Pharma Distribution M&A Opportunity

In 2022, nearly 619,000 global deaths due to malaria were caused by Plasmodium falciparum, the most virulent, prevalent, and deadly human malaria parasite. For decades, the parasite's resistance to all antimalarial drugs has posed a big challenge for researchers working to stop the spread of the disease. A team led by scientists at UC Riverside, UC Irvine, and Yale School of Medicine has now designed a new drug against malaria and identified its mechanism of action.

Bayer announced today the inauguration of its new life science incubator, Bayer Co.Lab Shanghai, in the Shanghai Innovation (SH-INNO) Park at the heart of China's largest biopharma cluster, Zhangjiang, Shanghai. Bayer Co.Lab is part of the global network of life science incubators situated in key innovation hubs, including Cambridge (USA), Kobe (Japan), and Berlin (Germany). The establishment of Bayer Co.Lab Shanghai represents a major milestone in Bayer's external innovation strategy, aimed at fostering open collaboration within the biotechnology ecosystem.

A University of Missouri researcher has created a computer program that can unravel the mysteries of how proteins work together - giving scientists valuable insights to better prevent, diagnose and treat cancer and other diseases. Jianlin "Jack" Cheng from Mizzou's College of Engineering and his student, Nabin Giri, have developed a tool called Cryo2Struct that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to build the three-dimensional atomic structure of large protein complexes, work recently published in Nature Communications.

Women in the UK, and elsewhere, are still missing out on vital treatment for their No 1 killer - cardiovascular disease - despite significant progress in the medical management of heart disease and stroke, concludes a consensus statement published online in the journal Heart. They continue to be underdiagnosed, undertreated, and underrepresented in clinical trials in all areas of cardiovascular disease, says the statement.

Researchers from the Food Packaging Forum identify and discuss nearly 200 potential breast carcinogens that have been detected in food contact materials (FCMs) on the market. Many nations have food contact material legislation intended to protect citizens from hazardous chemicals, often specifically by regulating genotoxic carcinogens. As cancer is one of the few health endpoints specifically targeted in FCM regulations and testing, carcinogenic chemicals in food packaging and other food contact materials and articles should not be commonplace.

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved FluMist for self- or caregiver-administration. FluMist is approved for the prevention of influenza disease caused by influenza virus subtypes A and B in individuals 2 through 49 years of age. FluMist is sprayed into the nose and has been used safely and effectively for many years. It was initially approved by the FDA in 2003 for use in individuals 5 through 49 years of age, and in 2007, the FDA approved the use of FluMist to include children 2 through 5 years of age.

Some triptans are a more effective treatment for acute migraines than newer, more expensive drugs, finds an analysis of the latest evidence published by The BMJ. Triptans work by narrowing blood vessels in the brain and preventing the release of chemicals that cause pain and inflammation. The findings show that four triptans - eletriptan, rizatriptan, sumatriptan, and zolmitriptan - were better at relieving migraine pain than the recently marketed and more expensive drugs lasmiditan, rimegepant, and ubrogepant, which were comparable to paracetamol and most anti-inflammatory painkillers (NSAIDs).

Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (U.S. FDA) has approved OCREVUS ZUNOVO™ (ocrelizumab & hyaluronidase-ocsq) for the treatment of relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS) and primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS). OCREVUS ZUNOVO is the first and only twice-a-year, healthcare professional (HCP)-administered approximately 10-minute subcutaneous (SC) injection approved for both these forms of multiple sclerosis, giving people living with MS more treatment options.

Integral Molecular, a leader in antibody discovery and characterization, has published new research in the journal mAbs, revealing that as many as one-third of antibody-based drugs exhibit nonspecific binding to unintended targets. A serious concern, off-target drug binding is a significant cause of adverse events in patients, with the potential to even cause death. Analysis of antibody off-target binding across different phases of clinical development suggests this to be a major cause of drug attrition. Early specificity testing could improve drug approvals and patient safety.

More than 39 million people around the world could die from antibiotic-resistant infections over the next 25 years, according to a study published in The Lancet. The new study by the Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance (GRAM) Project is the first global analysis of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) trends over time. It reveals that more than one million people died each year as a result of AMR between 1990 and 2021.