💉Gingko Bio becomes Gingko Buyo; Ipsen enters the ADC race; Bird flu enters the conversation, again

#511 | A clinical trial for Lassa fever; A polio vaccine shortage for India; New hope against autoimmune conditions

Apr 05, 2024

Hello, and welcome back to The Kable, your weekly dose (dose, geddit?) of news and more from the life sciences with a healthy helping of fear mongering mixed in. No, wait, the fear-mongering in this week's issue is necessary.

But more on that later.

First, some good news. Lassa fever has been severely neglected when it comes to vaccines, even though it has been endemic in parts of Africa for ages now. Neglected no more because the first-ever participants in a phase 2 vaccine trial have just been dosed in Nigeria.

But with good news comes bad. Still in Nigeria. What's the bad news, you ask? Oh nothing, simply that drug prices have gone through the roof. But obviously, GSK and Sanofi exiting the market had nothing to do with it.

This very nicely brings us to our next story... the imperative of local manufacturing in Africa. And the Africa CDC has a note on how it plans to address regulatory challenges in attaining this imperative.

Over in India, surprise, surprise, many commonly used drugs have failed routine quality tests. How many? How about 58?

Speaking of India... it looks like the country is staring a polio vaccine shortage in the face with Sanofi shutting down plants. This is even as Sanofi gets approval for an injectable polio vaccine. Good news then that Bharat Biotech and Bilthoven Biologicals are teaming up to make and distribute OPVs. Amid all this, the country's largest vaccine maker, Serum Institute, says it won't allow a vaccine shortage.

The WHO has had a busy time lately, too. Doing what? Mostly make-busy work. Like for starters, it has launched SARAH, or Smart AI Resource Assistant for Health, a generative AI assistant designed to provide information on major health topics such as healthy lifestyle habits and mental health. Because why not? The WHO has also collated all the swine flu outbreaks and the bird flu outbreaks around the world in 2023.

Elsewhere, MSF released a study that claims there is a double standard at play when it comes to diabetes care globally. This is one of those studies that didn't need to exist. Because we already know that double standards exist.

In distressing news, we should be prepared for longer working days apparently. Why? Because of climate change, that's why.

Artificial sweeteners is a topic we've touched upon several times in past issues of The Kable. Mostly to positive effect. In more good news on that front, new evidence from a randomised controlled trial says artificial sweeteners don't increase your appetite.

And finally, Australia, where climate change means the country is looking at 20-year-long megadroughts not too far into the future. As if there weren't enough things already to kill you in Australia.

Stories Of The Week

Does it give you wings? Remember the fear-mongering we spoke about in our introduction up top? Well, that is this week's top story. Not fear. But bird flu. And experts cautioning that a lack of immunity (well, duh) could cause a pandemic. So, how did bird flu come back into pandemic contention again? Well, you know the two dairy farms in the US where cows were diagnosed with bird flu we told you about last week? That has now spread to cows in five different states in the US. Oh, and one human who came in contact with one of the infected cows at one of the original farms in Texas last week has also contracted bird flu. This is only the second time a human has been infected with bird flu in the US. Over in Vietnam, a person actually died of bird flu. Birds are also still getting infected, with the largest egg producer in the US saying chickens at its plant in Texas are infected. The US CDC says it is monitoring all cases and considering the possibility of animal to human transmission seriously. In The Kable, we've been tracking bird flu for a while now, and now that it is spreading so rapidly among different species in the US as well, maybe the larger scientific community will take note, too. Hey, one lives in hope.
(Reuters, Reuters, AP News, Cidrap, AP News, Yahoo!)

Bye-bye bugs, Hello longer lives. Elsewhere, a new study in The Lancet found global life expectancy has increased by over 6 years since 1990, primarily driven by reduced deaths from diarrhoea, respiratory infections, stroke, and heart disease. However, the COVID-19 pandemic derailed progress in many regions. Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Oceania saw the largest life expectancy gains due to better management of chronic diseases and COVID-19. Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America were hit hardest by COVID-19 deaths. While deaths from infectious diseases like diarrhoea declined sharply, the study highlights growing threats from non-communicable diseases like diabetes and kidney diseases across all countries. High-income nations made more progress against heart disease, stroke and cancer compared to low-income countries.
(The Lancet)

Breakthroughs

Chemo combo gives cancer a gut punch. A new study found that combining two epigenetic cancer drugs - the DNA methyltransferase inhibitor decitabine and the EZH2 inhibitor tazemetorik - packs a powerful one-two punch against colorectal cancer cells. Researchers showed that this drug duo can prime cancer cells to be more vulnerable to immune system attacks better than either drug alone. While these drugs are approved for blood cancers, they haven't worked well yet on solid tumours like colorectal cancer. However, this combination approach could improve their effectiveness, providing a promising new treatment avenue backed by compelling cell study data.
(Science Advances)

