e-cigarettes

An estimated 3.08 million U.S. middle and high school students reported using a tobacco product in the last 30 days in 2022, down from 4.47 million in 2020 and 6.20 million in 2019, according to government data released on Thursday.

AstraZeneca, flag

AstraZeneca will give up on seeking approval for its COVID-19 vaccine in the United States, the company announced during its third-quarter report. It is also abandoning three early-stage programs.

FDA

BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics ran into another stumbling block with ALS hopeful NurOwn Thursday as the FDA issued a Refusal to File Letter for its Biologics License Application.

laboratory

Much of the global pharmaceutical and biotech industry has yet to set any targets for reducing carbon emissions in line with the Paris Agreement, a new analysis has found, despite the biggest companies in the sector leading the way.

pancreatic cancer

The company reported Onivyde and 5 fluorouracil/leucovorin and oxaliplatin demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in overall survival compared to nab-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine regimen. The study also met its key secondary endpoint of progression-free survival.

GlaxoSmithKline

GSK is planning a Phase III trial evaluating bepirovirsen as a potential functional cure for chronic hepatitis B infection, despite the most recently released data appearing less robust than the interim analyses. The trial is expected to begin in the first half of 2023.

Cancer vaccines, breast cancer

Researchers from the University of Washington have developed an investigational vaccine that can safely elicit an immune response against the HER2 protein, a key marker in breast cancer.

BioMarin

A request for additional data may cause a 3-month delay for potential approval of BioMarin Pharmaceutical’s hemophilia A gene therapy.

Sanofi

Sanofi inked a research collaboration and license agreement with Stockholm, Sweden-based Salipro Biotech, whose proprietary platform enables researchers to improve workflows for developing therapeutic antibodies or small molecules that target membrane proteins. 

Dick Simon, Sensorium

Sensorium Therapeutics, which closed a $30 million Series A Tuesday, is embracing the complexity of neuropsychiatric diseases with nature-inspired psychoactive medicines.