Olivia Vizier

Why Companies Are Making Billions of COVID-19 Vaccine Doses That May Not Work

Fauci is “cautiously optimistic” that with multiple vaccine candidates being developed using different platforms, we’ll eventually have an effective COVID-19 vaccine. However, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, CEO of biotech companies ImmunityBio and NantKwest, says the big question is the duration of immunity produced by a vaccine.

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Interim analysis indicates Auxora™ is effective in severe COVID-19 pneumonia patients

CalciMedica Inc. revealed that, in combination with low-flow oxygen therapy, Auxora reduced the proportion of patients put on ventilators by over 50 percent compared to the SOC group and improved recovery time to less than half that of the SOC patients. The open-label study consists of 26 patients enrolled while on low-flow oxygen and randomised 2:1

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Immuno-oncology Enterprises Entering COVID

The era of COVID-19 has brought on some exciting developments with the types of biopharmaceutical enterprises that are developing therapies and vaccines to treat the disease. Specifically, immuno-oncology enterprises are delving into the area, as their immunotherapies can also coincide with mechanisms of action that can also treat COVID. In this interview, Lori McDermott, VP,

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Data recommend RECCE 327

Australian drug developer Recce Pharmaceuticals has announced new data showing significant in-vivo antibacterial activity in mice treated with its lead compound RECCE 327 against Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the second most common sexually transmitted infection (STI). RECCE 327 is among a new class of synthetic antibiotics with broad-spectrum activity developed for the treatment of blood infections and sepsis derived from E. coli and S. aureus bacteria,

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Episode 5: Finding Funding In Volatile Times With Ben Zeskind

Ben Zeskind launched his biotech, Immuneering, in the throes of the Great Recession. The company earned a $20 million series A round to fund the development of its pipeline at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Along the way, it bootstrapped its way from bioinformatics company to fledgling biopharma. On this episode of The Business

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Operation Warp Speed selects billionaire scientist’s COVID-19 vaccine for monkey tests

The race for a COVID-19 vaccine has a dark horse entrant. Billionaire scientist and businessman Patrick Soon-Shiong announced in a 27 May investor call and press release that an experimental vaccine being developed by two of his companies is on the short list of 14 candidates being evaluated by Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s

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After Final Medicare LCD from Palmetto GBA, OncoCyte Pursues Private Coverage for NSCLC Stratification Test

Molecular diagnostics developer OncoCyte said it will step up its pursuit of coverage by private insurers for its DetermaRx™ non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) test, after receiving a final local coverage determination (LCD) from Palmetto GBA, the Medicare Administrative Contractor for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

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ASCO: Ziopharm’s IL-12 gene therapy boosts survival in hard-to-treat brain cancer

Radiation, chemotherapy and surgery don’t cut it against glioblastoma, an aggressive type of brain cancer that often recurs with a vengeance. Ziopharm is working on a “remote-controlled” gene therapy to buy these patients more time—and early data show it extended patients’ lives by more than a year.

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Why Listening to Patient Organizations is Key in Drug Development

As the biotech industry flourishes and therapies become more targeted and personalized, the need for drug developers to interact with patients is increasing as well. While patient organizations took a backseat in the past, they are continuously gaining importance in drug development today. Nowadays, talking with patient organizations has become paramount for successful drug development,

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Antifungal and Antiviral Conjugates Platforms Fighting Infectious Diseases with Jeff Stein Cidara Therapeutics

Jeff Stein, President and CEO, Cidara Therapeutics talks about  their antifungal platform rezafungin now in Phase 3 clinical development to address the needs of the vulnerable population of patients hospitalized for something else who get a life-threatening fungal infection in the hospital. Jeff also explains their Cloudbreak Antiviral Conjugates platform that is being used to

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ImmunityBio’s Promising Preclinical HIV Drug is Moving into Phase I Trials

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) management has come a long way, now making it possible for people with HIV to live longer, healthier lives. Antiretroviral therapy (ART), drugs that prevent HIV from replicating in your body, are largely to thank for that improvement. Despite ARTs ability to slow disease progression, it is not a cure.

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Vaccinex’s Cancer Research May Lead to Effective Treatment for Deadly Huntington’s Disease

Huntington’s disease (HD), also known as Huntington’s chorea, is an inherited genetic disorder that kills brain cells. The Huntington Disease Society of America describes the disease as “a fatal genetic disorder that causes the progressive breakdown of nerve cells in the brain.”

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Will Covid-19 Change the Face of Vaccine Development?

“Significant investment, in both time and money, is needed to advance a vaccine candidate to market,” Thomas Lingelbach, CEO of French vaccine developer Valneva, told me. “In addition to the extensive clinical trial recruitment and separate trials for children and infants, vaccine development takes between 10 to 15 years depending on the disease area and its complexity,

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How to launch a drug in a pandemic with Immunomedics

During the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the FDA has continued in its normal role of approving safe and effective drugs. But how do pharma companies go about bringing a new drug to market during the pandemic? Immunomedics’ chief commercial officer Brendan Delaney explains how his company has successfully facilitated the treatment of US patients with its

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Motus GI receives patent for Pure-Vu’s sensing, suction control

Motus GI has receiving a new United States Patent for the sensing technology and suction control on its Pure-Vu System, a device that fits onto the end of an endoscope to help with real-time cleansing during colonoscopy, according to a company press release. The Pure-Vu system uses pressurized water to loosen debris in the colon

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Bill Gates among investors as Cambridge Science Park-based Cerevance raises $45m to fight brain diseases

Bill Gates and GV have joined in a $45million Series B funding round for Cerevance, the pharmaceutical company with a Cambridge Science Park base. The company said it will use the money to continue identifying novel therapeutic targets for central nervous system diseases, such as Alzheimer’s.

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Ansun Seeks to Reprise Chinese Covid-19 Drug Trial Results in U.S.

When the coronavirus pandemic shook up Ansun Biopharma Inc.’s clinical-trial plans, company leaders knew they had to change course. San Diego-based Ansun, which has raised $185 million in venture capital since 2018, develops drugs for viral respiratory diseases. One medicine it is testing in late-stage clinical trials could help hospitalized adults with weakened immune systems

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Funding talks for Scottish production of potential Covid-19 vaccine

A specialty vaccine company is seeking grant funding to ramp up production of a potential inoculation against Covid-19 from its Scottish laboratory. French-headquartered Valneva is in discussions with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) after partnering with US-listed Dynavax to develop a vaccine candidate in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The project is currently

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