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Today's Rundown

Featured Story

JPM: Sanofi pays $125M to take lead in new checkpoint inhibitor space

Sanofi is paying Biond Biologics $125 million upfront for global rights to a novel immune checkpoint inhibitor. The agreement gives Sanofi a near-clinical anti-ILT2 monoclonal antibody designed to turn the innate and adaptive immune systems against tumors.

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Thank you to Catalent for sponsoring this year's JPM 2021 coverage.

Top Stories

JPM: What does a virtual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference mean for the future of the meeting? Executives weigh in

This year's virtual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference could be a "reset" that changes the trajectory of the meeting and its attendant events. Biopharma executives and their colleagues in communications and PR weighed in on what that means for 2021 and beyond.

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JPM: Boehringer inks Enara deal to source 'dark antigens' for cancer immunotherapies

Boehringer Ingelheim has partnered with Enara Bio to discover novel shared antigens for its growing cancer vaccine and bispecific activities. The agreement positions Boehringer to access novel “dark antigens” discovered by Enara. 

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JPM: Novartis CMO Tsai on how the pandemic is changing the face of biopharma R&D, how pharma works

This time last year, the life science world descended into San Francisco for the 2020 J. P. Morgan healthcare conference, doing the normal things like blowing a whole year’s budget in one day for a hotel room, shaking hands, doing deals and, if you’re like us, asking questions.

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Pfizer invests $120M in 4 biotechs through new growth fund

Pfizer has made the first investments through its $500 million Pfizer Breakthrough Growth Initiative (PBGI). Homology Medicines received the biggest piece of the first tranche of PBGI funding, landing $60 million to support its work on treatments for rare genetic diseases. 

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Tessera Therapeutics scores $230M to ramp up 'gene writing' tech to cure disease

Move over, gene editing: There’s a new kid on the block. Tessera Therapeutics is pioneering “gene writing,” a kind of genetic medicine it hopes will surmount the limitations of gene editing and gene therapy—and investors have bet more than $230 million on the approach.

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JPM: Verve Therapeutics unveils its lead program—a one-and-done treatment for genetic high cholesterol

Verve Therapeutics debuted nearly two years ago with $58.5 million and a goal to bring one-and-done gene editing treatments to heart disease. Now, the company is marching toward the clinic with a treatment for a genetic form of high cholesterol. The treatment, VERVE-101, is a base editor, meaning it doesn’t cut DNA like CRISPR gene editing systems.

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Fierce JPM Week: Becoming a biotech CEO amid a global pandemic—a truly virtual biotech tale

The story of a top pharma exec leaving the industry and delving into biotech has always been a fascinating one, but Olema’s new chief, Sean Bohen, M.D., Ph.D., took on the challenge amid the worst pandemic in more than a century.

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JPM: Illumina inks multiple cancer diagnostic partnerships to complement upcoming Grail acquisition

Following its $8 billion pitch last year to acquire Grail and its upcoming multi-tumor blood test, Illumina is planning a deeper dive into cancer genomics with a slew of new biopharma development partnerships.

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Editor's Corner—8 things I won't miss about the Westin St. Francis as JPM goes virtual

As JPM goes virtual, there are a few things I definitely won’t miss—at all—about the experience, and most of them have to do with its longtime host venue, the Westin St. Francis.

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Novartis lays out $650M-plus for BeiGene's tislelizumab as its own PD-1 fails to impress

Novartis is way late to the PD-1/L1 game, and, after its own project flunked a late-stage study, the Swiss pharma figures it needs an external candidate as belt and braces. So it picked BeiGene’s PD-1 inhibitor tislelizumab, previously partnered with cancer heavyweight Celgene until its merger with Opdivo developer Bristol Myers Squibb.

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JPM, Day 2: Sanofi continues deal spree, Boehringer shines light on dark antigens and more

Welcome to Day 2 of the annual J. P. Morgan healthcare conference. Here's your need to know, as Sanofi as it again with a second deal in as many days, Novartis talks about the positives of the pandemic on its processes and Boehringer turns to the dark side.

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Resources

Webinar: Using SPOT™ & CHO-BC® During Cell Line Development for Titers up to 9 g/L

Innovative cell lines and early process development are critical to generate a high producing cell lines alongside a USP strategy to meet high quality standards.

Whitepaper: Success in Rare Diseases: Understanding the Rare Disease Ecosystem

Biopharma companies in rare diseases: How to maximize the odds of success by becoming a valued member of the unique “rare disease ecosystem.”

Content Hub: Emerging Biotech Resource Center

A one-stop hub for Cytiva resources to support process development and manufacturing of your novel molecule

Whitepaper: Accelerate innovation and manufacturing to better serve patients

A significant number of new treatments have been approved so far, but some manufacturing and regulatory guidelines pose challenges for advanced therapies, leading to poor production yields.

