Merck Group

DISCO Pharmaceuticals launches as the surfaceome company with EUR 20 Million in Seed Financing

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, January 16, 2024
DISCO, Stanford University, Patient, Sofinnova, Therapy, Research, Colorectal cancer, Umoja, University, Map, COYA, Pfizer, Drug discovery, EVP, Roche, Spacecraft, SCLC, ETH, BMS, Protein, CDO, Genome, Bayer, Doctor of Philosophy, Proteomics, Merck Group, Carcinoma

Leading biopharma executives Dieter Weinand (previously CEO at Bayer Pharmaceuticals) and Carsten Reinhardt (CDO at Immatics), join the DISCO Board of Directors as Chairman and Independent Director, respectively.

Key Points: 
  • Leading biopharma executives Dieter Weinand (previously CEO at Bayer Pharmaceuticals) and Carsten Reinhardt (CDO at Immatics), join the DISCO Board of Directors as Chairman and Independent Director, respectively.
  • COLOGNE, Germany and ZURICH, Jan. 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- DISCO Pharmaceuticals ("DISCO"), a specialist biotech unlocking the surfaceome of cancer cells at scale to identify new targets and develop first in class drugs, emerges from stealth today.
  • The Company, operating out of Cologne, Germany and Schlieren, Switzerland, successfully raised seed financing of EUR 20 million and is backed by a world leading investor syndicate, including Sofinnova Partners, which led the round, Panakes Partners, M Ventures and AbbVie Ventures.
  • Roman Thomas, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, at DISCO Pharmaceuticals, said: "Today, we are launching DISCO Pharmaceuticals and its breakthrough technology after a decade of research by our exceptional team.

Allergy Immunotherapies Market to grow by USD 1.01 billion from 2022 to 2027; Europe to account for 53% of market growth - Technavio

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, January 16, 2024
Food, Stinger, ROW, Merck Group, Geography, Traction, Asthma, Personalized medicine, Food allergy, Allergy, Anaphylaxis, Allergic rhinitis, Immunotherapy, Emergency, Safety, USD, Vaccine, Research, Education, SCIT, Prevalence, Growth

NEW YORK, Jan. 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The allergy immunotherapies market is expected to grow by USD 1.01 billion from 2022 to 2027.

Key Points: 
  • NEW YORK, Jan. 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The allergy immunotherapies market is expected to grow by USD 1.01 billion from 2022 to 2027.
  • The rapid development of allergy immunotherapies in the region is due to an increasing need for treating these allergic diseases.
  • Detailed information on factors that will drive the growth of the allergy immunotherapies market between 2022 and 2027.
  • Growth of the allergy immunotherapies market across North America, Europe, Asia, and ROW
    Comprehensive analysis of factors that will challenge the growth of allergy immunotherapies market companies.

Healthcare Industry Equity Champions Announced as 2024 Award Recipients by the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, January 9, 2024
Merck & Co., RNA interference, Sustainability, Science, Harvard Medical School, Annual, ARD International Music Competition, GSK plc, Woman of the Year, Respect, Growth, Medication, STAR, RNA, Capital Group Companies, Science (journal), Merck Group, Female, Male, Mentorship, Workplace, ICON, Organizational founder, Trailblazer, Informatics, Patient, Bloomberg, Nobel, Syneos Health, Pfizer, HBA, Merck, Parent, SVP

FAIRFIELD, N.J., Jan. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Healthcare Businesswomen's Association (HBA) announces the 2024 Woman of the Year, Honorable Mentor, and STAR. Recognized for their outstanding contributions to healthcare and the advancement of women in the workplace, the honorees will be celebrated at HBA's 34th annual Woman of the Year event on 10 May in New York City and remotely around the globe.

Key Points: 
  • FAIRFIELD, N.J., Jan. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Healthcare Businesswomen's Association (HBA) announces the 2024 Woman of the Year, Honorable Mentor, and STAR.
  • Dr. Otis Johnson, Co-founder & Principal Consultant, Trial Equity, is the recipient of the HBA Honorable Mentor award.
  • "The HBA is proud to recognize and showcase this year's award recipients for their notable and remarkable commitment and valuable contributions to women in the healthcare ecosystem," said Mary Stutts, CEO, HBA.
  • He is a stellar example of the lasting change that advocacy and allyship can bring about in the healthcare industry.

