Novo is best known for the insulins and other diabetes medicines its scientists spent years developing and refining. Deals for drugs invented outside its laboratories are relatively rare, as are agreements focused on diseases other than the metabolic condition.
But Novo has shown an interest in expanding its research into blood disease and cardiovascular treatments, mounting a failed bid for the Belgian drugmaker Ablynx in 2018 and, more recently, acquiring Corvidia Therapeutics and its antibody drug for heart disease.
The deal for Prothena’s PRX004, though a bit further afield, appears to fit into that pattern, giving Novo a mid-stage therapy for a disease that’s receiving more and more attention from drugmakers. READ MORE
By Ned Pagliarulo
Source: biopharmadive.com
Big Pharma has long seen the potential for AI and machine learning to accelerate drug development. But Novo Nordisk is going a step further by channeling $200 million toward the creation of a computer that will outrun anything in existence.
Current methods for diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease rely on a complex combination of self- and caregiver-reported symptoms, a physical examination and either a PET scan or a spinal tap to look for evidence of amyloid plaque build-ups in the brain. But a new artificial intelligence-based method may make the diagnostic process a much more objective one.
There is lots of talk about diversity and inclusion in business, including in pharma and medtech. A new report by the Open Political Economy Network (OPEN), a think tank focusing on migration and diversity, released its “Minority Businesses Matter: Europe” report highlighting the successes and challenges of ethnic minority-owned businesses in Europe.
