Pharma News

A large analysis of health records from 87 health care centers across the United States found that people taking a class of antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), particularly fluoxetine, were significantly less likely to die of COVID-19 than a matched control group.

Zydus Cadila has received an order to supply one crore doses of ZyCoV-D, the world’s first Plasmid DNA Vaccine, to the Government of India at Rs. 265 per dose and the needle-free applicator being offered at Rs. 93 per dose, excluding GST. The pricing has been decided in consultation with the Government of India.

Zydus Cadila has received final approval from the USFDA to market Glycopyrrolate Injection in the strengths of 0.2 mg/mL and 0.4 mg/2 mL (0.2 mg/mL) Single-Dose Vials and 1 mg/5 mL (0.2 mg/mL) and 4 mg/20 mL (0.2 mg/mL) Multiple-Dose Vials, (US RLD: Robinul). Glycopyrrolate is used before surgery to decrease the volume of secretions from mouth, lungs and stomach.

Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to meeting the needs of patients with cancer and infectious diseases, announced that it has submitted an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to start clinical studies with the company’s novel drug candidate BAL0891 in cancer therapy. BAL0891 is a potential first-in-class small-molecule kinase inhibitor.

Celltrion Group announced that the European Medicine’s Agencys Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) issued a positive scientific opinion recommending marketing authorisation for regdanvimab (CT-P59), a monoclonal antibody treatment for adults with COVID-19 that do not require supplemental oxygen and who are at increased risk of progressing to severe COVID-19. The CHMP positive opinion is a scientific recommendation to the European Commission (EC), which authorises marketing approval in the European Union.

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc a late-stage biotechnology company developing novel T cell-based cancer immunotherapies, today announced clinical data for lifileucel in combination with pembrolizumab in patients with advanced cancers were presented in an oral session at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Annual Meeting. A slide presentation is also available on the Iovance website.

Johnson & Johnson announced its intent to separate the Company’s Consumer Health business, creating a new publicly traded company. The planned separation would create two global leaders that are better positioned to deliver improved health outcomes for patients and consumers through innovation, pursue more targeted business strategies and accelerate growth.

Each year, about half a million children in Africa die from malaria. Infection with the malaria parasite is such a widespread and deadly disease that scientists all over the globe are working to understand it better in order to be able to fight it.

Clotting problems and resulting complications are common in COVID-19 patients. Researchers at the Medical University of Vienna have now shown that a member of the anticoagulant group of drugs not only has a beneficial effect on survival of COVID-19 patients, but also influences the duration of active infection with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. The results were recently published in the journal Cardiovascular Research.