condition — bluebird bio’s new Zynteglo (beti-cel) as a potentially curative treatment for those with transfusion-dependent thalassemia.

The thumbs-up from the FDA follows a unanimous adcomm vote in June, with outside experts pointing to extraordinary efficacy, with 89% of subjects with TDT who received beti-cel having achieved transfusion independence.

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Geoffrey Porges, new Schrödinger CFO

August 18, 2022 09:10 AM EDT

People

Longtime analyst Geoffrey Porges departs SVB to lead finances at a drug discovery shop

Kyle LaHucik

Associate Editor

Geoffrey Porges has ended his two-decade run as a biotech analyst, as the former SVB Securities vice chair began as CFO of Schrödinger on Thursday.

The long-running analyst, who previously headed up vaccines marketing at Merck before the turn of the millennium, will lead the financial operations of the 700-employee company as Schrödinger broadens its focus from a drug discovery partner to also building out an in-house pipeline, with clinical trial No. 1 set to begin next quarter.

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August 18, 2022 10:30 AM EDT

News Briefing

Astellas' hot flashes drug will get speedy review at FDA; US opts out of Valneva vaccine

Kyle LaHucik

Associate Editor

The FDA will decide on Astellas’ menopausal symptom drug by Feb. 22 of next year, as the Japanese pharma disclosed it had paid about $97 million to get a priority review voucher to speed up the review.

Astellas said the agency has accepted the pharma’s application for fezolinetant for the treatment of moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms (VMS) associated with menopause. VMS includes hot flashes and/or night sweats. The company said as many as 80% of women in the US experience those symptoms during or after the menopausal transition.

Etleva Kadilli, director of UNICEF’s supply division

August 17, 2022 01:47 PM EDT

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