Arcellx bets IPOs aren’t dead
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Today's Rundown

Featured Story

UCB races to regulators after $2.5B rare disease bet delivers data for attack on AstraZeneca and argenx

UCB’s $2.5 billion gamble on Ra Pharmaceuticals has yielded positive phase 3 data. With the rare disease clinical trial hitting its primary endpoint, UCB is preparing to file to join AstraZeneca and argenx in an increasingly congested space.

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Top Stories

Pfizer's $130M Lyme disease vaccine advances to phase 3 after 3rd shot shown to increase antibodies

Pfizer is taking its Valneva-partnered Lyme disease vaccine into phase 3. With midphase data supporting a three-dose series, the allies plan to kick off a phase 3 clinical trial of the regimen in the third quarter.

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Arcellx raises $124M in Wall Street debut to bankroll study of multiple myeloma CAR-T

Cell therapy biotech Arcellx raised $124 million in its Wall Street debut, at the low end of its proposed range, to bankroll a phase 2 CAR-T BCMA therapy trial in patients with multiple myeloma, expected to start by year's end. If the study is successful, the company hopes to file the cell therapy with the FDA for approval.

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Sponsored: Taking a Different Approach to Drug Development

Dive into the unique history of TD2 and learn how their approach to cancer drug development impacts clinical and partner success.

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Arrowhead ‘changing horses’ for ENaC pulmonary program as phase 1/2 asset shelved

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals is ditching a pulmonary drug after it failed to hit the mark in a phase 1/2 cystic fibrosis trial last year. But the biotech is filling up its quiver with at least two more prospects in the program as a replacement.

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Sponsored: Choose wisely. Biospecimens can make or break your biomarker-driven cancer research

Advances in cancer biomarker discovery, validation and clinical applications hinge on one critical resource: Quality biospecimens. Optimize and accelerate program success by sourcing and selecting the right samples.

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Unity once again lays off large number of staff, narrows focus to ophthalmology assets

Unity Biotechnology is laying off about half of its staff and focusing its pipeline only on ophthalmology assets so it can extend cash runway into early 2023 to bankroll multiple midstage eye disease trials this year. The California biotech laid off 30% of its workforce in fall 2020 after a previous blunder with a knee pain drug.

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Synaffix lines up $586M pact with MacroGenics en route to 'one-stop shop' for ADC tech

Add cancer-focused biotech MacroGenics to the list of biopharmas shoveling out cash for Synaffix's antibody-drug conjugate technology. The Maryland biotech will dish out up to $586 million for access to Synaffix's ADCs for three programs.

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In Roche's rosy pandemic scenario, it will take a $2B hit to COVID sales this year

Roche's COVID sales will be more than $2 billion lighter in 2022, execs said Thursday, but that assumes omicron burns out, vaccines keep working and immunity lasts for years. Reality may be quite different.

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Quest CEO Rusckowski to step down after a decade, following record-setting 2021

Rusckowski will be succeeded as president and CEO by James Davis, currently the executive vice president of the company’s general diagnostics business.

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Sanofi's Dupixent rolls on, but US flu shots took backseat to COVID-19 boosters in the fourth quarter

Sanofi reported a strong fourth quarter everywhere except in U.S. flu vaccine sales, where the company took a 48% sales hit. It blamed the slump on prioritization of COVID-19 boosters in November and December, and the company expects an influenza rebound in 2022.

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Labcorp launches online platform for ordering at-home tests, scheduling in-person appointments

Building on the success of its direct-to-consumer COVID-19 testing options, Labcorp is supplanting its Pixel brand with a new platform that allows it to sidestep healthcare provider middlemen and enable individuals to order their own diagnostic tests.

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Remote possibilities: United BioSource teams with Seqster to boost decentralized study offering

Decentralized trials are here to stay, says United BioSource, which has partnered with “patient centric” healthcare tech firm Seqster PDM to bolster its remote study business.

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From Amazon to New Balance, consumer brand execs bring 'outsider' perspective to healthcare

Wellforce recently appointed its first ever chief consumer officer. The move comes amid a rising trend in healthcare: executives sourced from outside the industry, and in particular from consumer brands, to lead innovation strategies.

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Fierce Pharma Asia—AstraZeneca China's fraud investigation; Women promoted at Takeda; Samsung buy of Biogen's stake in biosimilar JV

Employees at AstraZeneca China are under investigation for insurance fraud. Takeda has promoted several women to key positions. Samsung has bought out Biogen’s stake in its biosimilar-focused Samsung Bioepis joint venture for $2.3 billion. And more.

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Chutes & Ladders—Pfizer poaches Roche's early R&D leader Pao to replace development chief

Pfizer picks from Roche's executive team, snagging pharma early R&D leader William Pao as the Big Pharma's next chief development officer. Leo Pharma poaches from ... a Danish meme stock for its new CEO, who will lead a reorganization of the dermatology biopharma. And Sio Gene Therapies CEO Cheruvu is out the door as Parkinson's program also hits the exit.

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Resources

Whitepaper: The CNS Market: 2021 Year in Review & Outlook for 2022

What’s in store for the CNS therapeutics market in 2022? This paper looks ahead in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, DMD, psychiatric disorders, pain, and more.

Research: How Buffer Prep Services Alleviate Sudden Spikes in Campaign Volume

Learn how a CDMO partnered with Thermo Fisher Scientific to manage high-volume process liquid and buffer preparation scale-up. Download the free case study from Thermo Fisher Scientific

Whitepaper: QC for ex vivo manipulated cell lines and tissues

A variety of genetic analysis methods are valuable in ensuring that ex vivo human cells to be used for cell-based therapies are correctly identified, have the correct characteristics, and are free of contaminants.

Webinar: Using Next Best to Elevate your Omnichannel Marketing Strategy

Learn how to elevate your omnichannel marketing strategy with Next Best - a combination of data and analytics, deployed to facilitate decision making.

Webinar: The Faster Path From Pre-Filled Syringe to Auto-Injector

Ypsomed and Catalent Biologics experts discuss strategies for integrated PFS manufacturing and auto-injector assembly to accelerate timelines and more in this webinar.

Whitepaper: Formulation Strategies When Transitioning From Vial to PFS

Learn how formulation development for a PFS affects manufacturing to drive the industry toward optimizing delivery of injectable products and, ultimately, improving patient care.

Whitepaper: Enhance the cost-effectiveness of your cGMP chemical supply chain

Learn how to develop a high-performing supply chain for cGMP chemicals used throughout your biologics workflow. Download the free whitepaper from Thermo Fisher Scientific

eBook: Get solutions to market faster

Read Get to Know Cloud Content Management for Life Sciences and learn how to eliminate silos across all workflows, from R&D to commercialization.

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