Headed for the exit: Sanofi CEO Brandicourt to retire, Novartis' Hudson steps in

fiercepharma | June 07, 2019

On Sept. 1, Brandicourt will retire, and Hudson—who was formerly president of Novartis’ pharma business—will take the reins at the French drugmaker. The change in leadership comes after Sanofi in March confirmed it was working on succession planning for Brandicourt, who took the helm at Sanofi in April 2015. At the time, the CEO was two years away from his 65th birthday, and the company sets that age limit for its leaders. It also comes after several years of turmoil at the French drugmaker. As CEO, Brandicourt has grappled with a diabetes business torpedoed by pricing pressure and competition and a thin pipeline of new drug candidates. He quickly unveiled a restructuring plan to cut costs and jobs and focus on five business units. He also got to work scouting deals. After missing out on Medivation and Actelion, Sanofi last year inked buyouts of Ablynx and Bioverativ, boosting its rare disease presence. The company also swapped assets with Boehringer Ingelheim in 2016, sending away its animal health group in exchange for Boehringer’s consumer healthcare business. Despite those efforts, Sanofi was still struggling, as last year's numbers show. The company posted a sales decline in 2018 and cut its CEO’s pay by 25% to €7.28 million ($8.2 million), making his among the smallest compensation packages in Big Pharma. Sanofi has promising launches underway—including Dupixent—and believes it’ll grow sales in the future.

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Lecturers Dr Daniel Sykes and Dr Don Green and students Carola and Jesse, talk about studying a chemistry-based degree at London Met, what it's like to study in our state-of-the-art superlab, the support you'll get during your time here and where a chemistry-based degree from London Met can take you.

Spotlight

Lecturers Dr Daniel Sykes and Dr Don Green and students Carola and Jesse, talk about studying a chemistry-based degree at London Met, what it's like to study in our state-of-the-art superlab, the support you'll get during your time here and where a chemistry-based degree from London Met can take you.

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BUSINESS INSIGHTS, PHARMA TECH

USP Introduces Analytical R&D to Optimize Continuous Manufacturing Technologies

US Pharmacopeia | January 04, 2023

The United States Pharmacopeia (USP) has announced the launch of the USP Advanced Manufacturing Technology Lab in Richmond, Virginia, as a part of its launch of a suite of R&D analytical solutions. These analytical lab services will aid drug manufacturers in adopting advanced manufacturing technologies, such as pharmaceutical continuous manufacturing (PCM), to increase geographic diversity in pharmaceutical manufacturing and support medicine supply chain resilience. The new R&D analytical solutions will include analytical lab services that take advantage of USP's in-house scientific expertise and cutting-edge facilities at the USP Advanced Manufacturing Technology Lab in Richmond, as well as its headquarters in Rockville, Maryland. These capabilities will be utilized to characterize materials and qualify and develop ways to help ensure the quality of PCM-based medicines. PCM involves a continuous flow of materials through a process pipeline in which two or more unit operations are directly connected and the sequential transformation of those materials. As the input materials are fed in, the process output, such as an active pharmaceutical ingredient or drug product, is collected, and the complete procedure is carried out in a single facility. USP's emphasis on R&D analytical solutions and PCM-specific quality assessments is part of a broader set of activities aimed at addressing the problems of PCM adoption and bolstering pharmaceuticals' supply chain resilience. Consulting services provided by a USP company, Pharmatech Associates, Inc., can assist manufacturers with decision-making and problems associated with PCM adoption. Pharmatech Associates consulting services, which operate independently of USP's standards-setting processes, provide manufacturers interested in PCM and other advanced manufacturing technologies with technical, business, and regulatory strategies, workforce training, and equipment and process design. About The U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) USP is a non-profit, independent scientific organization that provides safe, high-quality pharmaceuticals. The organization has strived to establish confidence in the world's drugs, dietary supplements, and foods for more than two centuries. It protects patient safety and enhances global health via rigorous science and the establishment of public quality standards.

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BUSINESS INSIGHTS, PHARMA TECH

Koneksa Starts Trial Comparing At-home Mobile Spirometry to In-clinic Spirometry

Koneksa | January 18, 2023

On January 17, 2023, Koneksa, a healthcare technology company that develops evidence-based validated digital biomarkers, announced the beginning of a clinical study that will compare the treatment effect of at-home mobile spirometry using digital biomarkers versus in-clinic spirometry in patients who have moderate asthma and are receiving long-acting beta-agonist (LABA) treatment. The LEARN study is a single-arm interventional trial that compares the identification of treatment effects in people with moderate asthma using at-home mobile spirometry by utilizing an ultrasonic spirometer and a smartphone compared to in-clinic spirometry. Up to 60 people with mild, uncontrolled asthma who already use inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) will take part in the study. Besides, it will also cover those who need to take LABA medication for a six-week treatment period. In-clinic spirometry can be performed at home with the same or higher accuracy compared to in-clinic and potentially less strain on the patient. The study will analyze the LABA treatment impact in clinic and mobile spirometry along with assessing the association between different readouts of mobile spirometry, in addition to evaluating asthma control as determined by the ACQ-6, a patient-reported outcome questionnaire. Other goals include assessing patient and site-specific satisfaction with mobile spirometry technology. Chris Benko, CEO & Founder, Koneksa, stated, “This study builds on Koneksa's prior work demonstrating that mobile spirometry has the potential to detect clinically meaningful changes in very small cohorts of asthma patients on standard of care.” He further added, “The LEARN study will evaluate whether at-home mobile spirometry can detect treatment effects of a known positive control (LABA) in a significantly smaller population than would traditionally be assumed for an in-clinic proof-of-concept study.” (Source – Business Wire) About Koneksa Based out of New York, Koneksa is a patient-centric digital biomarker firm that develops end-to-end solutions for remotely obtained clinical data to expedite clinical research and guide decision-making in drug development and market strategy for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. It seeks to revolutionize effect detection in clinical research by providing integrated solutions for efficient trial designs that yield more meaningful data. Its evidence-based biomarker solutions allow for more efficient clinical trial designs, allowing novel medicines to reach patients sooner.

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KSQ Announces ONO’s Acquisition of Multiple Research-stage Oncology Programs

KSQ Therapeutics | January 30, 2023

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