Pharma News

Roche announced interim results from the Phase III IMpower010 study, showing for the first time that treatment with Tecentriq (atezolizumab) following surgery and chemotherapy reduced the risk of disease recurrence or death (disease-free survival; DFS) by 34% (hazard ratio [HR]=0.66, 95% CI: 0.50–0.88) in people with Stage II-IIIA non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), whose tumours express PD-L1≥1%, compared with best supportive care (BSC). In this population, median DFS was not yet reached for Tecentriq compared with 35.3 months for BSC.

The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted the accelerated approval of RYBREVANTTM (amivantamab-vmjw) for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 20 insertion mutations, as detected by an FDA-approved test, whose disease has progressed on or after platinum-based chemotherapy.

The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has granted a positive opinion recommending Jardiance (empagliflozin) for the treatment of adults with symptomatic chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly and Company announced.

Moderna, Inc a biotechnology company pioneering messenger RNA therapeutics and vaccines, announced that the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) of Japan granted special approval under article 14-3 of the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Act for emergency use of Moderna’s mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, now known as COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna Intramuscular Injection, in Japan. Distribution by Takeda in Japan will begin immediately.

Pfizer Inc. announced a new agreement with the European Commission (EC) to supply 900 million doses of COMIRNATY, the companies COVID-19 vaccine, to the European Union (EU), with an option for the EC to request up to an additional 900 million doses.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited announced updated data from the Phase 1/2 trial of mobocertinib (TAK-788) orally administered in patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) Exon20 insertion mutation-positive (insertion+) metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (mNSCLC) who received prior platinum-based chemotherapy. The results showed mobocertinib continued to demonstrate clinically meaningful benefit after over a year of follow up and will be presented at the virtual 57th American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting on June 4.

Mylab Discovery Solutions announced the first self use Rapid test of India, Coviself which is approved by ICMR. Each Coviself test kit will be provided with all testing materials, instructions to use leaflet and a biohazard bag to safely dispose of after testing. It is available at economical pricing of Rs 250. Last year, Mylab launched the first RTPCR test of India for COVID-19.

A recent study from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has identified a set of molecular biomarkers that can be used in the differential diagnosis of acute bacterial and viral infections. These biomarkers are different messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules found in the blood; differences in their levels can detect and predict with high probability if an infection is viral or bacterial.

PathShodh Healthcare, a start-up incubated at the Society for Innovation and Development (SID), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), has made a significant breakthrough in developing a first-of-its-kind, semi-quantitative electrochemical ELISA test for COVID-19 IgM and IgG antibodies.