(^14) COMPANY NEWS l BioSpectrum | July 2017 | http://www.biospectrumindia.com
Eli Lilly will acquire worldwide rights from
KeyBioscience to develop and commercialize its
pipeline of dual amylin calcitonin receptor agonists
(DACRAs) for type 2 diabetes and other metabolic
disorders. The companies have agreed to collaborate on
developing new treatments based on KeyBioscience’s
DACRA platform. That pipeline includes KBP-042, now
in Phase II development
as well as KBP-089, KBP-
056, and other candidates
in phases ranging from
preclinical to Phase I.
The dual activation of
calcitonin and amylin
receptors can successfully
improve insulin sensitivity,
suppress food intake, reduce fat deposition, improve
blood glucose levels, and cause weight reduction.
Lilly agreed to pay KeyBioscience an initial
$55 million, plus additional undisclosed payments
tied to achieving development, regulatory, and
commercialization milestones, as well as tiered
royalties on future sales. KeyBioscience is a fully
owned subsidiary of Nordic Bioscience, a global drug
development organization specializing in clinical
research and innovative biomarker research focused on
connective tissue diseases.
Eli Lilly collaborates
with Key Bioscience
Cognizant announced the launch of the TriZetto
Healthcare Cloud Solution, a new secure, compliant
managed services platform for healthcare payers
of any size, powered by Microsoft Azure.
The TriZetto Healthcare Cloud Solution
provides a flexible, efficient on-demand
infrastructure for increased operational efficiency,
automation and reduced administrative costs.
Based on Cognizant’s TriZetto Facets and QNXT
end-to-end core administration software, the
new solution is available on Azure, Microsoft’s
HITRUST CSF-certified cloud platform.
A managed services cloud solution enables
healthcare organizations to pay only for the
infrastructure they use, be more innovative
and better respond to shifting regulations and
reforms.
The new TriZetto Healthcare Cloud
Solution is being implemented by Wisconsin
Physicians Service Insurance Corporation (WPS
Health Solutions), a leading not-for-profit
health insurer. Based in Madison, Wisconsin,
WPS Health Solutions plans to migrate its
administration infrastructure to the cloud to
improve efficiencies and member experience and
more rapidly introduce innovative new products
across its plans.
Phase 1 human clinical trials of the indigenously
developed Chikungunya (CHIKV) vaccine by Bharat
Biotech is underway in India to evaluate the vaccine’s
safety, tolerability and immunogenicity. The placebo
controlled study involving 60
healthy volunteers would test
escalating doses of the vaccine in
prime-boost regimen.
The bone-breaking mosquito
borne viral fever that caused the
major 2006 epidemic possibly
entered India from the Indian Ocean
islands, and Bharat Biotech was the
first Company to have isolated and characterised the
epidemic strain.
Bharat Biotech developed the CHIK vaccine using
an isolate of the virus from Indian epidemic. The
inactivated virus vaccine developed by the in-house
R&D was found to be safe and immunogenic in pre-
clinical animal testing. After successful completion
of product development and pre-clinical testing, the
candidate vaccine was approved by the DCG(I) for
Phase 1 clinical trials in 2016.
The candidate vaccine under
development cross neutralized
CHIKV isolates of the Asian genotype
isolated in 1963 and isolates from
the successive Indian epidemics
caused by the East Central South
African (ECSA) genotype since
- While CHIKV exists as three
genotypes, there is only a single
serotype of the virus. The candidate vaccine developed
by Bharat Biotech effectively cross neutralized both the
Asian and ECSA CHIKV genotypes.
If phase 1 clinical testing is successful, Bharat
Biotech plans to advance the vaccine into Phase II/III
clinical development.
Clinical trials for Bharat Biotech’s Chikungunya vaccine
Cognizant
introduces healthcare
administration platform