According to the firm, infectious-disease research advancements could be applied to discovering treatments for millions of hepatitis patients globally.
New GMP rules mean Kangtai Biological Products cannot restart production of a Hepatitis B vaccine wrongly linked to deaths even though authorities now deem it to be safe.
The sixth in a series of periodic roundups of drugs that have moved
from preclinical research into clinical testing via the
announcement of a Phase I trial or an application for a trial to
industry regulators.
Biopharmaceutical firm SciGen has invested $30m (€23.2m) in a
hepatitis B vaccine manufacturing plant in Israel, expecting to
capture up to 15 per cent of the global market during a three year
period.
Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) has announced that the European
Commission has granted an approval for Baraclude (entecavir) for
the treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.
A new polymer drug delivery technology developed by Dutch firm
OctoPlus has cleared Phase I trials for the first time, showing
promise in a new controlled release treatment of chronic hepatitis
C.
Dutch biotechnology firm Crucell has announced it will sell vaccine
manufacturer Rhein Biotech to US company Dynavax for around $12m
(€10m) as it chooses to focus on specialised vaccines such as those
for Ebola and malaria.
Novartis has announced the formation of a collaboration with Anadys
Pharmaceuticals to develop Hepatitis C (HCV) and hepatitis B (HBV)
therapeutics in a deal worth at least $570 million (€466 million).
UK company MicroScience has completed a Phase I study of a new
therapeutic vaccine for patients carrying the hepatitis B virus,
raising the hope of a new approach to tackling this
life-threatening infection.