Category Archives: Other

New Novo Stem Cell Manufacturing Facility

Novo Nordisk announced plans to establish a stem cell manufacturing facility in Freemont, California. The GMP-certified facility was previously operated by Asteria Biotherapeutics and Novo has signed an agreement with the company. According to the press release, the plant will be operational in 2019 at which time, it will be used to support Novo’s clinical development programs. Below, FENIX provides thoughts on Novo’s stem cell program.

About The Author

Matthew Maryniak

|
President of Fenix Group International

Matthew has been a thought leader in the high-growth therapeutic areas of diabetes and cardiovascular medicine since 2006, making regular attendance at large and small CV/met scientific meetings and an architect of novel methods for assessing market opportunities. He has over a decade of experience in leading CV/met consulting engagements, is a published author in PM360 and Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics, and has been quoted in The Pink Sheet on anti-thrombotics.

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Novo Cuts 400 Jobs in Denmark/China and Confirms Shift in R&D Strategy

Novo Nordisk announced plans to restructure its R&D organization which includes cutting 400 R&D jobs in Denmark and China. Novo is also establishing a new BD unit in Cambridge, MA to help facilitate additional R&D collaborations. This news comes as no surprise and is consistent with FENIX’s previous insight regarding Novo’s shift in R&D strategy as evidenced by 7 external R&D collaborations/acquisitions thus far in 2018. Below, FENIX provides thoughts on Novo’s new R&D strategy.

About The Author

Matthew Maryniak

|
President of Fenix Group International

Matthew has been a thought leader in the high-growth therapeutic areas of diabetes and cardiovascular medicine since 2006, making regular attendance at large and small CV/met scientific meetings and an architect of novel methods for assessing market opportunities. He has over a decade of experience in leading CV/met consulting engagements, is a published author in PM360 and Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics, and has been quoted in The Pink Sheet on anti-thrombotics.

If you receive our email blasts, you already have an account.

Purchase Blast$599.00

You can read the article’s full content online after purchase.

ViaCyte and CRISPR Therapeutics Collaborate for T1DM Stem Cell Therapy

ViaCyte and CRISPR Therapeutics announced a strategic collaboration to modify ViaCyte’s stem cell-based therapy to reduce or eliminate the need for immunosuppression. Below, FENIX provides insight on the collaboration including context from the CRISPR patent dispute.

About The Author

Matthew Maryniak

|
President of Fenix Group International

Matthew has been a thought leader in the high-growth therapeutic areas of diabetes and cardiovascular medicine since 2006, making regular attendance at large and small CV/met scientific meetings and an architect of novel methods for assessing market opportunities. He has over a decade of experience in leading CV/met consulting engagements, is a published author in PM360 and Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics, and has been quoted in The Pink Sheet on anti-thrombotics.

If you receive our email blasts, you already have an account.

Purchase Blast$599.00

You can read the article’s full content online after purchase.

New Lilly Academic Collaboration to Help Compete with Novo/Oxford

Lilly and the Indiana Bioscience Research Institute (in collaboration with Indiana University School of Medicine) have partnered to create the “Lilly Diabetes Center of Excellence” (LDCE). According to the press release, the LDCE will support “cutting-edge research in diabetes, diabetic complications, and related metabolic disorders.” Lilly’s decision to create the LDCE appears to be (at least in part) driven by a need to keep up with Novo’s collaboration with The University of Oxford. Below, FENIX provides thoughts on the LDCE including a comparison with a similar program between Novo and University of Oxford.

About The Author

Matthew Maryniak

|
President of Fenix Group International

Matthew has been a thought leader in the high-growth therapeutic areas of diabetes and cardiovascular medicine since 2006, making regular attendance at large and small CV/met scientific meetings and an architect of novel methods for assessing market opportunities. He has over a decade of experience in leading CV/met consulting engagements, is a published author in PM360 and Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics, and has been quoted in The Pink Sheet on anti-thrombotics.

If you receive our email blasts, you already have an account.

Purchase Blast$599.00

You can read the article’s full content online after purchase.

Sanofi Restructures GBUs; Stefan Oelrich Moves to Bayer

Less than 3 years after reorganizing the company into 5 Global Business Units (GBUs), Sanofi is once again restructuring the organization. Now, Sanofi is creating Primary Care and China & Emerging Markets GBUs, which will replace the Diabetes and Cardiovascular (DCV) and General Medicines & Emerging Markets (GEM) GBUs. As part of the transition, Stefan Oelrich, head of the DCV business, is leaving Sanofi to join Bayer’s Board of Management and lead its Pharmaceuticals Division. The transition is set to take effect by the beginning of 2019. Below, FENIX provides thoughts Sanofi’s reorganization with insight on the potential impact on its diabetes business.

About The Author

Matthew Maryniak

|
President of Fenix Group International

Matthew has been a thought leader in the high-growth therapeutic areas of diabetes and cardiovascular medicine since 2006, making regular attendance at large and small CV/met scientific meetings and an architect of novel methods for assessing market opportunities. He has over a decade of experience in leading CV/met consulting engagements, is a published author in PM360 and Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics, and has been quoted in The Pink Sheet on anti-thrombotics.

