The European Union’s drug regulator has recommended approval of AstraZeneca and Sanofi’s Beyfortus to prevent respiratory syncytial virus infection in newborns and babies, the companies said Friday. The antibody drug would be the first to be used broadly in those children.
Beyfortus is recommended as a preventive treatment for babies in their first RSV season, which like for colds and influenza runs from late autumn through spring. The drug is given as a single injection and, the companies report, reduced RSV infections requiring medical attention by 75% compared to a placebo in a Phase 3 trial.
The recommendation from the European Medicines Agency’s human drugs committee needs to be confirmed by the European Commission, which has two months to do so. READ MORE
By Jonathan Gardner
Source: biopharmadive.com
Avivi joins Bayer fresh off a yearlong stint as chief marketing officer of Advance Auto Parts, which followed about three years spent as marketing chief of another auto parts company, Tenneco. Rounding out her nearly 30-year career in marketing are leadership roles at consumer goods giants Kimberly-Clark and Procter & Gamble.
Air Liquide S.A. (Paris) is continuing its development with the acquisition of Homecare activities in Belgium and the Netherlands. The two entities acquired in Belgium and the Netherlands support 10,000 patients living with respiratory insufficiency, sleep apnea syndrome or requiring infusion or nutrition treatments.
US-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals has agreed to pay approximately $4.9 billion in cash to acquire Alpine Immune Sciences, a compatriot biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing innovative, protein-based immunotherapies.