Mersana Therapeutics Announces Business Updates, Expected 2024 Milestones and Upcoming Presentation at the 42nd Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference

Retrieved on: 
Friday, January 5, 2024
Conference, Merck Group, HER2, B7-H4, Spacecraft, GSK plc, Janssen, Therapy, MRSN, Motion, GSK, Pacific Time Zone, Cancer, Patient, ADC, Pharmaceutical industry

“Mersana’s next-generation ADC platforms are designed to overcome key limitations of traditional ADCs,” said Martin Huber, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Mersana Therapeutics.

Key Points: 
  • “Mersana’s next-generation ADC platforms are designed to overcome key limitations of traditional ADCs,” said Martin Huber, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Mersana Therapeutics.
  • “In 2024, we plan to demonstrate over several data presentations how Dolasynthen’s preclinical differentiation translates into the clinic.
  • These presentations will include initial clinical data from our ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial of XMT-1660.
  • Mersana President and CEO Dr. Martin Huber will present at the 42nd Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Thursday, January 11, 2024 at 2:15 p.m. Eastern Time/11:15 a.m. Pacific Time.

Omega Funds Announces the Promotion of Francesco Draetta to Managing Director

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, January 4, 2024
Professional Services, Finance, Merck Group, Omega, CAIA, BBA, Therapy, FRM, University, IPO, Patient, CFA, Management

Omega Funds , a leading international healthcare venture capital firm focused on delivering impactful medicines to patients, is pleased to announce the promotion of Francesco Draetta to Managing Director.

Key Points: 
  • Omega Funds , a leading international healthcare venture capital firm focused on delivering impactful medicines to patients, is pleased to announce the promotion of Francesco Draetta to Managing Director.
  • He also co-leads the Firm’s fundraising efforts, which resulted in more than $1.1 billion raised across Omega Fund VI and Omega Fund VII.
  • “Francesco has been instrumental to Omega’s growth, particularly across our investment and fundraising activities," said Omega Founder and Managing Director Otello Stampacchia.
  • “We look forward to his continued success as he assumes his new leadership responsibilities.”
    From 2008 to 2012, Francesco was an Analyst at Omega.

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, Expands Colorectal Cancer Portfolio Through Licensing Agreement with Inspirna

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, January 4, 2024
Oncology, Health, Clinical Trials, General Health, Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology, Phase, SLC6A8, Science, Merck Group, CRC, ESMO, Survival, Health care, Colorectal cancer, FOLFIRI, Progression-free survival, Disease, Congress, Randomized controlled trial, Bevacizumab, Merck, Patient, Safety, Head, Pharmaceutical industry

Ompenaclid is currently being evaluated in a Phase II study for the second-line treatment of RAS-mutated (RASmut) advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).

Key Points: 
  • Ompenaclid is currently being evaluated in a Phase II study for the second-line treatment of RAS-mutated (RASmut) advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).
  • The collaboration with Inspirna builds on Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany’s long-standing commitment to the colorectal cancer community.
  • “The data to date validates our belief in ompenaclid as a potential first-in-class therapy for advanced colorectal cancer and underscores the power of our proprietary target discovery platform RNA-DRIVEr™.
  • Furthermore, the parties agreed to collaborate on Inspirna’s SLC6A8 follow-on compounds for which Inspirna will retain US co-development and co-commercialization rights.

First Patient Dosed in Trial Evaluating Efti and the Anti-PD-L1 Therapy BAVENCIO® in Metastatic Urothelial Cancer

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, January 4, 2024
IO, Merck Group, ASX, Autoimmune disease, Immune system, Death, Bladder cancer, Carcinoma, Hope, IMM, PD-L1, Avelumab, Research, Cancer, Transitional cell carcinoma, Patient, Safety, Transitional epithelium

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, Jan. 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Immutep Limited (ASX: IMM; NASDAQ: IMMP) ("Immutep” or “the Company”), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel LAG-3 immunotherapies for cancer and autoimmune disease, today announces that the first patient has been enrolled and safely dosed in the INSIGHT-005 Phase I trial. The investigator-initiated study jointly funded with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, will evaluate eftilagimod alpha (“efti”) in combination with BAVENCIO® (avelumab) in up to 30 patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma.

