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Today's Rundown

Featured Story

Moderna abandons mid-stage mRNA cancer asset in favor of similar triple-attack candidate

Moderna has ditched a phase 2 asset in development for solid tumors, lymphoma and ovarian cancer to instead focus on a similar therapy that could put up a triple attack. The biotech, of COVID-19 vaccine fame, revealed in a second-quarter earnings release that the standalone OX40L candidate mRNA-2416 will be shelved in favor of mRNA-2752.

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Top Stories

Inspector general review of FDA's quick approval process won't take the accelerated pathway

As it goes with the federal government, the Office of the Inspector General said Wednesday it will review the FDA's accelerated approval pathway following a bevy of concerns regarding the agency's controversial green light to Biogen's Alzheimer's disease drug Aduhelm. 

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Bayer bets $1.5B that Vividion will help it target the 'undruggable' and make 1+1=3

Bayer's newly installed head of pharma R&D said it hasn't "delivered enough for patients yet," so the German Big Pharma is adding to its acquisitions of BlueRock and AskBio with the $1.5 billion purchase of Vividion Therapeutics, which earlier this summer contemplated going public.

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Valneva, racing Merck for a priority review voucher, exceeds protection goal in phase 3 chikungunya vaccine trial

A phase 3 trial of Valneva’s chikungunya vaccine candidate has induced protection in 98.5% of participants, hitting the trial's main goal and cementing the biotech’s lead over Merck in the race to develop a product to prevent the viral disease. 

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PepGen raises $113M to challenge Sarepta in DMD, build neuromuscular and neurologic pipeline

PepGen has raised $112.5 million to take a treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy into the clinic early next year. The crossover round positions PepGen to start showing if its technique for getting more oligonucleotides into cells can improve on the efficacy of Sarepta’s Exondys 51.

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Gilead's Kite signs second blood cancer pact, this time with Appia Bio for up to $875M

Gilead's Kite is helping Appia Bio fly a little higher with a blood cancer research and development deal that could be worth $875 million if the wind blows in the right direction. The Culver City, California-based biotech will lead preclinical and early clinical research on two off-the-shelf cell therapies.

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How a century-old tuberculosis vaccine may help fight severe COVID-19

A research group in India has found that the century-old tuberculosis vaccine BCG may have potential for controlling severe COVID-19 in elderly patients by reducing blood levels of proinflammatory cytokines. It's not the first time scientists have proposed repurposing BCG in other diseases.

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WCG Clinical postpones massive IPO that sought $720M raise

WCG Clinical had hoped for $720 million in proceeds from its Thursday debut on the Nasdaq. The nine-year-old company instead chose to postpone its initial public offering.

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Synthetic biology outfit Zymergen sees fledgling stock tumble amid CEO departure, product delays

Just months after going public through a $500 million IPO, the company disclosed severe setbacks in its commercial pipeline, erasing its chances of making money this year and projecting “product revenue to be immaterial in 2022.”

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How's Amgen's key KRAS launch looking? It's too early for meaningful sales, but expectations are riding high

It’s only been about two months since Amgen’s hot new KRAS inhibitor Lumakras won FDA approval, but it’s clear the drug is already shouldering big expectations. While the company didn't yet report sales for the new med, Amgen execs shared details about other metrics and said they're excited about the med's prospects.

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Thousands of patients were implanted with heart pumps that the FDA knew could be dangerous

Inspectors repeatedly found manufacturing and device quality problems with the HeartWare heart pump. But the FDA did not penalize the company, and patients had the device implanted on their hearts without knowing the facts.

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U.S. ranks last among 10 other countries in new study on healthcare systems

In a new international study, the U.S. ranked last in four of five categories studying equitable, affordable and good quality healthcare.

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Resources

eBook: Accelerate recruitment with a decentralized clinical trial strategy

Learn how a decentralized clinical trial strategy improves patient recruitment, reduces drop-out rates, and ultimately streamlines the path to the next trial phase.

Whitepaper: How to build a robust packaging strategy for rapid commercialization

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Whitepaper: Understanding the CMC regulatory landscape for cell and gene therapy products

Learn how regulations are changing and key considerations for commercializing cell and gene therapies without sacrificing quality.

Whitepaper: Navigating the Digital Transformation Journey

Uncover the real impact of “digital transformation” with practical advice to help you plan your own transformative journey to a harmonized digital ecosystem.

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.

Content Hub: Post-Marketing Safety Studies

Learn about key post-marketing safety study solutions, including registries and REMS, and how they can most effectively help meet regulatory requirements and maximize patient access.

Content Hub: Process Intensification Resource Center

A one-stop hub for Cytiva resources to support process intesification

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. 

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.

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