BUSINESS INSIGHTS
Nuventra, CATO SMS | May 27, 2021
CATO SMS, a global provider of regulatory and clinical research services, announced today the acquisition of Nuventra, Inc., to expand its offering into the critical area of clinical pharmacology. Nuventra, headquartered in Durham, North Carolina, is a leading company in clinical pharmacology science and services. The acquisition expands CATO SMS's portfolio of specialized solutions that help biopharmaceutical companies with drug development by providing a key set of skills targeted at significantly reducing development risk, costs, and timelines.
CATO SMS now provides customers cutting-edge clinical pharmacology services such as strategic consulting, pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics (PK/PD), pharmacometrics (population PK), and biosimulation. Nuventra is well-known for its track record of transforming complex data into meaningful insights for over 650 biopharmaceutical companies across a wide range of therapeutic areas. Its team of scientific experts and senior consultants use the most advanced mathematical modeling tools in the industry to inform clinical design and predict trial outcomes.
Nuventra's range of solutions include:
• pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (PK/PD), which describes the movement of drugs through the body from absorption to elimination (PK), as well as the body's biological response to drugs (PD) to determine optimal dosing paradigms, safety margins, and efficacy characteristics.
• population pharmacokinetics (popPK and popPK/PD), which studies the variability in drug concentrations among individuals in a group of interest receiving clinically relevant doses of a drug.
• clinical pharmacology strategic consulting, which includes overall and targeted clinical pharmacology strategy in support of marketing applications for drugs and biologics.
• physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK), which incorporates blood flow and tissue composition of organs to predict the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) of drugs.
• quantitative systems pharmacology (QSP), which models the interplay of the drug (dose, dosing regimen, etc.) with target biology, using computational systems to characterize the interaction between drugs, biological systems, and disease processes.
• model-informed drug development (MIDD), which uses modeling techniques to improve the decision-making process in drug development, thereby leading to clinical trial efficiencies and, in some cases, replacing trials altogether.
About Nuventra
Nuventra is the pharmaceutical industry's preferred provider of clinical pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacometrics consulting services. Nuventra provides pharmaceutical companies and contracts research organizations (CROs) with unique access to a hands-on team of industry-leading consultants with extensive experience in complex studies and analyses. By taking complex pharmacokinetic and pharmacometrics concepts and making them understandable and usable for common sense drug development, we embrace the notion that simplicity and clarity lead to smart decisions.
About CATO SMS
CATO SMS is a provider of specialized clinical research solutions formed in 2019 by the merger of Cato Research and SMS-oncology. CATO SMS, with over 30 years of professional experience focusing on the needs of small and emerging biopharmaceutical companies, effectively designs and executes studies from strategy to approval in complex indications and modalities throughout a wide range of therapeutic areas, with a proven center of excellence in oncology. The regulatory, therapeutic, and operational expertise of CATO SMS enables the company to meet and exceed expectations.
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PHARMACY MARKET
Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. | October 04, 2021
Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATRA) and Pierre Fabre today announced an exclusive commercialization agreement for tabelecleucel (tab-cel®) in Europe, Middle East, Africa, and other select emerging markets for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-positive cancers. Atara will retain full rights to tab-cel® in other major markets, including North America, Asia Pacific, and Latin America.
Under the terms of the agreement, Atara will receive an upfront payment of USD 45 million, and up to approximately USD 320 million in additional regulatory and sales milestone payments, plus significant double-digit tiered royalties as a percentage of net sales. Atara will continue to be responsible for the pivotal ALLELE study in PTLD as well as submitting the EU Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for tabelecleucel in patients with Epstein-Barr virus positive post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (EBV+ PTLD), which is on track for November 2021. Atara will also remain responsible for the Phase 2 multi-cohort study, which is evaluating tab-cel® in six additional patient populations with the goal of label expansion in EBV-driven cancers. Pierre Fabre will lead all commercialization and distribution activities in the territories, as well as medical and regulatory activities after the anticipated MAA approval in Europe. As part of the transaction, Atara will also provide manufacturing services for tab-cel® to be paid by Pierre Fabre.
Atara is a leader in T-cell immunotherapy, leveraging its first-in-kind allogeneic off-the-shelf EBV T-cell platform to develop transformative therapies for patients with cancer and autoimmune diseases. Tab-cel® is the Company’s lead candidate in development for EBV-positive cancers, including EBV+ PTLD, where it is currently being investigated in adults and children in the Phase 3 ALLELE study. Tab-cel® has been granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Priority Medicines (PRIME) designation by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Pierre Fabre is a science-driven company that brings significant commercialization expertise through its integrated Oncology Business Unit, its deep knowledge of Bone Marrow Transplant centers and a track record of successful launches through partnerships, Our Companies’ complementary capabilities will expand access to tab-cel®, a potentially transformative investigational allogeneic off-the-shelf T-cell immunotherapy, to patients worldwide who suffer from EBV+ PTLD and other EBV-driven cancers.
- Pascal Touchon, President and CEO of Atara.
