Siemens Healthineers has inked what it describes as a “master collaboration agreement” with Novartis to help provide diagnostic tests linked to therapies across the drugmaker’s pipeline.
To start, the companies will design and develop a biomarker test aimed at neuroscience programs, and multiple sclerosis specifically—a treatment area that they expect to expand into a $23.5 billion global market by 2025.
The initial immunoassay will measure neurofilament light chain protein levels, found in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid, which are linked to nerve cell injury and a variety of neurological conditions including MS.
Levels of neurofilament light chain in the blood have also been associated with various clinical measures of MS activity and MRI scans showing nerve damage. As a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system, MS sees destruction of neurons’ protective myelin sheath across the brain, optic nerves and spinal cord.
In August, the FDA approved Novartis’ MS treatment Kesimpta for both the relapsing-remitting and secondary progressive forms of the disease. The drug, already approved in leukemia as Arzerra, targets particular immune system B cells expressing CD20.
Earlier this year, Novartis presented data for Mayzent, an S1P receptor modulator for secondary progressive MS, showing that early treatment could slow the course of the disease. However, in many cases, patients and doctors may not be aware that the disease has moved into the secondary progressive stage, and it is often diagnosed late as symptoms become more apparent.
“We are looking forward to our collaboration with Novartis as it promises to yield innovative diagnostic solutions to address critical unmet clinical needs,” said Deepak Nath, president of laboratory diagnostics for Siemens Healthineers.
By: Conor Hale
Source: Fierce Biotech
The first woman to helm a Big Pharma will be stepping down in January as GSK’s Emma Walmsley moves aside for her chief commercial officer Luke Miels. Walmsley, 56, who became the British pharma’s CEO back in 2017, will officially leave Jan. 1, 2026, after turning around the fortunes of GSK in recent years.
In a merger between two subcutaneous drug delivery companies, Halozyme Therapeutics is paying $750 million in cash to acquire Elektrofi. The deal will give Halozyme technology capable of turning drug substances into microparticles to enable under-the-skin injections at high concentrations.
The scope of the transaction includes the production site in Illertissen, Germany, three application laboratories outside Germany, and around 300 employees who have transferred to Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) as part of the acquisition.
