Thiago Carvalho @cyrilpedia@social.cleverlibre.org

In December in the Clinical Pipeline column, I covered the FDA approval of the anti-CD3 teplizumab for a novel use: the prevention of type 1 diabetes for individuals at high risk.
Sanofi has just announced that it will buy the company making the drug, Provention Bio, for $2.9 billion.

https://www.sanofi.com/en/media-room/press-releases/2023/2023-03-13-06-00-00-2625367

#DrugDevelopment #Diabetes #Pharma

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41591-022-00115-y

'The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is making an unusual investment in a biotech start-up’s experimental cancer trial, hoping that its novel technology will one day allow HIV patients to rebuild their immune systems. Smart Immune, a French cell therapy company led by three female co-founders, has developed technology to coax stem cells, which have the ability to develop into many different cell types, into becoming immature “progenitor” T-cells in a lab. These are then injected into the body, where they mature into a crucial part of the immune system and learn to differentiate between normal cells and threats.'

https://www.ft.com/content/04c64b65-e6c5-49bf-9a63-7ec6bb1a9e33

"Decades of oncologic clinical use have demonstrated that cancer immunotherapy provides unprecedented therapeutic benefits. Tragically, only a minority of patients respond to existing immunotherapies. RNA lipid nanoparticles have recently emerged as modular tools for immune stimulation. Here, we discuss advancements in RNA-based cancer immunotherapies and opportunities for improvement."

https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(23)00209-X

A note on a key chapter of neoliberal theology:

'The Tragedy of the Commons thesis has been thoroughly debunked by Nobel prize winning development economist Elinor Ostrom and countless other researchers and practitioners; they have shown that, in fact, most commons like grazing lands and water supply are not open access regimes but managed very successfully through community institutions and local access rules.'
@pvonhellermannn

https://medium.com/@p.vonhellermann/the-tragedy-of-the-non-commons-4bfad884cdbe

Another bit of good news in the R21 malaria vaccine story is that there are plans to produce it locally - Covid19 showed how vulnerable LMICs were in a public health crisis if they had no local production capacity.

"Serum Institute of India have announced a technology transfer deal to produce the vaccine in Ghana. This can start as soon as a manufacturing facility is completed in Accra."

https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/five-things-you-need-know-about-new-r21-malaria-vaccine

'Ghana has become the first country in the world to approve the highly anticipated R21 malaria vaccine that could save millions from the mosquito-borne disease. The disease kills a child every minute worldwide and in Ghana itself there were 5.3 million cases and 12,500 deaths in 2021.'

https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/five-things-you-need-know-about-new-r21-malaria-vaccine