Pierre Fabre enjoys a 35-year long experience in oncology covering innovation, development, manufacturing and commercialization. Its Medical Care division has declared oncology as its main R&D and commercial priority, focusing on targeted therapies, biotherapies, and immuno-oncology. Its therapeutic areas include high unmet medical needs and cover colorectal, breast, lung cancers, melanoma, and pre-cancerous conditions like actinic keratosis. The company has also developed a strong know-how in leveraging global partnerships with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, as demonstrated by several successful collaborations in oncology.
PJT Partners served as the exclusive financial advisor to Atara.
About Tabelecleucel
Tabelecleucel (tab-cel®) is an off-the-shelf, allogeneic T-cell immunotherapy in development for the treatment of Epstein-Barr virus-positive post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (EBV+ PTLD). EBV+ PTLD is a type of lymphoma (cancer) that may occur after a solid organ transplant (SOT) or allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT). There are currently no approved treatments indicated to treat PTLD and if left untreated, PTLD can have life-threatening consequences. Tab-cel® is currently being investigated in the Phase 3 ALLELE study to assess efficacy and safety for the treatment of EBV+ PTLD in SOT and HCT after failure of standard of care. Tab-cel® has been granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation for EBV+ PTLD following allogeneic HCT by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and PRIME designation by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for the same indication. Tab-cel® has orphan drug designation in the U.S. and EU.
About Pierre Fabre
Pierre Fabre is the 2nd largest dermo-cosmetics laboratory in the world, the 2nd largest private French pharmaceutical group and the market leader in France for products sold over the counter in pharmacies. Its portfolio ranges across several medical franchises and international brands, including Pierre Fabre Oncology, Pierre Fabre Dermatology, Eau Thermale Avène, Klorane, Ducray, René Furterer, A-Derma, Naturactive and Pierre Fabre Oral Care. In 2020, Pierre Fabre generated €2.3 billion in revenues, 65% of which came from international sales. Established in the South-West area of France since its creation, and manufacturing over 95% of its products in France, the Group employs some 10,000 people worldwide. Its products are distributed in about 130 countries. Pierre Fabre is 86%-owned by the Pierre Fabre Foundation, a government-recognized public-interest foundation, and secondarily by its own employees through an international employee stock ownership plan. In 2020, Ecocert Environment assessed the Group’s corporate social and environmental responsibility approach in accordance with the ISO 26000 sustainable development standard for the 2nd consecutive year and confirmed its “Excellence” level. For further information, please visit the Pierre Fabre website at www.pierre-fabre.com.
About Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc.
Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc. (@Atarabio) is a pioneer in T-cell immunotherapy leveraging its novel allogeneic EBV T-cell platform to develop transformative therapies for patients with serious diseases including solid tumors, hematologic cancers and autoimmune disease. With our lead program in Phase 3 clinical development, Atara is the most advanced allogeneic T-cell immunotherapy company and intends to rapidly deliver off-the-shelf treatments to patients with high unmet medical need. Our platform leverages the unique biology of EBV T cells and has the capability to treat a wide range of EBV-associated diseases, or other serious diseases through incorporation of engineered CARs (chimeric antigen receptors) or TCRs (T-cell receptors). Atara is applying this one platform to create a robust pipeline including: tab-cel® in Phase 3 development for Epstein-Barr virus-driven post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (EBV+ PTLD) and other EBV-driven diseases; ATA188, a T-cell immunotherapy targeting EBV antigens as a potential treatment for multiple sclerosis; and multiple next-generation chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) immunotherapies for both solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. Improving patients’ lives is our mission and we will never stop working to bring transformative therapies to those in need. Atara is headquartered in South San Francisco and our leading-edge research, development and manufacturing facility is based in Thousand Oaks, California.
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RESEARCH
Pfizer | December 03, 2020
The two organizations' BNT162b2 has become the primary COVID-19 immunization permitted in the Western world as medication controllers in the U.K. given out a crisis use approval on Wednesday, in front of choices by the U.S. also, Europe, which are normal soon.
For the more extensive immunization world, the Medicines and Healthcare items Regulatory Agency's choice methods the world currently has the principal mRNA shot approved for far reaching use, opening up a fresh out of the box new part for antibody advancement.
The principal portions will be conveyed to the U.K. quickly, the organizations said. A representative at the U.K's. Department of Health and Social Care said the antibody will be made accessible the nation over from one week from now. The U.K. has requested 40 million portions of the antibody—enough to immunize 20 million individuals—through an arrangement endorsed in July and extended in October.
"As we envision further approvals and endorsements, we are centered around moving with a similar degree of criticalness to securely flexibly an excellent immunization around the globe. With a great many individuals turning out to be tainted, each day matters in the aggregate competition to end this staggering pandemic," Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, Ph.D., said in an explanation, calling the U.K. gesture a "noteworthy second."
Pfizer has appointed COVID-19 antibody assembling to three destinations in the U.S. also, one in Belgium. BioNTech has offices in Mainz and Idar-Oberstein in Germany, which have been delivering dosages for clinical preliminaries. The German biotech as of late purchased a Novartis plant in Marburg, Germany, to quicken business assembling of the COVID-19 immunization. In general, the two organizations have said they can create up to 50 million dosages in 2020 and up to 1.3 billion portions in 2021.
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