PITTSBURGH, PA / BOCA RATON, FL - As part of its goal of transforming care for its patients through translational research, UPMC today announced a collaboration with PharmaLogic Holdings Corp. to facilitate the development of novel radiopharmaceuticals for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other diseases. The partners will jointly construct a world-class radiopharmaceutical research, production and distribution facility in Pittsburgh, expected to be one of the largest such centers in the United States. 

Under the terms of the non-exclusive agreement, PharmaLogic and UPMC will translate investigational radiopharmaceuticals into clinically relevant drugs for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, cardiovascular and other diseases. The partnership will provide access to novel diagnostic and therapeutic agents not currently available to the communities surrounding UPMC, benefiting patients and clinicians alike.

"This innovative partnership will allow us to produce cutting-edge therapies that, due to their nature, can't be brought in from distant facilities and, therefore, aren’t currently available for patients in our communities," said Alfred L’Altrelli, Pharm.D., senior director of pharmacy at UPMC. “Even beyond the immediate benefit to our patients, this collaboration will transform our clinical research infrastructure, allowing us to not only discover new molecules but also take them through all phases of research and development into mainstream production for future patients.”

PharmaLogic will manage and co-fund a world-class Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) facility on the UPMC campus in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh. As a well-established and highly experienced contract development and manufacturing organization, PharmaLogic possesses the expertise necessary to build, outfit and manage a successful radiopharmaceutical production facility. In addition to investing in the facility, UPMC will be the anchor clinical customer and provide strategic, research and operational support in a market expected to grow at double-digit rates through the end of the decade.

“It is a privilege for PharmaLogic to participate in this partnership with UPMC, which will provide patients and clinicians with first-in-line access to novel radiopharmaceuticals,” said Scott Holbrook, chief strategy officer and general manager for PharmaLogic. “The establishment of this partnership marks a significant milestone for our organization toward achieving the goal of collaborating with leading health care institutions. Given the expertise and reputation of UPMC, this facility will serve as a center of excellence globally for years to come.”

Timothy R. Billiar, M.D., UPMC executive vice president and chief scientific officer, said, “UPMC is dedicated to providing the highest quality, affordable care to our patients and communities. By collaborating with PharmaLogic, we can offer our patients the latest therapeutic options in this area of high unmet clinical need. We will continue to work with our research colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh and with support from UPMC Enterprises to keep us at the cutting edge of this rapidly evolving field of medicine.” 

PRINCETON, NJ - Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved commercial production at the company’s newest cell therapy manufacturing facility in Devens, Massachusetts. The Devens site is a critical component of BMS’ expanding global cell therapy manufacturing footprint for long-term supply of the company’s cell therapy portfolio.

“The Devens facility integrates the latest state-of-the-art technology in the industry with top talent in the Boston area that will take us into the next phase of our cell therapy journey,” said Karin Shanahan, executive vice president, Global Product Development & Supply, Bristol Myers Squibb. “We are working diligently to increase our product capacity through new sites like Devens and by implementing innovative manufacturing solutions that help patients in need.”

Manufacturing autologous cell therapies is both operationally and technically complex because they are uniquely created using an individual patient’s own T cells as the starting material. Each batch of engineered T cells is manufactured individually and infused back to the original cancer patient. It is important to develop reliable quality supply with rapid turnaround time. The expansion of the company’s global manufacturing footprint is critical to supplying these products to patients with unmet needs around the world.

“Bristol Myers Squibb’s vision of putting more patients on a path to potential cure starts with delivering on the promise of our current product portfolio and future pipeline,” said Lynelle Hoch, senior vice president, Global Cell Therapy Franchise Lead, Bristol Myers Squibb. “Today’s approval underscores our commitment to deliver our transformational CAR T cell therapies to more patients.”

The new 244,000 square foot cell therapy manufacturing facility represents the second significant expansion of BMS’ 89-acre Devens site, which has been developing, producing, and testing clinical and commercial medicines for over a decade. The Devens facility creates over 500 new cell therapy jobs and reflects BMS’ continued leadership and growth in the Boston area’s dynamic life sciences community. BMS also operates two R&D facilities in Cambridge, Massachusetts and will bring these two sites together into a new building at Cambridge Crossing later in 2023.

Devens adds to the company’s robust global network of three state-of-the-art cell therapy manufacturing facilities in Bothell, Washington; Warren, New Jersey; and Summit, New Jersey, with another manufacturing site in development in Leiden, Netherlands. BMS recently announced the addition of a new manufacturing facility and its operations for in-house viral vector production in Libertyville, Illinois, further strengthening the company’s cell therapy capabilities.*

*The new U.S. facility is planned to transition to Bristol Myers Squibb over the course of 2023, subject to the fulfillment of applicable closing conditions.

CarepathRx, a leader in pharmacy and medication management solutions, today announced a specialty pharmacy partnership with Southeast Health, a non-profit community health system based in Dothan, Alabama. As part of this agreement, CarepathRx will partner with Southeast Health to build and execute a comprehensive specialty pharmacy program with frontline staff services including intake, financial assistance, counseling, prior authorizations, and more.  Southeast Health is a 430-bed hospital serving the residents southeast Alabama, southwest Georgia, and the Florida Panhandle.

BOTHELL, WA - Following a special meeting of its stockholders, Seagen Inc. (Nasdaq: SGEN) today announced that its stockholders voted to approve a proposal to adopt the previously announced merger agreement under which Pfizer will acquire Seagen for $229 per share in cash. More than 99% of the shares voted at the meeting, representing approximately 88% of the shares of Seagen common stock issued and outstanding as of the record date for the special meeting, were voted in favor of the proposal to adopt the merger agreement.

“We are pleased with the outcome of today’s special meeting vote to approve Seagen’s acquisition by Pfizer and thank our stockholders for their support for this compelling transaction,” said David Epstein, Chief Executive Officer of Seagen. “The affirmative vote brings us one step closer to joining with Pfizer to accelerate our ability to deliver transformative cancer medicines to more patients in need around the world.”

Seagen will file the final, certified voting results in a Form 8-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Subject to the fulfillment of customary closing conditions, including receipt of required regulatory approvals, the acquisition is expected to close in late 2023 or early 2024.