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Today, a brief rundown of news from Novo Holdings, as well as notes on BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Lykos Therapeutics, Tenaya Therapeutics and Novo Nordisk that you may have missed yesterday:
Novo Holdings, the parent company of Novo Nordisk, is acquiring a 60% controlling stake in Austrian bioprocessing company Single Use Support. Industrial conglomerate Danaher will retain a 20% stake, while each of the company’s two founders will own 10%. Single Use Support develops “equipment and consumables” used in the handling and cold chain shipping of biologic drugs, cell therapies and messenger RNA vaccines.
Three weeks ago, BioMarin Pharmaceutical said it would stop investing in four experimental drug programs after conducting a pipeline review. On Tuesday, the company disclosed that 170 employees would be laid off as a result. The cuts, which will cost BioMarin $15 million to $20 million in pre-tax charges, affect about 5% of the 3,400 employees the company had at the end of December.
A new report from the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review may make life harder for Lykos Therapeutics, which on June 4 will make the case for its MDMA-based treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder to Food and Drug Administration advisers. In its report, the nonprofit group raised concerns about the validity of Lykos’ trial results, citing participant unblinding and reports that study investigators may have influenced the findings.
Tenaya Therapeutics plans to lay off 22% of its workforce to limit expenses as it works to advance two gene therapies for uncommon conditions of the heart. The first of those therapies is in Phase 1 clinical testing, with initial results expected later this year, while first human dosing of the second is scheduled for the second half of 2024. Tenaya employed 140 staff as of the end of December.
A preventive antibody developed by Novo Nordisk significantly reduced treated bleeding episodes in people with hemophilia A, the company said Monday. In people with no prior prophylaxis treatment, Novo’s drug reduced treated bleeds by 97% and 99% at once-weekly and once-monthly dosing, compared to no prophylaxis. The reduction among people with prior preventive “factor” treatment was 48% at the once-weekly dose and 43% at the once-monthly dose, compared to prior factor prophylaxis. Novo plans to file in 2024 for first regulatory approval.