Survey: Cell and Gene Clinical Supply Needs Market Research Survey

Cell and gene therapies hold the promise to offer novel therapeutic avenues for individuals facing serious medical conditions, but bringing them through the clinical trial process introduces a level of supply chain risk and complexity.

Whitepaper: Gene and Cell Therapy: A New Age of Medicine

Gene and cell therapy are shifting paradigms for manufacturers, patients, healthcare providers and pharmacies. We invite you to learn more by reading Gene and Cell Therapy: A New Age of Medicine.

Executive Summary: Manufacturing Strategies to Effectively Industrialize Autologous Cell Therapies

Autologous cell therapies have seen propelled growth since 2017, with the spotlight on the first FDA approval of a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell immunotherapy, Kymriah® (tisagenlecleucel), for the treatment of relapsed/refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Infographic: 6 Ways Phenotypic Data Improves Decision-Making in Your Drug Development Program

Learn six ways metabolomics provides greater confidence, higher success rates and complements the work of your in-house teams for your drug development pipeline.

Whitepaper: The Future of Pharmacovigilance

Download the whitepaper to learn how your safety organization can implement automation technologies to enable process and cost efficiencies, improve resource allocation and ensure compliance and quality.

Whitepaper: Survey Reveals Demand for Clinical Trial Innovation in the Wake of COVID-19

The BBK Worldwide Study Voices 2020 survey gives voice to the healthcare consumer in the wake of COVID-19 and reveals important insights for clinical trial enrollment and engagement.

Research: Premier Research Resource Hub

Browse the latest learnings and insights from our clinical development professionals.

Infographic: Reducing Time to Clinic for Your Biomedical Applications

This infographic describes the benefits of GelMA in various biomedical applications and how X-Pure® GelMA can help you in your developments.

Whitepaper: Gene and Cell Therapy: Planning for Manufacturing Success Early

Gene and cell therapy organizations are asked to balance the need for rapid clinical progression and stringent quality expectations throughout development. In this document, Aldevron provides an in-depth look at preparing for plasmid manufacturing based on our years of experience.

Whitepaper: Companies Need An Effective Remote Workforce Cloud Strategy To Survive

A sound Cloud Strategy provides the flexibility and tools businesses need to quickly adapt and operate securely in an ever-changing remote work environment. Learn how your company can cost-effectively empower its employees to be productive and secure while working remotely.

eBrief: Drug Product Process Development: Ensuring a Consistent, High-quality Biologic

Learn about drug product process development challenges and risks, the difference between innovator and biosimilar drug product process development, and more during the drug product process development phase.

Q&A: Planning Successful Launches

Learn about proven strategies for a successful product launch, including cross-functional team collaboration, risk management and using the right project management tools.

eBook: CMC Considerations for Successful Early Drug Development

This eBook provides insights on key approaches and considerations for preparing your drug development program for long-term success.

Webinar: Phase Appropriate Expertise and Technologies to Accelerate Product Development to Commercialization

In this webinar, pharmaceutical scientists present real-life examples of challenges they’ve overcome in the transfer of oral small molecules from a dedicated early-phase development site to a dedicated late-phase manufacturing site.

Whitepaper: Why Your Business Needs a Ransomware Strategy To Avoid Being Hacked!

Cybercriminals Are Actively Exploiting The Coronavirus Pandemic To Gain Entry To Enterprise Networks. Don’t Let Your Company Become The Next Ransomware Headline -- Make These Changes Now!

Whitepaper: Achieving a Successful Drug Product Technology Transfer

Get insights on key considerations for a successful tech transfer process for manufacturing a biologic drug product, including a case study on overcoming challenges in a process transfer for a sterile diluent.

Whitepaper: The Art of Recognizing Clinical Supply Risk Factors

In a BioPharma Dive industry survey, planning and forecasting were identified as top concerns for trial sponsors. In response to this need, the CSM team at Catalent has developed a methodology for identifying, evaluating, and proactively managing the inherent risks involved in clinical trial supply chain management.

Case Study: Establishing Parameters for Success

Learn about a real-world example of how clinical supply management expertise was applied to overcome inventory challenges for a complex, global study.

Fact Sheet: Forecasting to Optimize Clinical Trial Supply Management

Whether a study is simple or highly complex, forecasting and simulation reports serve as data driven communication tools to help minimize risks and keep the study on track. Learn more about forecasting solutions for informed decision making and supporting contingency planning for clinical study.

eBook: Expecting the Unexpected: Strategies for Efficient Clinical Supply Management and Forecasting

Learn how to drive excellence within the forecasting process and utilize forecasting throughout the clinical study to better plan clinical supply budgets and project timelines. Explore how to identify potential supply-related issues before they can negatively impact your study.

Events