Key Points: 
  • The investigator-initiated study jointly funded with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, will evaluate eftilagimod alpha (“efti”) in combination with BAVENCIO® (avelumab) in up to 30 patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma.
  • Encouragingly, responses were achieved even in cancer patients with low and negative PD-L1 expression, who typically would not be expected to respond to anti-PD-(L)1 therapy.
  • Daniel Pink, as part of the investigator-initiated INSIGHT platform for studies investigating efti in different combination treatments and routes of administration.
  • For 2023, it was estimated there would be 82,290 new cases of bladder cancer and 16,710 deaths in the US alone.1

Inspirna Partners with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, to Accelerate Global Development of Ompenaclid (RGX-202)

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, January 4, 2024
Research, Clinical Trials, Other Health, Biotechnology, General Health, Pharmaceutical, Health, Science, Oncology, Other Science, SLC6A8, Merck Group, CRC, ESMO, Survival, Rasm, Health care, Colorectal cancer, FOLFIRI, Progression-free survival, Congress, Randomized controlled trial, Bevacizumab, Creatine, Merck, RAS, Patient, Safety, Head, Therapy, Pharmaceutical industry

“The data to date validates our belief in ompenaclid as a potential first-in-class therapy for advanced colorectal cancer and underscores the power of our proprietary target discovery platform RNA-DRIVEr™.

Key Points: 
  • “The data to date validates our belief in ompenaclid as a potential first-in-class therapy for advanced colorectal cancer and underscores the power of our proprietary target discovery platform RNA-DRIVEr™.
  • Furthermore, the parties agreed to collaborate on Inspirna’s SLC6A8 follow-on compounds for which Inspirna will retain US co-development and co-commercialization rights.
  • Ompenaclid was well-tolerated, with no dose-limiting toxicities observed in the dose-escalation cohort and combination safety profile comparable to FOLFIRI plus bevacizumab backbone treatment.
  • Inspirna has initiated a Phase 2 double-blind randomized controlled trial in 2L RAS mutant advanced or metastatic mCRC comparing ompenaclid versus placebo plus FOLFIRI and bevacizumab.

ITM Executes License Agreement to Obtain Worldwide Exclusive License for the Clinical Development and Commercialization of Folate-Based Radiotheranostics

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, December 14, 2023
Merck Group, Research group, Ovarian cancer, Cancer, Doctor of Philosophy, ITM, Merck, Patient, PSI

Under the terms of the agreement, the company will supply ITM with its first-in-class folate precursors for radiolabeling, which ITM will use to advance the clinical and potential future commercial development of its folate receptor-targeting radiopharmaceutical pipeline candidates.

Key Points: 
  • Under the terms of the agreement, the company will supply ITM with its first-in-class folate precursors for radiolabeling, which ITM will use to advance the clinical and potential future commercial development of its folate receptor-targeting radiopharmaceutical pipeline candidates.
  • The worldwide exclusive license has been expanded to all folate-receptor-positive malignant tumors.
  • ITM’s theranostic pairing, ITM-55D/ITM-52 is designed to address current limitations in both the screening and treatment paradigm.
  • “Exercising and expanding our licensing agreement with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany will greatly support our efforts to rapidly progress our folate-receptor targeting candidate toward phase I clinical evaluation,” commented Steffen Schuster, CEO of ITM.

BenevolentAI: Shareholder Letter December 2023

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, December 28, 2023
Technology, Research, Finance, Professional Services, Biotechnology, Health, Pharmaceutical, Science, Artificial Intelligence, Knowledge, Biology, Drug, Conference, Culture, Merck Group, Drug discovery, Medicine, ALS, AstraZeneca, Business, Data, UC, Retinoic acid receptor alpha, PDE10, AI, Business development, ID, Glioblastoma, Food, SAD, Merck, GBM, Growth, Benchmarking, Patient, Safety, Benevolence, Acceleration, Heart failure, Neurology, Ulcerative colitis, Pharmaceutical industry

Despite 2023 being a challenging year and a transition period for BenevolentAI, we have made significant progress in executing our strategic plan.

Key Points: 
  • Despite 2023 being a challenging year and a transition period for BenevolentAI, we have made significant progress in executing our strategic plan.
  • We were pleased with the signing of the new strategic collaboration with Merck KGaA in September.
  • We also introduced a new state-of-the-art target prediction methodology, which continues to enhance our previous target prediction fleet and target explanations.
  • As announced in our interim results announcement in September, we expect that headcount will be around 260 employees at the end of 2023.