SynCore Biotechnology Co’s (杏國新藥) new pancreatic cancer drug, SB05, has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for further testing, and it is to carry out phase III clinical trials in conjunction with gemcitabine, the company said yesterday.
SB05 received the same approval from US authorities in April and the company is to continue to seek approval from Europe and other Asian markets, it said.
The 214-person study should be completed by 2020 to meet the company’s goal of commercialization by 2021, it said.
The study is designed as an alternative late-stage treatment for patients who have exhausted other first-line chemotherapy treatments such as Folfirinox, the company said.
SB05 has proven effective when used with gemcitabine, extending patients’ overall survival rate by 18 months, the company said, adding that the treatment has relatively few side effects and low levels of toxicity.
SB05 has also received orphan drug designation in Europe and the US, which expedites the review process, the company said.
The drug is made with its proprietary EndoTAG technology, an anti-tumor cationic liposome that employs positively charged liposomes embedded with paclitaxel, targeting negatively charged cancerous endothelial cells, the company said.
EndoTAG “envelopes” the drug to disrupt the flow of oxygen and nutrients to improve its ability to suppress tumor growth, it said.
Other projects in the company’s new drug pipeline include SB01, a head and neck cancer treatment; SB02, a gastric cancer treatment; and SB04, an eye drop for age-related macular degeneration.
In the pancreatic cancer segment, the company is competing against rivals such as GlycoNex Inc (台灣醣聯), Senhwa Biosciences Inc (生華生物科技) and Aslan Pharmaceuticals Ltd (亞獅康), according to findings by Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧).
SynCore shares yesterday gained 0.5 percent to close at NT$29.95 in Taipei trading.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last