Roche’s Tamiflu successor on target in phase 3 trial

pharmaphorum | July 04, 2019

A trial of Roche’s successor to flu medicine Tamiflu has met its goal in a phase 3 trial, with results showing that the new drug Xofluza is well tolerated in children with the flu. Roche’s Genentech unit said the MINISTONE-2 study also showed Xofluza is comparable with Tamiflu (oseltamivir) in terms of efficacy, the drug that Xofluza is designed to replace. The idea behind Xofluza (baloxavir marboxil) is to replace Tamiflu’s once-daily dosing regimen with a single dose that helps the body to fight the viral infection. Safety and efficacy of Xofluza in children with the flu under the age of one is also being studied in the global phase 3 MINISTONE-1 study. The FDA approved Xofluza last October in adults with uncomplicated flu in people aged 12 years of age and older. This latest study in part of a strategy to expand the drug’s use to include younger children and Roche has already filed a dossier with the FDA asking for an expanded label in people at high risk of complications from the flu. The safety and efficacy of Xofluza in children with the flu under the age of one is also being studied in the global phase 3 MINISTONE-1 study. Although Xofluza was hailed as one of the first novel flu antiviral drugs in almost 20 years at the time of approval, it faces significant competition from generics of Tamiflu. While Xofluza costs as much as $165, generic Tamiflu costs around $50 and it remains to be seen whether doctors and patients think the new drug’s benefits and dosing schedule justify the higher price tag. Xofluza was discovered by Japan’s Shionogi and the two companies are collaborating on development and marketing. Under the terms of this agreement, Roche holds worldwide rights to Xofluza excluding Japan and Taiwan, which will be retained exclusively by Shionogi.

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Merck & Co, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, is a global pharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover, develop and provide innovative products and services that save and improve lives around the world.

Spotlight

Merck & Co, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, is a global pharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover, develop and provide innovative products and services that save and improve lives around the world.

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PathAI Announces PathExplore, an AI-powered Pathology Panel to Unlock Untapped Insights from the Tumor Microenvironment

Prnewswire | April 05, 2023

PathAI, a global leader in AI-powered pathology, announced the launch of PathExplore™, the world's first structured, standardized and scalable panel of human interpretable features (HIFs) offering unprecedented resolution of the tumor microenvironment (TME) from H&E whole-slide images. Powered by artificial intelligence, PathExplore1 spatially characterizes the TME with single-cell resolution, giving oncology drug developers the ability to unlock insights to inform the next phase of targeted oncology drug development. The last decade has seen significant strides in oncology therapeutic development, but challenges remain – many cancer patients do not respond to available treatment, and many aren't eligible for potentially transformative therapies because of a lack of actionable insight into their disease. Researchers are looking to the tumor microenvironment, one of the most promising areas of oncology research, for answers and insights that will impact patient outcomes. "PathExplore will enable researchers to identify novel spatial signatures predictive of outcomes," said Andy Beck, M.D., Ph.D., chief executive officer and co-founder of PathAI. "We're hopeful that by giving oncology drug developers access to this level of detail and data from routine H&E samples, this next generation of pathology will drive advances in cancer therapy development." Current technologies to measure and analyze the TME force researchers to make tradeoffs between resolution and scalability. Now with PathExplore, drug developers will have the ability to analyze the TME with deep resolution using a scalable platform that can be deployed on massive numbers of patient samples. PathExplore produces a panel of more than 600 quantitative HIFs: standardized and reproducible measures of counts, densities, areas and spatial relationships across cell types and tissue regions. PathExplore also generates overlay visualizations of cell types and tissue regions, delivered on PathAI's AISight™ Translational Research platform. PathExplore has been trained using over 6.5 million pathologist annotations on 66,000 slides. It is currently available for breast cancer, colorectal cancer, gastric cancer, melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, and renal cell carcinoma, with more indications planned to launch later this year, including ovarian and bladder cancers. The standardized, structured quantification of the TME across disease areas will enable reproducible, comparable, and scalable analysis across drug programs. "PathExplore will shift the research paradigm, bypassing long standing constraints we experience with some of the existing multi-omics modalities and allowing for more open exploration and discovery of relationships that were not identifiable by human analysis alone," said Mike Montalto, PhD, chief scientific officer at PathAI. "The degree of granularity, speed, efficiency and scale delivers unmatched insights that will change the way we view the tumor microenvironment." PathAI's HIFs have been used in over 15 scientific abstracts, presentations, and publications. To learn more about PathExplore, visit www.PathExplore.com or visit us at booth 315 at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) April 14th-19th in Orlando, FL. About PathAI PathAI is the only AI-focused technology company to provide comprehensive precision pathology solutions from wet lab services to algorithm deployment for clinical trials and diagnostic use. Rigorously trained and validated with data from more than 15 million annotations, its AI-powered models can be leveraged to optimize the analysis of patient samples to improve diagnostic efficiency and accuracy, as well as to better gauge therapeutic efficacy and accelerate drug development for complex diseases.

