Cell and Gene Therapy
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The Financial Times reported Thursday that WuXi AppTec is looking to sell its cell and gene therapy manufacturing unit, with facilities in Philadelphia, while WuXi Biologics wants to offload some of its production sites in Europe.
Stephen Majors from the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, which hosts the conference, spoke with BioSpace about what the more than 2,000 attendees can expect to learn next week in Phoenix about the pressing issues confronting the industry.
To say that 2seventy bio’s short two years of existence have been dramatic is an understatement. CEO Chip Baird told BioSpace transparency and a committed staff have kept the biotech going through thick and thin.
District Judge Jesse Furman ruled that the plaintiff, UMB Bank, does not have standing to bring the case against Bristol Myers Squibb because it is not a properly appointed trustee for shareholders’ contingent value rights.
In an effort to expand its cash runway beyond 12 months, Prime Medicine has signed a deal with Bristol Myers Squibb worth a potential $3.5 billion, while also streamlining its pipeline to trim costs.
Pfizer’s sudden market withdrawal of sickle cell therapy Oxbryta, which some analysts predicted would reach $750 million in sales by the end of the decade, has left patients and healthcare providers with few options, while investors question the pharma giant’s dealmaking prowess.
While the companies did not reveal the financial details of the deal, Novo Nordisk will provide funding for two Evotec sites in Germany and Italy to support the development of next-generation cell therapies.
4D Molecular Therapeutics reported its experimental gene therapy demonstrated a nearly 90% reduction in the need for annualized standard-of-care injections in patients with wet age-related macular degeneration.
Last month, Vertex said sickle cell patients had not yet received infusions of its gene therapy Casgevy. That’s now changed, as the company races with bluebird bio’s Lyfgenia.
As it nears a crucial FDA action date for its transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy candidate, BridgeBio focuses on its late-stage pipeline.