16
Sep
2019
Tag: pharma
9
Sep
2019
Bionest
Gilead and Galapagos
With Gilead Sciences’ hepatitis C sales revenues from Solvaldi and Harvoni fading and lower than expected Yescarta sales, the company has been looking for new products to bolster its pipeline. In mid-July, Gilead addressed some of this need by deepening ties to an existing partner, Galapagos. The two companies have formed a 10-year, $5.1 billion...
2
Sep
2019
Bionest
Zolgensma Launch “On Track,” but Significant Challenges Remain
On July 18, Novartis told analysts its Zolgensma launch was “on track.” Despite the gene therapy’s $2.1 million price tag, the company states the launch is “one of the most successful launches from an access standpoint in rare diseases.” Novartis said it had reached coverage deals with more than 20 commercial insurance plans, covering approximately 40%...
26
Aug
2019
Bionest
The Rise of the Chief Digital Officer in Pharma Companies
Chief Digital Officer (CDO) is the latest title to become a standard within the pharmaceutical company C-suite, with Takeda, Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Merck, Sanofi and others all making such appointments in recent years. As we’ve written before, this addition to the pharma senior management team reflects the growing importance of digital to pharma, which encompasses...
12
Aug
2019
Bionest
New Excitement About Antibody-Drug Conjugates in Cancer
The ability to target malignant cells without damage to surrounding healthy ones has been a long-sought goal in cancer drug development. Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) have been investigated as one such solution aimed at delivering more targeted therapies. ADCs — an approach first envisioned by Paul Ehrlich in the early 20th century — combine the targeting...
5
Aug
2019
Bionest
Blockchain and Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Security
Blockchain is a method to securely store digital information and create an accurate, verifiable, distributed record of individual transactions that is confidential, traceable and virtually uneditable. The first practical use of blockchain technology enabled bitcoin and other cryptocurrency transactions. Today, blockchain is being tested by a number of pharmaceutical companies, drug wholesalers, and at least...
8
Jul
2019
Bionest
News from ASCO: Part 1
As we previously wrote, ASCO’s focus this year was on driving the benefits of precision medicine approaches in oncology to more patients. This was reflected in several ways in the news coming out of the conference, including: Progress Against Important, Difficult-to-Target Biomarkers The ASCO news was particularly good this year for patients with...
1
Jul
2019
Bionest
Building a Better Market for Biologics: The US vs. Europe
The advent of generics has dramatically impacted the cost of small molecule drugs following the expiry of the patent protection for the originator therapeutics, with the cost of a small molecule generic often as little as 10% of that of the originator drug. This price difference results from several factors, including lower R&D costs, fewer...
24
Jun
2019
Bionest
Liquid Biopsy Methods Showing Their Worth
The ability to detect and monitor mutational changes in tumors through a simple blood test has spurred considerable development within the field of liquid biopsy. While questions remain about the accuracy of such tests and the most relevant analyte to measure (i.e., circulating tumor DNA, cell free DNA, circulating tumor cells), liquid biopsy could offer...
17
Jun
2019