On July 21, 2021 AmerisourceBergen (NYSE: ABC), Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH) and McKesson (NYSE: MCK) reported that they have negotiated a comprehensive proposed settlement agreement which, if all conditions are satisfied, would result in the settlement of a substantial majority of opioid lawsuits filed by state and local governmental entities (Press release, Cardinal Health, JUL 21, 2021, View Source [SID1234585008]).

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While the companies strongly dispute the allegations made in these lawsuits, they believe the proposed settlement agreement and settlement process it establishes, which is outlined below, are important steps toward achieving broad resolution of governmental opioid claims and delivering meaningful relief to communities across the United States. The companies remain deeply concerned about the impact the opioid epidemic is having on individuals, families, and communities across the nation and are committed to being part of the solution.

The proposed settlement agreement is the result of years of negotiation with state attorneys general and representatives of the subdivisions. If the proposed settlement agreement and settlement process leads to final settlement through the process outlined below, it would collectively provide thousands of communities across the United States up to approximately $21 billion over 18 years. It would also establish a clearinghouse that consolidates data from all three distributors, which will be available to the settling states to use as part of their anti-diversion efforts.

Subject to certain future milestones described below and the level of participation, the companies would be responsible for up to the following contributions, payable over 18 years:

AmerisourceBergen: $6.4 billion
Cardinal Health: $6.4 billion
McKesson: $7.9 billion
The proposed settlement agreement would become binding only if all conditions outlined below are satisfied:

Approval of State and
Territorial Participation

For the next 30 days, all U.S. States, territories and Washington DC will have the opportunity to join the settlement, except West Virginia which settled previously with the companies. After the conclusion of the state sign-on period, each company will independently determine whether a sufficient number of states have joined to warrant continuing with the political subdivision sign-on period.

Approval of Political
Subdivision Participation

If the distributors decide that sufficient states have joined, each participating state will continue to offer its political subdivisions, including those that have not sued, the opportunity to participate in the settlement for an additional 120-day period. After the conclusion of the political subdivision sign-on period, each company will independently determine whether a sufficient number of states and a sufficient number of political subdivisions have joined for the settlement to proceed to implementation.

If the conditions are satisfied, the settlement would become effective 60 days after the distributors determine that there is sufficient participation to proceed. During this 60-day period, the participating states and the distributors would cooperate to obtain consent judgments in each participating state embodying the terms of the settlement. The companies will make their first annual settlement payment into escrow on or before September 30, 2021, and the payment will be disbursed following the effective date, or returned to distributors if the settlement does not become effective.

If, however, a settlement cannot be finalized and plaintiffs instead choose to pursue their claims in court, the companies will continue to assert their strong legal defenses in pending litigation.

This settlement process only addresses the claims of U.S. state attorneys general and political subdivisions in participating states. The West Virginia subdivisions and Native American tribes are not part of this settlement process.

On July 21, 2021 Viracta Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: VIRX), a precision oncology company targeting virus-associated malignancies, reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared Viracta’s Investigational New Drug (IND) application to proceed into a Phase 1b/2 trial in patients with EBV+ recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (RM-NPC) and other EBV+ solid tumors (Press release, Viracta Therapeutics, JUL 21, 2021, View Source [SID1234585007]). The global Phase 1b/2 trial is designed to evaluate the safety and preliminary efficacy of Viracta’s all-oral combination regimen in advanced EBV+ solid tumors (including EBV+ RM-NPC), and in combination with the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab in EBV+ RM-NPC. Initiation of the trial is expected in the second half of 2021.

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"Clearance of this IND application is a crucial milestone that underscores the broader applicability of our therapeutic approach to treating patients with EBV-associated malignancies," said Lisa Rojkjaer, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Viracta. "EBV is the primary etiologic agent for NPC, one of the most commonly reported head and neck cancers worldwide. Patients with RM-NPC have a poor prognosis, with no standard treatment options for second or later lines of therapy, and median overall survival of less than 20 months. PD-L1 is known to be highly expressed by NPC and preliminary response rates of 20%-30% have been reported with PD-1 inhibitors for RM-NPC. Given the encouraging activity seen in our Phase 1b/2 trial of nanatinostat and valganciclovir in patients with EBV+ recurrent lymphomas, we now turn to evaluating this combination in patients with other EBV+ malignancies and explore potential synergies with checkpoint inhibition."

Ivor Royston, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Viracta, added, "Expansion into our solid tumor program is an important component of our clinical and corporate strategy, and one that could significantly expand our addressable patient population and unlock significant value to shareholders. Our all-oral combination regimen represents a promising new therapeutic approach to patients with EBV+ solid tumors, and I’m very pleased that the program is progressing as planned and look forward to its continued advancement."

The Phase 1b dose escalation portion of the trial is designed to evaluate safety, pharmacokinetics, and determine the recommended Phase 2 dosing regimen of nanatinostat and valganciclovir for expansion in patients with EBV+ solid tumors. In Phase 2, the safety, preliminary efficacy and potential pharmacodynamic markers of nanatinostat and valganciclovir together and in combination with pembrolizumab will be evaluated in EBV+ RM-NPC patients.

