BioBusiness

Eli Lilly and Company and industry partners, including Ziath, are focused on speeding up the drug discovery process with a fully automated lab.

BioAgilytix, a US-based contract research laboratory focused on large-molecule drug development, has agreed to purchase 360biolabs, an Australia-based contract research organization specializing in virology and immunology.

AGC Biologics has broken ground on a new multipurpose facility in Copenhagen, Denmark, that will increase capacity.

NGM Biopharmaceuticals has disclosed a fourth antibody drug candidate, NGM831, for development into an oncology therapeutic.

Pfizer’s proposed $2.26-billion acquisition of Trillium Therapeutics will add next-generation hematology-targeted immuno-therapeutics to its oncology pipeline.

Lonza plans to establish drug product manufacturing capabilities at is site in Guangzhou, China, to produce clinical trial and commercial supply in the country.

Merck KGaA has partnered with Telix Pharmaceuticals to conduct combination clinical studies for cancer therapy.

The collaboration will focus on the interactions between WTX-124 indukine and KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab).

BlueAllele has been granted a US patent for its advanced gene-editing technology, PALIDON, which is compatible with existing gene editing nucleases and delivery systems.

Artiva Biotherapeutics’s new R&D and GMP manufacturing center in San Diego, Calif., for NK cell therapies is expected to open in 2022.

Lykan Bioscience and Vineti will combine their capabilities to streamline process development and manufacturing to move cell therapies through clinical phases to commercialization.

The President calls for granting Medicare authority to negotiate drug prices and penalties for pharma companies that raise prices faster than inflation.

A research team at the Keck Graduate Institute will work to adapt its decade-long low-cost vaccine R&D for developing countries into a COVID-19 vaccine.

A collaboration between Aldevron and Ginkgo Bioworks has resulted in a manufacturing enhancement that can improve production of an enzyme used for mRNA therapeutics.

Lonza and Sheba Medical Center have successfully dosed four patients with a CD19 autologous CAR-T cell therapy using Lonza’s Cocoon automated manufacturing platform.

AGC Biologics has acquired Novartis’ Longmont, Colorado, manufacturing facility for the commercial production of cell and gene therapies.

Novavax and European Commission have finalized an agreement to purchase up to 200 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

BeiGene plans to build a new campus for R&D and commercial-scale biopharmaceutical manufacturing in Hopewell, NJ.

Catalent finalizes their acquisition of iPSC developer and manufacturer RheinCell Therapeutics.

Syngene International appoints two US-based executives to senior level positions.

Nanoform and Boehringer Ingelheim have executed a master services agreement in relation to pre-clinical development projects.

A research collaboration will combine Imugene’s oncolytic virus technology with Celularity’s allogeneic CAR T-cell therapy.

FDA has accepted Genetech’s BLA for faricimab, a bispecific antibody in development for treating wet age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema.

The European Commission has entered into a supply agreement with GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology for up to 220,000 doses of sotrovimab, an investigational mAb for treating COVID-19.

Growing demand for bispecific antibodies increases the need for automated and miniaturized high throughput screening capabilities.

Entries are now open for the 18th Annual CPhI Pharma Awards in Milan.

VICO Therapeutics’ drug candidate, VO659, for treating Huntington’s Disease was granted orphan drug designation by FDA.

Byondis and Glycotope have formed an agreement to discover and develop antibodies that target specific glyco-epitopes.

Cytiva and Pall reinforce recent expansion efforts with a $1.5-billion dollar investment in new manufacturing facilities.

Samsung Biologics and Kineta have entered into a strategic partnership for drug product manufacturing services and to support an IND filing of a novel antibody therapeutic.