MSD Archives

News and Trends 11 May 2021

ADC Approval Buoys Spirits in Cancer Treatment Space

The FDA recently approved an antibody-drug conjugate drug from ADC Therapeutics as a treatment for blood cancer. This has given a major confidence boost to other European companies in the field as the deal mill picks up speed. Last month, ADC Therapeutics in Switzerland broke into the mainstream when its lead candidate Zynlonta received FDA […]

May 11, 2021 - 7 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

News and Trends 28 May 2020

MSD Enters Covid-19 Vaccine Race by Acquiring Themis Bioscience

The US-based big pharma MSD has entered the race to be the first to develop an effective vaccine for Covid-19 by acquiring Austrian biotech Themis Bioscience and its vaccine technology for an undisclosed amount. MSD has been a bit slower than some of its contemporaries to announce its plans regarding a potential treatment or vaccine […]

May 28, 2020 - 3 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

News and Trends 22 Aug 2019

Austrian Vaccine Developer Signs Deal with MSD in ‘Blockbuster Indication’

Vienna-based Themis Bioscience will develop vaccine candidates against an undisclosed disease target in partnership with big pharma Merck Sharp & Dohme. As part of the agreement, MSD will provide research funding and make an equity investment in Themis Bioscience. In addition, Themis will be eligible to receive up to €200M in milestones, in addition to […]

August 22, 2019 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández

In Depth 9 Apr 2018

Are PD-1 and PD-L1 Checkpoint Inhibitors As Good As We Thought?

Checkpoint inhibitors, especially those targeting PD-1 and PD-L1, are exploding in popularity. But how much of it is hype? The pipelines of biotech and pharma are filling up with combination therapies for anti-PD-1 and PD-L1 antibodies. According to the Cancer Research Institute, there are now over 1,500 clinical trials testing the popular checkpoint inhibitors, a dramatical increase […]

April 9, 2018 - 4 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández

News and Trends 6 Sep 2017

MSD Offers €464M to Buy German Biotech Fighting Cancer with RNA

MSD is back in the RNA field with the acquisition of Rigontec, a German biotech harnessing RNA interference to make the immune system attack cancer cells. After selling selling Sirna Therapeutics three years ago for almost a tenth of the acquisition price, it seemed like MSD was out of the RNA field. However, the big […]

September 6, 2017 - 1 minutemin - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández

News and Trends 12 Jun 2017

German Biotech Unveils Positive Phase II Results for Alzheimer’s

Probiodrug has disclosed encouraging results of its latest Phase IIa trial to assess its lead candidate PQ912 in patients with early Alzheimer’s Disease. The German biotech Probiodrug is pioneering new approaches to eliminate pyroglutamate (pGlu)-Abeta, a peptide that has been linked to the formation of toxic oligomers involved in Alzheimer’s disease. Now, the biotech came out […]

June 12, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida

Noxxon Merck checkpoint inhibitor combination

News and Trends 16 May 2017

Berlin Biotech Advances its Cancer Drug in a New Trial with Keytruda

Noxxon Pharma has teamed up with the NCT in Heidelberg to conduct a Phase I/II trial combining its lead NOX-A12 with checkpoint inhibitor Keytruda. Based in Berlin, Noxxon is yet another biotech looking to bolster the success of checkpoint inhibitors by combining them with its ‘next-generation’ immuno-oncology candidates. The company partnered up with Merck & Co. […]

May 16, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida

News and Trends 28 Oct 2016

TCR and Checkpoint inhibitors: A Match made in Heaven for Blood Cancer

Adaptimmune and MSD are collaborating to test a therapy for multiple myeloma that combines some of the most promising technologies in immuno-oncology: TCR and checkpoint inhibitors. Adaptimmune is an immuno-oncology billion-euro Biotech from the British Golden Triangle. Despite some trouble with the FDA recently, the company continues to forge ahead with its promising TCR technology. Now, […]

October 28, 2016 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández

sanofi biotech acquisition medivation msd

News and Trends 22 Aug 2016

UPDATE: Sanofi defeated in the Race to acquire Medivation

Even more Big Pharma join the fight to acquire the extremely desirable Medivation, a Biotech developing cancer treatments. Now MSD is joining the bandwagon. Things don’t look so good for Sanofi, which already got rebuffed twice. UPDATE (article originally published on 18/8/2016): Pfizer has struck a deal to acquire Medivation for $14Bn (€12.4Bn), according to the Financial Times. This was […]

August 22, 2016 - 3 minutesmins - By Denise Neves Gameiro

News and Trends 28 Jun 2016

And now, Immuno-oncology gets EMA’s pre-approval for Lung Cancer

MSD has received EMA pre-approval for its famous anti-PD-1 therapy, Keytruda. It could soon be used to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the deadliest type of cancer. Checkpoint inhibitors are a key strategy in the hype field of immuno-oncology. This kind of cancer therapy blocks the natural ‘safety checks’ of the immune system – […]

June 28, 2016 - 2 minutesmins - By Denise Neves Gameiro

News and Trends 15 Mar 2016

How will the UK’s Potential Exit from the EU Affect the Biotech Industry?

I’m a UK Expat in Berlin, and whilst I admit confusion over where exactly the British Exit (i.e. “Brexit”) will leave me in the future, in general it is a depressing thought – for the UK Biotech Industry also. What exactly are the Industry logistics for the UK detaching itself from the EU? Admittedly there […]

March 15, 2016 - 6 minutesmins - By Dani Bancroft

msd cancer research uk monash crt merck australia

News and Trends 1 Feb 2016

New Discovery unites Australia, Germany and UK Against Blood Cancers

Cancer Research UK has teamed up with MSD (Merck) and the Wellcome Trust to co-develop some Inhibitors for both Cancerous and Non-cancerous blood disorders from the Australian Academia-Biotech Network. The Australian Co-operative Research Centre (CRC) for Cancer Therapeutics (CTx) in Melbourne has a range of investigational inhibitors for blood disorders – including Leukemia. CTx is collaborative partnership […]

February 1, 2016 - 2 minutesmins - By Dani Bancroft

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