If you receive our email blasts, you already have an account.

Purchase Blast$599.00

You can read the article’s full content online after purchase.

Livongo-Abbott Integration with Libre Pro

Livongo announced a partnership with Abbott to integrate the FreeStyle Libre Pro into the Livongo for Diabetes program. The integration with a professional (retrospective) CGM makes sense given Livongo’s focus on patient education and behavior-based treatment. Below, FENIX provides a unique perspective that the Abbott partnership could signal a limitation in Livongo’s diabetes solution.

About The Author

Matthew Maryniak

|
President of Fenix Group International

Matthew has been a thought leader in the high-growth therapeutic areas of diabetes and cardiovascular medicine since 2006, making regular attendance at large and small CV/met scientific meetings and an architect of novel methods for assessing market opportunities. He has over a decade of experience in leading CV/met consulting engagements, is a published author in PM360 and Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics, and has been quoted in The Pink Sheet on anti-thrombotics.

If you receive our email blasts, you already have an account.

Purchase Blast$599.00

You can read the article’s full content online after purchase.

MannKind Partners for Pulmonary Hypertension; $MNKD up ~100%

Yesterday, MannKind announced a partnership with United Therapeutics for dry powder delivery of treprostinil (pulmonary hypertension) and another non-disclosed R&D project. MannKind will receive $45M in an upfront payment and is eligible for up to $50M in additional milestones as well as “low double-digit” royalties” for the tresprostinil development and commercialization. Since the partnership announcement, $MNKD is up ~100% (+89% on Sept 4 and an additional +10% in Sept 5 pre-market trading shown below). Interestingly, the news came 21 years after treprostinil first became available through the MiniMed 407c, a pump created in part by Al Mann.

About The Author

Matthew Maryniak

|
President of Fenix Group International

Matthew has been a thought leader in the high-growth therapeutic areas of diabetes and cardiovascular medicine since 2006, making regular attendance at large and small CV/met scientific meetings and an architect of novel methods for assessing market opportunities. He has over a decade of experience in leading CV/met consulting engagements, is a published author in PM360 and Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics, and has been quoted in The Pink Sheet on anti-thrombotics.

If you receive our email blasts, you already have an account.

Purchase Blast$599.00

You can read the article’s full content online after purchase.

Sanofi DCV CMO Leaves

Riccardo Perfetti (pictured below), Sanofi’s VP Medical Affairs and Head of the DCV Global Medical Team, has reportedly left Sanofi to serve as the CMO of Applied Therapeutics. Perfetti had been with Sanofi since October 2007.

About The Author

Matthew Maryniak

|
President of Fenix Group International

Matthew has been a thought leader in the high-growth therapeutic areas of diabetes and cardiovascular medicine since 2006, making regular attendance at large and small CV/met scientific meetings and an architect of novel methods for assessing market opportunities. He has over a decade of experience in leading CV/met consulting engagements, is a published author in PM360 and Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics, and has been quoted in The Pink Sheet on anti-thrombotics.

If you receive our email blasts, you already have an account.

Purchase Blast$599.00

You can read the article’s full content online after purchase.

Novo Partners for Cross BBB Drug Delivery

Novo Nordisk has entered into an R&D collaboration with Ossianix, a Philadelphia-based R&D company. Ossianix utilizes its single domain VNAR antibody to increase drug absorption across the blood brain barrier (BBB). According to the press release, Ossianix will deliver a predefined number of therapeutic agents to Novo for the treatment of diabetes and other metabolic diseases. Below, FENIX provides context of the R&D agreement as well as thoughts on potential targets that Novo is pursuing.

About The Author

Matthew Maryniak

|
President of Fenix Group International

Matthew has been a thought leader in the high-growth therapeutic areas of diabetes and cardiovascular medicine since 2006, making regular attendance at large and small CV/met scientific meetings and an architect of novel methods for assessing market opportunities. He has over a decade of experience in leading CV/met consulting engagements, is a published author in PM360 and Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics, and has been quoted in The Pink Sheet on anti-thrombotics.

If you receive our email blasts, you already have an account.

Purchase Blast$599.00

You can read the article’s full content online after purchase.

Thoughts on Merck’s Digital Diabetes App

Merck and its partner Healthy Interactions launched a newly updated unbranded digital diabetes app called Map4health. Previously, the app was available with fewer features under the name “Conversation Map.” Interestingly, the platform can be used by both patients and HCPs; however, Merck and Healthy Interactions are primarily marketing the platform to HCPs with the intent to drive patient uptake through HCP recommendations. Below, FENIX provides an overview of the app features as well as thoughts on the program.

About The Author

Matthew Maryniak

|
President of Fenix Group International

Matthew has been a thought leader in the high-growth therapeutic areas of diabetes and cardiovascular medicine since 2006, making regular attendance at large and small CV/met scientific meetings and an architect of novel methods for assessing market opportunities. He has over a decade of experience in leading CV/met consulting engagements, is a published author in PM360 and Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics, and has been quoted in The Pink Sheet on anti-thrombotics.

If you receive our email blasts, you already have an account.

Purchase Blast$599.00

You can read the article’s full content online after purchase.