About Nanatinostat

Nanatinostat (VRx-3996) is an orally available histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor being developed by Viracta. Nanatinostat is selective for specific isoforms of Class I HDACs, which is key to inducing viral genes that are epigenetically silenced in EBV-associated malignancies. The nanatinostat and valganciclovir combination is being investigated in multiple subtypes of relapsed/refractory EBV+ lymphoma in two ongoing Phase 2 trials, one of which is a registration-enabling global, multicenter, open-label basket trial.

On July 21, 2021 Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and BioNTech SE (Nasdaq: BNTX) reported the signing of a letter of intent with The Biovac Institute (Pty) Ltd, known as "Biovac", a Cape Town-based, South African biopharmaceutical company, to manufacture the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for distribution within the African Union (Press release, BioNTech, JUL 21, 2021, View Source [SID1234585005]).

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Biovac will perform manufacturing and distribution activities within Pfizer’s and BioNTech’s global COVID-19 vaccine supply chain and manufacturing network, which will now span three continents and include more than 20 manufacturing facilities. To facilitate Biovac’s involvement in the process, technical transfer, on-site development and equipment installation activities will begin immediately.

Pfizer and BioNTech expect that Biovac’s Cape Town facility will be incorporated into the vaccine supply chain by the end of 2021. Biovac will obtain drug substance from facilities in Europe, and manufacturing of finished doses will commence in 2022. At full operational capacity, the annual production will exceed 100 million finished doses annually. All doses will exclusively be distributed within the 55 member states that make up the African Union.

"From day one, our goal has been to provide fair and equitable access of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to everyone, everywhere," said Albert Bourla, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Pfizer. "Our latest collaboration with Biovac is a shining example of the tireless work being done, in this instance to benefit Africa. We will continue to explore and pursue opportunities to bring new partners into our supply chain network, including in Latin America, to further accelerate access of COVID-19 vaccines."

"We aim to enable people on all continents to manufacture and distribute our vaccine while ensuring the quality of the manufacturing process and the doses," said Ugur Sahin, M.D., CEO and Co-founder of BioNTech. "We believe that our mRNA technology can be used to develop vaccine candidates addressing other diseases as well. This is why we will continue to evaluate sustainable approaches that will support the development and production of mRNA vaccines on the African continent."

"We are thrilled to collaborate with Pfizer and BioNTech to produce and distribute the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine within Africa. This is testament of the long-standing relationship we have had with Pfizer through the Prevenar 13 vaccine," said Dr. Morena Makhoana, CEO of Biovac, "This is a critical step forward in strengthening sustainable access to a vaccine in the fight against this tragic, worldwide pandemic. We believe this collaboration will create opportunity to more broadly distribute vaccine doses to people in harder-to-reach communities, especially those on the African continent."

Pfizer and BioNTech select contract manufacturers using a rigorous selection process based on several factors: quality, compliance, safety track record, technical capability, capacity availability, highly trained workforce, project management abilities, prior working relationship, and commitment to working with flexibility through a fast-paced program. Pfizer and Biovac have worked together since 2015 on the sterile formulation, fill, finish and distribution of the Prevenar 13 vaccine.

To date, Pfizer and BioNTech have shipped more than 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to more than 100 countries or territories in every region of the world. The companies are firmly committed to working towards equitable and affordable access for COVID-19 vaccines for all people around the world, actively working with global governments as well as global health partners with the aim to provide 2 billion doses to low and middle income countries in 2021 and 2022 – 1 billion each year. This includes an agreement to supply 500 million doses to the U.S. Government at a not-for-profit price, that the government will, in turn, donate to the African Union and the COVAX 92 Advanced Market Commitment (AMC) countries, as well as a direct supply agreement with the COVAX facility for 40 million doses.

The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, which is based on BioNTech’s proprietary mRNA technology, was developed by both BioNTech and Pfizer. BioNTech is the Marketing Authorization Holder in the European Union, and the holder of emergency use authorizations or equivalent in the United States (jointly with Pfizer), Canada and other countries in advance of a planned application for full marketing authorizations in these countries.

The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine has not been approved or licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but has been authorized for emergency use by FDA under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to prevent Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) for use in individuals 12 years of age and older. The emergency use of this product is only authorized for the duration of the declaration that circumstances exist justifying the authorization of emergency use of the medical product under Section 564 (b) (1) of the FD&C Act unless the declaration is terminated or authorization revoked sooner. Please see Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) Fact Sheet for Healthcare Providers Administering Vaccine (Vaccination Providers) and Full EUA Prescribing Information available at www.cvdvaccine-us.com.

