BUSINESS INSIGHTS, PHARMA TECH
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
Arrowhead and Amgen | December 21, 2022
Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced a $25M milestone payment from Amgen. This milestone was triggered by the first subject enrolled in Amgen’s Phase 3 trial of olpasiran. Arrowhead is further eligible to receive up to an additional $535 million in aggregate development, regulatory, and sales milestone payments from Amgen and Royalty Pharma plc.
“We are pleased with the great progress on the clinical development of olpasiran, which was developed using Arrowhead’s proprietary TRiMTM technology. This is an important milestone for the program and for Arrowhead, as this is the second TRiMTM-enabled candidate to enter Phase 3 studies. Importantly, as our pipeline continues to advance expeditiously, we anticipate multiple Arrowhead therapies will also reach Phase 3 trials over the coming year.”
Christopher Anzalone, Ph.D., Arrowhead’s president and CEO
Olpasiran is a small interfering RNA originally developed by Arrowhead using its proprietary Targeted RNAi Molecule, or TRiM, platform and licensed to Amgen in 2016. It is designed to lower levels of lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)), a genetically determined risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Phase 2 study results from the OCEAN(a)-DOSE study were presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2022, where olpasiran demonstrated a significant and sustained reduction in Lp(a) levels over 36 weeks. These data were simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine on November 6, 2022.
About Lp(a)
Lp(a) is genetically determined1-3 and a presumed independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Although an agreed upon threshold for elevated Lp(a) is not firmly established, approximately 20% of adults have Lp(a) >125 nmol/L (or approximately 50 mg/dL).1 Evidence has emerged from pathophysiological, epidemiologic, and genetic studies on the potential role of elevated Lp(a) in contributing to myocardial infarction, stroke, and peripheral arterial disease.3
About Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals
Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals develops medicines that treat intractable diseases by silencing the genes that cause them. Using a broad portfolio of RNA chemistries and efficient modes of delivery, Arrowhead therapies trigger the RNA interference mechanism to induce rapid, deep, and durable knockdown of target genes. RNA interference, or RNAi, is a mechanism present in living cells that inhibits the expression of a specific gene, thereby affecting the production of a specific protein. Arrowhead’s RNAi-based therapeutics leverage this natural pathway of gene silencing.
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BUSINESS INSIGHTS, PHARMACY MARKET
Innovation Pharmaceuticals Inc | November 29, 2022
BT BeaMedical Technologies a private company developing a next-generation laser-based platform for epilepsy and cancer surgery, has notified Innovation Pharmaceuticals that it has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance for its MANTA surgical laser family. The clearance is an important milestone for BeaMed in its development of an advanced laser technology with respect to shaping energy and matching it to patient specific anatomy, a novel concept that BeaMed is proving a reality. Innovation Pharmaceuticals made a strategic investment to acquire a minority stake in BeaMed in June 2022.
BeaMed is the inventor and developer of the StingRay Laser System a novel laser-based thermal ablation technology designed for treatment of previously inoperable cases of epilepsy and for improvement of outcomes and enablement of new treatment options for oncology procedures, including those treating brain, prostate, liver, breast, and lung cancers. The StingRay Laser System will utilize the MANTA laser family as its core energy generation devices coupled to new fiber optic technology, allowing a perfect match between the exact structure of tumors and epileptic focal points and the energy delivery, while protecting vital functional areas against thermal damage.
The MANTA surgical laser family was cleared by the FDA including five different wavelengths and soft tissue use in a very wide set of clinical specialties, including Neurosurgery, Spinal Surgery, Urology, Thoracic Surgery, Pulmonary Surgery, Gynecology, General Surgery, ENT/Head and Neck, Plastic Surgery, Orthopedics, Arthroscopy, Ophthalmology, Radiology, and Oral Surgery.
BeaMed expects to soon make requisite submissions to the FDA for clearance of its fiber optics for use in multiple medical indications.
“We are excited with the speed of progress BeaMed is making towards introduction of its new platform product with the potential to help millions of patients globally suffering from epilepsy and cancer in multiple specialties. The execution of this submission and the speed of clearance speaks volumes to the commercialization strategy and the exceptional capabilities of the regulatory team at BeaMed,”
Leo Ehrlich, Chief Executive Officer at Innovation Pharmaceuticals
“This is an exciting and important milestone for our company. This clearance gives us two key achievements. First, U.S. market access to a wide range of potential laser energy sources, each allowing us different and unique tissue interaction, an achievement which will have wide clinical implications. The second is a very wide set of intended uses covering many key potential markets for our technology. This underscores the clear regulatory strategy of BeaMed, which goes hand in hand with our broad impact business vision of revolutionizing key treatments, including brain tumors, epilepsy, lung cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer and more,” said Gil Shapira, co-founder of BeaMed.
BeaMed was founded by Moshe Eshkol and Gil Shapira, both highly experienced specialists in surgical lasers and medical devices. BeaMed and the development of the StingRay system are also supported by a special prestigious grant from the BIRD Foundation a bi-national organization supporting Israel-US collaboration. Gil Shapira brings forward 26+ years of engineering and product development and management experience, with over 17 years in the surgical laser industry. Gil owns and manages neoLaser, a company he founded in 2012, and led to revenue growth and profitability, with a 43% CAGR on its way to more than 1200 global installations and performing 50,000+ surgeries annually in over 30 countries. Previously, Gil led product development and marketing at OmniGuide, a successful high-growth laser-based medical device spin-off out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
About Innovation Pharmaceuticals
Innovation Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing a portfolio of innovative therapies addressing multiple areas of unmet medical need, including inflammatory diseases, cancer, and infectious diseases. The Company is also active in evaluating other potential investment opportunities that can add value and diversify its portfolio.
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