The Carlyle Group created Bidco to buy Vectura, which specializes in inhalers and works with major drugmakers from Novartis to GlaxoSmithKline. The company’s technology is used in 13 inhaled and 11 non-inhaled products, according to a statement on the deal.
Vectura also has a portfolio of treatments in development with partners, the companies said, although it’s been less successful in bringing its own drugs to market. Vectura shelved an asthma therapy in 2018 after it failed in a Phase 3 study.
The purchase is part of a wave of investment firms buying up contractors in the pharmaceutical business. With medicines becoming increasingly complex, biotechs and traditional pharma companies are relying more and more on specialists to develop and manufacture new therapies. READ MORE
By Kristin Jensen
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.