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Framework Solutions Announces Acquisition of ONIX Life Sciences

Framework Solutions, LLC | March 02, 2023

On March 1, 2023, Framework Solutions, a leading clinical to commercial solutions provider, announced that it has acquired ONIX Life Sciences, a consultancy focused on regulatory operations services for the life sciences industry. The acquisition will enable both firms to expand their global reach and strengthen their service capabilities by providing clients with a broader range of critical services. ONIX's expertise in eCTD Submissions, Publishing, and eCTD Lifecycle Management has helped clients submit their regulatory documents to health authorities worldwide, including the FDA and EMA. ONIX, based in the United Kingdom, has successfully completed eCTD submissions for over 100 clients globally across North America, Europe, South America, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific regions. In addition, ONIX is proud of its accomplishment of never having an eCTD technical rejection and never missing a deadline since its inception in 2010. Frameworks, headquartered in Connecticut, received a growth investment from WestView Capital Partners in 2021 to develop end-to-end solutions for clinical and commercial-stage organizations in the life sciences industry. WestView Capital Partners, a Boston-based growth equity firm, focuses on investing in middle-market companies with a longstanding dedication to the life sciences services industry. The transaction terms between Framework Solutions and ONIX Life Sciences were not disclosed. Frameworks CEO Joe Walsh commented, "We are thrilled to welcome Jasbir and the ONIX team to Frameworks." He further emphasized, "ONIX has built an impeccable reputation in the industry and we are excited to bring Regulatory Operations services to our customers. We look forward to working with Jas as we continue to expand our suite of service offerings to best serve the clinical to commercial-stage needs of life sciences clients." (Source – PR Newswire) About Framework Solutions, LLC Framework Solutions is a leading clinical to commercial solutions provider to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with the aim of promoting customer success. The company provides both strategic and tactical solutions in various fields, including Regulatory Affairs, Medical Affairs, MLR, and Commercialization. These services are reinforced by the Technology Group, which delivers tech-enabled solutions and integrated enterprise help desk and infrastructure support. Over 100 clients, from emerging biotech to large pharma, have utilized its services. Its operation centers are located in Europe, North America, and Asia, allowing us to provide these services globally.

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Massive Bio and NeoGenomics Announce Collaboration to Accelerate Oncology Drug Discovery and Improve Patient Care

Businesswire | March 27, 2023

Massive Bio, Inc., a private AI-enabled oncology startup that provides virtual and in-person concierge services for cancer patients, and NeoGenomics, Inc. a leading provider of cancer-focused genetic testing services and global oncology contract research services, today announced a collaboration with the goal of accelerating the development of new cancer therapies and ultimately improving the lives of millions of cancer patients around the world. NeoGenomics will identify patients in real time who may be eligible for clinical trials based on biomarker status. Following initial contact and outreach provided directly from NeoGenomics to the treating physician, Massive Bio will help obtain patient consent and expediate additional screening and potential enrollment. This partnership will help to quickly identify patients eligible for clinical trials and help patients and providers make an informed decision regarding their potential treatment avenue. By combining their respective strengths in biomarker testing, data analysis, machine learning, and biomarker and genomic profiling, the collaboration between NeoGenomics and Massive Bio have achieved a significant milestone in the oncology industry. "Our mission at Massive Bio is to provide cancer patients with the best possible care and treatment options,” said Selin Kurnaz, PhD, CEO and co-founder of Massive Bio. “By partnering with NeoGenomics, a leading player in the cancer diagnostics industry that shares Massive Bio’s commitment to advancing cancer research and improving patient outcomes, we can leverage their expertise in oncology diagnostics to accelerate the identification of patients who may be eligible for clinical trials." “NeoGenomics’ advanced diagnostic tools and U.S. footprint, combined with Massive Bio's AI capabilities and concierge services in oncology, will enable us to match patients to clinical trials faster and more efficiently, resulting in improved outcomes and reduced costs,” said Vishal Sikri, President of the Advanced Diagnostics Division of NeoGenomics. “We are thrilled to partner with Massive Bio to advance precision medicine and improve the delivery of healthcare services to patients, pharmaceutical partners, and healthcare providers." Dr. Arturo Loaiza-Bonilla, MD, co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of Massive Bio, added, "This collaboration between NeoGenomics and Massive Bio will enable us to provide patients with personalized care and support throughout their cancer journey, and move the needle forward in precision oncology and research." AboutMassive Bio Massive Bio empowers cancer patients to find their best treatment options, using artificial intelligence to improve equitable access and precision targeting for clinical trial matching, drug matching, and drug development. Massive Bio combines its best-in-class AI platform with technology-enabled services to remove barriers in clinical trial enrollment, value-based oncology decisions, and data-driven cancer treatment. The company serves more than two dozen pharmaceutical companies, contract research organizations, and hospital networks, and has been awarded an SBIR contract by the National Cancer Institute. Massive Bio was founded in 2015 by clinical, technology, and M&A executives, and has a global presence with nearly 100 people in 12 countries.

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