JULY , 2023 | THE HEALTH

According to investment bank Stifel , the large cash reserves that big pharma amassed during the Covid-19 pandemic as well as investor concerns about prospects of growth are driving the increase in mergers & acquisitions ( M & A ) compared to only US $ 35 billion in deals in the same period of last year and US $ 49 billion a year prior .

According to an analysis by EY , the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world had more than US $ 1.4 trillion in dealmaking power at the start of the year . Patents are set to expire at the end of the decade , making US $ 200 billion in the top-selling branded drugs vulnerable to generic competition and reducing profits .

Pfizer , Sanofi , and Merck appear to have taken the lead in 2023 ’ s M & A revival by announcing acquisitions worth billions of dollars , despite

RESEARCHERS HAVE discovered a novel therapy by combining two antibiotics , rifaximin and clarithromycin , to treat Mycobacterium abscessus ( M . abscessus ), a non-tuberculous mycobacterium ( NTM ) that causes chronic lung-related infections .

The researchers were from the Antimicrobial Resistance ( AMR ) Interdisciplinary Research Group ( IRG ) at Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology ( SMART ), MIT ’ s research enterprise in Singapore , in collaboration with Nanyang Technological University Singapore ( NTU Singapore ) and National University Hospital ( NUH ),

Infections caused by NTM are a fast-growing health concern worldwide , particularly in the context of lung-related infections . Among NTMs , M . abscessus is one of the most prevalent , causing pulmonary infections in humans with immune deficiencies or underlying lung conditions .

M . abscessus has also been linked to severe infections in various other parts of the body , including the skin , joints , soft tissues , and surgical sites . These infections are difficult to treat due to the bacterium ’ s extensive innate resistance to many commonly used antibiotics .

Currently , M . abscessus infections are treated by a multidrug regimen that includes clarithromycin , but some M . abscessus subspecies acquire resistance upon repeated dealmaking in other markets stalling due to rising interest rates and tighter lending standards at the banks ’ end .

But at one of North America ’ s largest biotech conferences recently in Boston , US , company executives , bankers , and industry analysts were not rejoicing in the return of dealmaking . They were concerned about the growing danger that the US antitrust regulators have started moving forward with a crackdown regarding the sector ’ s consolidation . Over the past 20 years , the importance of small to mid-sized biotech companies engaged in drug development has increased significantly .

It is important to note that by 2022 , emerging biotech companies will have historically produced 65 per cent of the molecules in the R & D pipeline without the assistance of a larger company , an increase from less than 50 per cent in 2016 and 34 per cent in 2001 .

The amount of funding raised by biopharma companies fell by 54 per cent from 2021 to 2022 , reaching $ 54.66 billion , the lowest level since 2016 .

Many businesses are having trouble raising capital due to the IPO market freeze , rising interest rates , and the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank , which also happened to be one of the major financiers of the biotech industry .

According to experts , companies looking to proceed with significant takeovers face uncertainty and risk due to government regulators ’ increased willingness to intervene in the market .

exposure to the drug . As a result , available treatment options are limited , leading to prolonged and recurrent infections and even fatalities in some cases .

With clarithromycin being the mainstay of NTM treatments and currently the only highly effective oral antibiotic for treating M . abscessus infections , there is an urgent medical need for the identification of compounds that are clarithromycin potentiators in order to effectively restore clarithromycin efficacy against M . abscessus .

A recent study by SMART researchers , “ Rifaximin potentiates clarithromycin against Mycobacterium abscessus in vitro and in zebrafish ”, published in the scientific journal , JAC-Antimicrobial Resistance , revealed promising findings on the use of rifaximin ( an antibiotic commonly used to treat gastrointestinal bacterial infections ) as a clarithromycin potentiator with the ability to increase clarithromycin sensitivity and improve its ability to kill M . abscessus .

“ We recognise the urgent need to address the growing problem of clarithromycin resistance in M . abscessus and are pleased to have discovered rifaximin as a potent clarithromycin potentiator . Despite being primarily used for gastrointestinal infections and having limited activity against drugresistant M . abscessus , our study demonstrated the synergistic effect of rifaximin with clarithromycin in effectively eliminating the bacteria ,” said Dr Boon Chong Goh , first author of the paper and Principal Research Scientist at SMART AMR .

“ With limited treatments available due to M . abscessus innate resistance to most antibiotics , including clarithromycin , the novel discovery of the strong combination between rifaximin and clarithromycin is a significant step towards addressing the challenge of treating NTM infections ,” added Prof Peter C Dedon , corresponding author of the paper , Co-Lead Principal Investigator at SMART AMR and Professor at MIT .

DOW , A GLOBAL materials science company , announced on June 20 , 2023 its collaboration with Procter & Gamble China ( P & G China ) for an air capsule e-commerce packaging . The air capsule , enabled by P & G China ’ s innovation and Dow ’ s materials , aims to effectively and efficiently protect products while avoiding excessive packaging in e-commerce and facilitating recyclability .

The air capsule packaging is a significant milestone in advancing sustainability for the e-commerce industry , offering benefits such as :

• Reduction of > 40 per cent in material weight compared to traditional corrugated parcel boxes , thus requiring only 25 per cent of original trucking and 75 per cent less warehouse space

• Safe and reliable cushion protection

• Enabling recyclability through an all-PE mono-material structure “ The rise of e-commerce has inevitably generated an increase in packaging waste . At Dow , our role is to develop materials that enable betterperforming , sustainable packaging that is designed for recyclability from the start . Through our collaboration with P & G China , we not only meet the needs of consumer brands and e-retailers but also enable consumers to do their part with materials that close the loop on packaging waste ,” said Bambang Candra , Asia Pacific commercial vice president , Dow Packaging & Specialty Plastics .

E-commerce packaging typically consists of carton boxes as the outer packaging , with air cushion bags or bubble wrap inside to protect and stabilise the products during delivery . However , the traditional air cushion bag film structure is multi-material – such as nylon ( to provide a high gas barrier for extended shelf life ), a tie-layer resin , and polyethylene – making it difficult to recycle through conventional methods .

Dow ’ s ELITE™ AT high-performance PE resins provide comparable gas barrier performance , allowing nylon to be removed from the formulation to create an all-PE mono-material structure that enables recyclability of the packaging .

“ At P & G , we are focused on optimising our packaging design and committed to driving greater circularity in plastic packaging .” said Neo Yang , Packaging Innovation Leader , P & G China .

Through expertise in materials science , Dow works closely with partners like P & G China to deliver a sustainable future for plastics . These efforts are aligned with Dow ’ s sustainability goals to Close the Loop by enabling 100 per cent of its packaging solutions to be recyclable or reusable by 2035 and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 .