top 10 news roundup

Pharmafile.com’s top 10 news stories of the week

pharmafile | March 12, 2021 | News story | Medical Communications COVID-19, covid 19 news, covid-19 news, news, news roundup, pharma news 

In the last week, a number of new treatment developments have made the news; for COVID-19, GSK and Vir’s monoclonal-antibody drug has been found to reduce deaths and hospitalisations by 85%, and Eli Lilly’s treatment combination has shown to be 87% effective in a Phase III trial. Elsewhere, the FDA has approved Roche’s Actemra/RoActemra therapy for rare lung disease, and ViiV has presented positive data for HIV treatment.

 1. GSK and Vir Biotechnology COVID-19 drug found to reduce deaths and hospitalisation by 85% – Published 11/03/21

Vir Biotechnology and GSK have announced that their monoclonal-antibody drug has been found to reduce hospitalisations or deaths from COVID-19 by 85%.

2. Roche voluntarily withdraws Tecentriq’s US bladder cancer indication – Published 08/03/21

Roche has announced that the company is voluntarily withdrawing the US indication for Tecentriq (atezolizumab) in prior-platinum treated metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC), also known as bladder cancer.

3. FDA approves Roche’s Actemra/RoActemra treatment for rare lung disease – Published 05/03/21

Roche’s Actemra/RoActemra therapy, intended for slowing the rate of decline in pulmonary function for adults with systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease, has been approved by the FDA.

4. ViiV presents positive long-term data for combined HIV treatment – Published 08/03/21

ViiV Healthcare has presented positive long-term data from its global Phase IIIb ATLAS-2M study of the first complete, long-acting regimen of cabotegravir and rilpivirine for the treatment of HIV.

5Lilly’s cancer drug Retsevmo gets UK approval for multiple indications – Published 10/03/21

The MHRA has granted conditional marketing authorisation for Eli Lilly’s Retsevmo (selpercatinib) as monotherapy for a number of cancer indications.

6. CytoDyn’s COVID-19 treatment shows positive results in Phase III trial Published 09/03/21

Biotechnology company CytoDyn has shown positive results in its Phase III CD12 trial of Vyrologix, its treatment for COVID-19 patients with severe or critical symptoms as a result of the illness.

7. Eli Lilly’s COVID-19 treatment combination 87% effective in Phase III trialPublished 11/03/21

Eli Lilly has shown positive results in its Phase III combination drug trial, which reduced hospitalisations and deaths related to COVID-19.

8. GSK to expand cell and gene therapy manufacturing capacity at CGT Catapult’s Stevenage site Published 11/03/21

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) will expand its clinical trial manufacturing capacity for advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMP) at Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult (CGT Catapult)’s facility in Stevenage, UK.

9. Novartis’ canakinumab fails to improve lung cancer survival in Phase III studyPublished 09/03/21

Novartis has announced that the Phase III CANOPY-2 study evaluating canakinumab, an inhibitor of interleukin-1beta (IL-1β), in combination with the chemotherapy agent docetaxel, did not meet its primary endpoint of overall survival.

10. Amgen to acquire Five Prime Therapeutics for approximately $1.9bnPublished 05/03/21

Amgen has announced it will acquire Five Prime Therapeutics for $38.00 per share in cash, representing an equity value of approximately $1.9 billion.

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