Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
FDA OKs Trial For Gene-Edited Pig Kidney Transplants
Bill Stewart is the most recent recipient of a pig kidney — but chances are, he won’t hold that distinction for long. On Monday, eGenesis, a Cambridge-based biotechnology company, announced that it had been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration to begin a trial of kidneys from donor pigs that have been CRISPR’d to make their organs more human-friendly.(Boodman and Molteni, 9/8)
In other pharma and tech news —
Novartis agreed to buy New York-based Tourmaline Bio in a roughly $1.4 billion-dollar deal that boosts its cardiovascular drug pipeline with access to the targeted therapy drug pacibekitug. The Swiss pharmaceutical company said Tuesday that it would offer Tourmaline Bio shareholders $48 a share, valuing the company at approximately $1.4 billion on a fully diluted basis. Tourmaline’s board has approved the deal. (Whittaker, 9/9)
Summit Therapeutics may have a geography problem with its lung cancer drug ivonescimab. In a study update reported Sunday, patients from North America and Europe treated with the drug saw their lung cancer return and progress faster than patients from China — a discordant result that could complicate Summit’s plans to secure approval of ivonescimab in the U.S. and Europe. (Feuerstein, 9/7)
Russia has reported that its cancer vaccine "Enteromix" has completed preclinical trials—demonstrating both safety and high efficacy. Veronika Skvortsova, head of the Russian Federal Medical-Biological Agency (FMBA), made the announcement on Saturday at the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok, according to a report by Russian news agency TASS. (Millington, 9/8)
Researchers have developed a material that can sense tiny changes within the body, such as during an arthritis flareup, and release drugs exactly where and when they are needed. The squishy material can be loaded with anti-inflammatory drugs that are released in response to small changes in pH in the body. During an arthritis flareup, a joint becomes inflamed and slightly more acidic than the surrounding tissue. (University of Cambridge, 9/8)
A team of scientists from China and the U.S. is pioneering the development of bubble-powered robots, which could one day replace needles for painless drug delivery into the body. Inspired by nature, the researchers developed a new technique that harnesses the energy released by a collapsing bubble in a liquid, a process known as cavitation. (Arnold, 9/8)
