Interviews

Axcynsis is developing a derivative of the chemotherapy agent Yondelis as a new payload, which the Singapore venture will first apply to a Claudin 6-targeting ADC it plans to take into a Phase I trial in the US, its chairman, CEO and founder tells Scrip in an interview.

Syngene’s CEO talks to Scrip about how the firm is deepening capabilities in areas like ADCs, PROTACs and why the US Inflation Reduction Act may not necessarily shrink outsourced small molecule work. The executive also shares his view on the China ‘rebalancing’ trend amid geopolitical tensions and the US BIOSECURE Act.

Judo Bio, incubated for three years by Atlas Venture to deliver siRNA and other genetic medicines to the kidney, came out of stealth mode with $100m and new CEO Rajiv Patni.

CEO Chris Cargill talks to Scrip about Sosei Heptares’ new identity as Nxera, the ups and downs of being big pharma’s go-to small-molecule drug hunter and its move into commercialization in Japan.

The Swiss group’s head of cardiovascular, renal and metabolism aims to speed its incretins to market, and tackle the plateauing of weight loss and muscle wastage through combinations.    

The German group is spinning off from Eckert & Ziegler and listing in Frankfurt, though a leap to the NASDAQ will likely follow once it has more data on a lymphoma theranostic.

Sharon Barr, AstraZeneca’s executive vice president, biopharmaceuticals R&D, in an interview with Scrip, outlines how the company is using a holistic approach to define a new competitive landscape in the weight loss sector. She also sees new frontiers for the firm and its potential partners both in China and beyond to jointly explore aimed at maintaining healthy muscle mass while decreasing body fat.

In a video interview with Scrip, Syed Husain, CEO of the US-based cell therapy CDMO BioCentriq, talks about the company’s role in parent GC’s growth strategy and business priorities, the cell and gene therapy manufacturing market and his views on the US BIOSECURE Act.

Emerging Company Profile: Danish group Vesper Bio is advancing an oral sortilin inhibitor in frontotemporal dementia, and is aiming to get to market in a similar timeframe to its much larger rivals.    

BMS said Cobenfy’s annual list price of $22,500 is in line with other branded antipsychotics and sees the drug as a 2025 launch given late 2024 approval and ongoing reimbursement talks.

GSK’s India chief talks to Scrip about new category creation in adult immunization with Shingrix seeing strong uptake, Nucala and Trelegy’s trajectory and oncology assets set for debut as the company steps into its 100th year of operation in the country. GSK expects to continue to transform its operating model as things evolve, he indicates in the concluding part of this interview.

The German group's goal of expanding Nubeqa into wider prostate cancer patient populations has probably been reached with the results from the Phase III ARANOTE study, while a combination of its older product Xofigo and Pfizer and Astellas’ Xtandi is set to become standard of care for another subset.

GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals’ MD tells Scrip how the company has been able to reinvent itself, contemporize brands and get supply chain innovation right as the UK-headquartered firm marks 100 years of operations in India. GSK’s equivalent of the 'Amazon model' for vaccine ordering and the new temples of industry are some of the other facets the executive discussed in the first instalment of this two-part interview. 

The IL-13 inhibitor will go up against Regeneron/Sanofi’s Dupixent. Lilly executives talked to Scrip about the US launch.

The Copenhagen-headquartered group is taking its antibody-drug conjugate rinatabart sesutecan into Phase III and chief medical officer Tahi Ahmadi tells Scrip that it has the potential to treat far more women than the only currently marketed FRα-targeting ADC, AbbVie's Elahere.

A redistribution of pharma outsourcing activities, both ex-China and also a wider shift in CDMO work from North America down the line may be in store. A senior McKinsey executive discusses with Scrip these trends in the CDMO sector amid geopolitical tensions, the spurt in customer queries at Indian firms and also facets of the deals scenario.

Human milk could have a role in preventing Alzheimer’s disease and other ailments linked to the gut microbiome, says former Pfizer VP and Hilleman CEO Davinder Gill. He also talks about a halal meningitis vaccine, and tailwinds for an oral cholera vaccine now launched by Bharat Biotech in this fascinating interview

“For 20 or 30 years, we were not seen as a scientific leader,” the French major’s CEO tells Scrip. Now, things have started to change with several positive readouts coming out of its immunology portfolio.

Following the pivotal data on Alnylam’s Amvuttra, all eyes turn to the next amyloidosis readout – that of AstraZeneca and Ionis’ Wainua. And the UK major’s ambitions do not stop there.    

The company has created a single end-to-end cancer R&D organization to help it meet its ambitious oncology goals. Its chief medical officer Cristian Massacesi talks to Scrip about how developments in conducting clinical trials will help.