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Today's Rundown

Featured Story

Merck cans one COVID-19 drug, scraps a clinical trial of another

Merck has disclosed more setbacks to its COVID-19 strategy. Having already pulled out of vaccines, Merck has now stopped developing one medicine in hospitalized patients and given up completely on another drug in COVID-19.

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Top Stories

GSK vaccine R&D chief jumps ship to Viome amid COVID-19 vaccine setbacks

GlaxoSmithKline’s Emmanuel Hanon will depart as vaccines R&D chief to explore the microbiome at Viome after a year in which the pharmaceutical giant took a restrained approach to COVID-19 R&D.

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Tectonic Therapeutic banks $80M to shift GPCR drug discovery toward biologics

G-protein-coupled receptors are a popular drug target because they have a hand in numerous functions of the human body. Despite its popularity, this group of proteins remains largely untapped; small molecules aren’t the best way to engage many of them, and researchers have faced hurdles trying to discover other kinds of drugs against them. Tectonic Therapeutic is trying to change that.

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Sponsored: MyData-TRUST is becoming the undisputed world leader in Data Protection for Health Research

34.4% of worldwide data breaches come from the healthcare sector. Data Protection is no longer just a compliance issue, but a strategic topic. MyData-TRUST was created to support the sector.

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New name, new board, new focus: AltruBio relaunches with $63M series A

AltruBio would like to reintroduce itself. After shifting from oncology to immunology, swapping out the board and completing a name change, the biotech is relaunching with a $63 million Series A funding round.

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GSK stops Keytruda combo trials after ICOS drug falls short

GlaxoSmithKline has stopped two clinical trials of feladilimab in combination with Keytruda after an interim review. Other studies of the ICOS agonist are continuing, but the future of the program is now in doubt.

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Activist investor Elliott takes ‘significant’ stake in GlaxoSmithKline amid string of setbacks: report

Hedge fund Elliott Management, which has a history of agitating for change at troubled biopharma companies, has reportedly taken aim at GlaxoSmithKline. The move comes amid a major restructuring at GSK initiated by CEO Emma Walmsley and a series of pipeline setbacks that have concerned investors.

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Qlaris, armed with $25M round, pushes new glaucoma drug into clinic

Qlaris Bio is kicking off a phase 1/2 study of a treatment designed to lower episcleral venous pressure, and it recently raised $25 million to get the treatment, QLS-101, through development. The drug could become a new option for patients with glaucoma whose disease does not respond to current treatments and could be used in combination with other treatments for even better effects in other glaucoma patients.

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GeNeuro's experimental multiple sclerosis drug shows hints it may help treat COVID-19

Scientists have found the the envelope protein of the human endogenous retrovirus W could serve as a possible drug target in treating COVID-19. Swiss biotech GeNeuro is developing an antibody against that protein to treat multiple sclerosis, and now it aims to test the drug in COVID-19 clinical trials.

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UPDATED: Thermo Fisher reels in PPD for $17.4B as it looks to follow the LabCorp playbook

Thermo Fisher is spending a major $17.4 billion to buy out contract research organization PPD.

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Resources

Whitepaper: COVID-19 Survey report: The Lasting Impact on Outsourcing Decisions

How has COVID-19 impacted CRO/CDMO customer (dis)satisfaction and outsourcing decisions for pharma and biotech companies in 2021 and beyond?

Content Hub: Emerging Biotech Resource Center

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

Whitepaper: Top 5 Benefits of a Cloud ELN

Discover the benefits of a cloud-native ELN that delivers better performance, security, connectivity, total cost of ownership PLUS sub-second search results through even the largest data volumes.

Annual Report: Why do US pharma come to Russia for clinical trials.

Find out why more than 400 clinical trials annually are initiated in Russia by US and EU pharma in the free annual report by OCT Clinical.

Special Report: The Marketer’s Guide to Taking the Vaccine Viral

Access this guide for the latest insights into how marketers can use data, technology, and personalized messaging to build vaccine confidence and drive successful immunization efforts.

Content Hub: How to improve the virtual work you do every day

We enable virtual work — offering over-time sessions where participants are more focused, insights are more diverse and business goals are met.

Report: New research indicates an accelerated shift to decentralized clinical trials

New research indicates an accelerated adoption of decentralized clinical trials due to COVID-19.

Whitepaper: Roche to pick up GenMark Diagnostics in $1.8B infectious disease testing deal

Roche has inked a $1.8 billion, all-cash deal for GenMark Diagnostics, to acquire its molecular tests designed to screen patient samples for multiple infections simultaneously.

Content Hub: Remarque Systems Resource Hub

Remarque Systems consolidates data, then layers on visualization and automated metrics to generate consistent, actionable data insights in real-time. Click here for more info. 

Whitepaper: Overcoming the hurdles of Real-World Data Access through a federated global network

Those wishing to unlock RWD’s true value must have access to a variety of data sources/types and the technological capabilities to use the data to uncover meaningful insights.

Report: New research indicates an accelerated shift to decentralized clinical trials

New research indicates an accelerated adoption of decentralized clinical trials due to COVID-19.

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.

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.

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.

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