Therapeutic delivery: industry update covering October 2018

This industry update covers the period from 1 to 31 October 2018 and is based on information sourced from company press releases, scientific literature, patents and various news websites. With the expiry in Europe of AbbVie's (IL, USA) principal patent on Humira this month, the first biosimilar versions of the drug have been launched. AstraZeneca (Cambridge, UK) announced that is has out-licensed two none core drugs to Grunenthal (Aachen, German), while Pfizer (NY, USA) announced the creation of a new company, set up in collaboration with Bain Capital (MA, USA) to exploit Pfizer's clinical and preclinical assets in the neuroscience field. In digital health, 23andMe (CA, USA) announced that the US FDA has authorized marketing of one of its consumer genetic tests, that assesses the genetic factors that affect drug metabolization, hence the safety and efficacy of some drugs. Novartis (Basel, Switzerland) continued to grow its activities in digital health with the creation of the Novartis Biome, an incubator and support program for early-stage companies in this area. Novartis also announced that it has filed applications in the EU and USA for the approval of siponimod, a drug targeting secondary progressive multiple sclerosis and Roche (Basel, Switzerland) gained FDA approval for an antiviral treatment for influenza. Janssen (Beerse, Belgium) announced it had won a label extension for its blood glucose-lowering drug, Invokana (R), for the reduction of cardiovascular events in diabetes. Roche presented data at ECTRIMS, a major annual conference on multiple sclerosis (MS), held in Berlin, Germany this month (10-12 October 2018), showing the potential benefits of administering its drug, Ocrevus, earlier in the treatment pathway for MS compared with other standard treatment. At the same event, Celgene (NJ, USA) presented results from a survey that showed MS patients' concern around brain atrophy and cognitive loss in MS, highlighting that the disease has a neurodegenerative as well as an inflammatory component. Novartis also presented a significant amount of data supporting its marketed drugs as well as its development pipeline in the disease. This month, presentation of data from two studies at the American Academy of Ophthalmology annual meeting (27-30 October 2018, Chicago, IL, USA) further supporting the potential of eye scans in the early detection of Alzheimer's. A paper by a research team at the University of Rochester (NY, USA) demonstrated the feasibility of a new mechanism to transport drugs across the blood-brain barrier, which could help development more effective CNS drugs.