Taking aim at autoimmune conditions. Mayo Clinic researchers have developed a novel immunotherapy approach that combines chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to create engineered CAR-MSCs. This combo therapy homes in on disease sites with more precise targeting while boosting anti-inflammatory effects. In preclinical studies, CAR-MSCs effectively treated graft-versus-host disease and inflammatory bowel conditions by migrating to inflamed areas and dampening immune attacks on healthy tissues. With this promising new platform, the researchers aim to reduce or eliminate the need for long-term autoimmune disease medications.
(Nature Biomedical Engineering)

Corporate

Shopping spree continues unabated. It has been a fairly low-key week in the corporate world. Not so low-key that it could prevent Gingko Bio from making yet another buy - it's fourth in no time. Its latest purchase saw Gingko buy startup Modulus Therapeutics, gaining access to its cell therapies. Elsewhere, Ipsen kept the hot streak in ADC acquisitions going, licensing a phase 1-ready asset for a novel cancer target from Sutro Biopharma with $900 million upfront. And in the biggest deal of the week, Denmark-based Genmab is paying $1.8 billion for ProfoundBio, gaining access to tech for developing ADCs. Because hey, someone somewhere will someday buy it, no?
(Gingko, Ipsen, Genmab)

Bottom line

Longer, slower and hotter. In a world increasingly warmed by human activity, heatwaves are throwing longer, more stubborn parties across the globe. A new study says that from 1979 to 2020, these scorching events have not only decided to stay from an average of 8 to 12 days, but they're also taking their time, moving from one place to another at a leisurely pace—slowing down from 340 kilometres per day to about 280. And that's not all... they're also making more frequent stops and affecting larger areas than ever before. Study authors predict these heatwaves will double their stay to 16 days by 2060, threatening more severe impacts on both society and nature. And though they may be slower, these heatwaves cover more ground, leaving a trail of increased hospitalisations and fatalities in their wake. This transformation hints at a future where the resilience of communities and ecosystems will be tested like never before. Quickly, turn that AC on.
(Science Advances)

The invisible invasion. Climate change isn't just about the dramatic scenes of wildfires, floods, and heatwaves; it's also quietly disrupting the human immune system, making us more susceptible to a range of diseases. The incidence of diseases linked to immune health, like nasal allergies, food allergies, rheumatoid arthritis, and even certain cancers, has been rising. This isn't solely due to climate change - factors like poor diets, lack of exercise, and stress also play a role. However, the impact of environmental stressors, from air pollution to loss of biodiversity, cannot be ignored. These changes compromise our body's defences and its ability to rebuild them, affecting everything from nutrient-rich food availability to our exposure to a healthy variety of microbes. Addressing this hidden crisis requires tackling climate change at its root, implementing policies that not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions but also bolster our resilience against these invisible threats. Doing so could save more in healthcare costs than it costs to act, proving that fighting climate change is not just good for the planet but also for our health.
(Stat News)

Climate culprits. A recent study has pinpointed that just 57 key players, including countries and major companies, are behind a whopping 80% of the carbon dioxide emissions from 2016 to 2022, thanks to their fossil fuel and cement shenanigans. Despite global vows for a cleaner future with the 2015 Paris Agreement, these entities, led by heavyweights like Saudi Aramco, Gazprom, and Coal India, have actually upped their pollution game, contributing to a record spike in CO2 levels last year. The report by InfluenceMap isn't just pointing fingers for the sake of it; it aims to boost accountability, serving as a tool for everything from legal battles to academic research. Meanwhile, it's clear that the more things are supposed to change, the more they stay the same, with a side of rising global temperatures.
(InfluenceMap)

Long reads

A climate tale from Nigeria. In the southeastern Nigerian city of Abakaliki, experts are witnessing firsthand the burgeoning impacts of climate change, manifested through increasing encounters with rats and the consequent rise in Lassa fever cases. Climate change is amplifying both the frequency of rat infestations and human influx into hospitals, plagued by the viral disease these rodents carry. The once sporadic outbreaks have become a regular occurrence, underscoring an urgent call for international attention. And, as climate change continues to warp seasonal patterns, it not only fosters conditions conducive to Lassa fever's spread but also other diseases like Rift Valley Fever, driven by the mobility of rats, insects, and other animals into new habitats. This CEPI article highlights this shift that underscores a broader ecological crisis, where climate-induced migrations heighten the risk of disease spillovers from animals to humans.
(CEPI)

Oh, and Gopal Nair doesn't want you to see this.