Tuberculosis

Oxford-Emergent venture gains $16M for TB vaccine trial

John Carroll — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:01:26 -0400

The University of Oxford and Emergent BioSolutions have formed a joint venture--The Oxford-Emergent Tuberculosis Consortium--to further develop MVA85A, an experimental vaccine for the prevention of tuberculosis. The Consortium, which obtained an exclusive license from the university to develop the therapy, has secured about $16 million from The Wellcome Trust and the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation to fund a Phase IIb trial.

"I am excited by the prospect of further development of this promising vaccine candidate," said Helen McShane, a Wellcome Trust senior clinical research fellow at Oxford University and original developer of the TB vaccine. "We at Oxford have selected Emergent BioSolutions as our commercial partner given their vaccine development experience and dedication to bringing lifesaving vaccines to market."

- check out this release
- read the report from the Washington Business Journal

Global demographic trends threaten drug industry

Wed, 14 May 2008 06:59:54 -0400

You can file the following under the category of really, really bleak forecasts:

The rising cost of healthcare in the developing world matched by an aging population is creating a perfect storm for drug developers that threaten their entire industry, according to an upcoming report by AT Kearney. We are moving from a world in which six or seven workers support one person in retirement to a ration of three to one, warns the report, and that will force healthcare services all over the world to restrict their support to essential services. Expensive biologics aimed at extending the lives of patients won't be included. There will also be much greater pressure on developers to match a recent agreement Johnson & Johnson made with the National Health Service in the UK to reimburse the NHS for each patient who doesn't respond to Velcade. And as developing countries grow their populations will demand new therapies that target diseases like malaria, tuberculosis and HIV.

- read the story from Dow Jones

Biotech nonprofit to make meds with donated IP

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 06:59:56 -0500

The Connecticut biotech group CURE has set up a nonprofit subsidiary and staffed it with a couple of experienced R&D specialists out to turn the drug development world's cast-offs into low-cost therapies. Peter Farina and Denice Spero, two Boehringer Ingelheim vets, want biopharma companies to donate research and patents that were relegated to the back shelf for economic reasons. A host of therapies for ring fever, malaria, tuberculosis and more could be available at low cost.

Right now it's just two people with a dream to better the world. But Farina and Spero--operating as Developing World Cures--are hoping to pattern their work on The Institute for OneWorld Health in San Francisco, a nonprofit which has been developing a variety of new therapies--in part with more than $100 million in funds from the Gates Foundation.

- read the report from the Hartford Courant

Related Articles:
Gates backs vaccine tech for developing countries. Report
Nonprofit develops pipeline in fight against TB. Report