AUTHORIZED USE IN THE U.S.:
The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID19 vaccine is authorized for use under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for active immunization to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in individuals 12 years of age and older.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION FROM U.S. FDA EMERGENCY USE AUTHORIZATION PRESCRIBING INFORMATION:

Do not administer Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to individuals with known history of a severe allergic reaction (eg, anaphylaxis) to any component of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine
Appropriate medical treatment used to manage immediate allergic reactions must be immediately avai lable in the event an acute anaphylactic reaction occurs following administration of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine
Monitor Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine recipients for the occurrence of immediate adverse reactions according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines (View Source)
Reports of adverse events following use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine under EUA suggest increased risks of myocarditis and pericarditis, particularly following the second dose. The decision to administer the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine to an individual with a history of myocarditis or pericarditis should take into account the individual’s clinical circumstances
Syncope (fainting) may occur in association with administration of injectable vaccines, in particular in adolescents. Procedures should be in place to avoid injury from fainting
Immunocompromised persons, including individuals receiving immunosuppressant therapy, may have a diminished immune response to the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine
The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine may not protect all vaccine recipients
In clinical studies, adverse reactions in participants 16 years of age and older included pain at the injection site (84.1%), fatigue (62.9%), headache (55.1%), muscle pain (38.3%), chills (31.9%), joint pain (23.6%), fever (14.2%), injection site swelling (10.5%), injection site redness (9.5%), nausea (1.1%), malaise (0.5%), and lymphadenopathy (0.3%)
In a clinical study, adverse reactions in adolescents 12 through 15 years of age included pain at the injection site (90.5%), fatigue (77.5%), headache (75.5%), chills (49.2%), muscle pain (42.2%), fever 3 (24.3%), joint pain (20.2%), injection site swelling (9.2%), injection site redness (8.6%), lymphadenopathy (0.8%), and nausea (0.4%)
Following administration of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, the following have been reported outside of clinical trials:
severe allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, and other hypersensitivity reactions, diarrhea, vomiting, and pain in extremity (arm)
myocarditis and pericarditis
Additional adverse reactions, some of which may be serious, may become apparent with more widespread use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine
Available data on Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine administered to pregnant women are insufficient to inform vaccine-associated risks in pregnancy
Data are not available to assess the effects of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine on the breastfed infant or on milk production/excretion
There are no data available on the interchangeability of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine with other COVID-19 vaccines to complete the vaccination series. Individuals who have received one dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine should receive a second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine to complete the vaccination series
Vaccination providers must report Adverse Events in accordance with the Fact Sheet to VAERS online at View Source For further assistance with reporting to VAERS call 1-800-822-7967. The reports should include the words "Pfizer- BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine EUA" in the description section of the report
Vaccination providers should review the Fact Sheet for Information to Provide to Vaccine Recipients/Caregivers and Mandatory Requirements for Pfizer-BioNTech COVID- 19 Vaccine Administration Under Emergency Use Authorization
Before administration of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, please see Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) Fact Sheet for Healthcare Providers Administering Vaccine (Vaccination Providers) including Full EUA Prescribing Information available at www.cvdvaccine-us.com

On July 21, 2021 Alkermes plc (Nasdaq: ALKS) reported that it will host a conference call and webcast presentation at 8:00 a.m. ET (1:00 p.m. BST) on Wednesday, July 28, 2021 to discuss the company’s second quarter 2021 financial results (Press release, Alkermes, JUL 21, 2021, View Source [SID1234585004]). Management will also provide an update on the company.

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The webcast player and accompanying slides may be accessed on the Investors section of Alkermes’ website at www.alkermes.com. The conference call may be accessed by dialing +1 877 407 2988 for U.S. callers and +1 201 389 0923 for international callers. A replay of the webcast will be available approximately two hours after the completion of the event and may be accessed by visiting Alkermes’ website.

On July 12, 2021 ORPHELIA Pharma, a French biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development and marketing of pediatric and orphan drugs and Clinigen Group plc (AIM: CLIN, ‘Clinigen’), the global pharmaceutical Products and Services company, reported that they have signed an exclusive agreement to manage the supply and distribution of Kigabeq into unlicensed markets (Press release, ORPHELIA Pharma, JUL 21, 2021, View Source [SID1234585002]).

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Kigabeq was granted a European Paediatric Use Marketing Authorization (PUMA) in September 2018 and is currently approved for the treatment of infantile spasms (West Syndrome) and pharmaco-resistant focal-onset seizures (partial seizures).

Under the terms of the agreement, Clinigen will provide access to Kigabeq 500 mg and 100 mg soluble tablets into markets where Kigabeq is not commercially available. Clinigen will manage all elements of the supply including healthcare practitioner enquiry management, regulatory oversight, logistics and access management. The agreement currently covers all global territories except for USA, China, EU, UK and Bangladesh.

Sam Herbert, Chief Operating Officer and Head of Products Division, Clinigen, said: "We are pleased to be partnering with ORPHELIA Pharma and to be supplying Kigabeq through our product lifecycle platform. This agreement will offer healthcare professionals another option to treat difficult-to-manage types of epilepsy. This is a great example of how Clinigen’s lifecycle platform can help patients source medicines which are not otherwise available."

Hugues Bienaymé, General Manager of ORPHELIA Pharma added: "We are delighted to have entered into this collaboration with Clinigen. With this agreement, our ambition to make Kigabeq available worldwide, will be fulfilled."

Healthcare professionals can obtain details about the products by calling the Clinigen customer service team at +44 (0) 1932 824100, emailing [email protected] or going online at www.clinigendirect.com.

Patients seeking medical information should contact their physician.