Biologic Drugs

The agency has approved a biologic-based new molecular entity for treating hemophilia A and has expanded the indication for a leukemia drug to now treat a common form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

As part of the deal, J&J’s Janssen will pay an upfront payment of $50 million to research, develop, and commercialize up to six bispecific antibodies.

The company’s new modules offer scalable single-pass diafiltration and were exclusively showcased during its Leadership Forum series in Westborough, MA.

The use of therapeutic vaccines presents a new way to manage diseases, such as cancer and sexually transmitted diseases.

Company completes first successful run of what is believed to be the largest synthesis-scale done for oligonucleotide APIs.

The companies have established a joint laboratory to develop full continuous processing to manufacture high yields of monoclonal antibodies at reduced costs.

The EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has recommended marketing authorization approval for AstraZeneca’s benralizumab, a monoclonal antibody for treating severe asthma.

The company expects to commercially launch the new vaccine in the US in the first quarter of 2018.

CDMO Celonic acquired a biomanufacturing facility in Heidelberg, Germany from Glycotope.

The companies will collaborate to develop and manufacture Grid’s lead therapeutic candidate for the treatment of solid tumors.

AbbVie will pay a $205-million upfront payment and have the option to develop and commercialize two antibody targets globally.

The new BioLive event, which will be a global hub for biopharmaceutical manufacturing, will launch alongside CPhI Worldwide 2018 in Madrid.

ABEC, an equipment and engineering company, will provide a custom-made, single-use bioreactor to custom manufacturing firm, Emergent, for its Maryland manufacturing facility.

The biopharmaceutical company has received a $4.2-million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to invest in the development of new treatments for Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli infections, a bacterial cause of diarrhea in the developing world.

The $72-million investment, part of a larger $850-million investment into its US operations, will allow the drugmaker to replace an outdated insulin vial-filling line and to upgrade technology at its Indianapolis manufacturing plant.

This approval marks the second gene therapy to be approved by FDA and the first to be approved for certain types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

The companies aim to use CureVac’s proprietary messenger RNA technology to develop and commercialize up to five potential cancer vaccine products.

Stelara (ustekinumab), already approved for treating adults, is now also approved for treating adolescents with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.

The vaccine is a non-live, recombinant subunit vaccine that combines an antigen and an adjuvant system to trigger a targeted and long-lasting immune response to the shingle-causing virus.

The company announced plans to expand its viral vector process development facilities in the United States and its cleanroom facilities in the Netherlands for vector-based products.

Samsung BioLogics’ second facility adds 152,000 L of mAb drug substance capacity.

The committee has voted unanimously to approve Spark Therapeutics’ gene therapy candidate, Luxturna (voretigene neparvovec), for treating a genetically inherited blindness.

The companies have entered into a strategic collaboration to establish a new cell therapy and regenerative medicine manufacturing platform, which includes a new manufacturing facility in Belgium.

Amgen is seeking approval for an additional indication in glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis for its blockbuster osteoporosis therapeutic, Prolia.

AstraZeneca is seeking approval for its anti-cancer monoclonal antibody, Imfinzi, for treating non-small cell lung cancer in the European Union.

BARDA has entered a $12-million contract with biopharmaceutical firm Achaogen for the late-stage development of an antibiotic against resistant bacteria, and as a potential treatment for biowarfare agents.

Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Sciences Ireland UC will invest more than EUR 300 million (US$355 million) to expand manufacturing capacity for biologic medicines at its Ireland facility.

Under an agreement, ProBioGen will develop a stable cell-line for and manufacture an anti-cancer antibody for Chiome using its proprietary cancer cell-killing technology.

Tools aid scale-up and comparison of single-use and stainless-steel bioreactors.

Amgen will collaborate with China’s Simcere Pharmaceutical Group, a R&D-driven pharmaceutical company, to co-develop four biosimilars for the Chinese market.