To study pancreatic, breast and small-cell lung cancers, Sunshine Biopharma Inc., of Montreal, has initiated studies of Adva-27a, designed to shrink tumors, in xenograft mice with tumors. Adva-27a is a GEM-difluorinated C-glycoside derivative of podophyllotoxin and is designed to inhibit the enzyme topoisomerase II.

The FDA continues to break records in approving generics to ramp up competition in the U.S. drug market. In fiscal 2019, the agency approved 1,171 generic drug approvals – 935 full approvals and 236 tentative approvals. That breaks fiscal 2018's record of 971 approvals, Acting FDA Commissioner Ned Sharpless said. The 2019 approvals included 125 applications for first generics of drugs that had no generic competition.

New hires and promotions in the biopharma industry in Asia-Pacific.

Sosei Group Corp., of Tokyo, said its partner, Genentech Inc., a member of the Roche Group, of Basel, Switzerland, plans to select a new G protein-coupled receptor, or GPCR, disease target, which triggered a $3 million payment to Sosei Heptares.

Even as the U.S. House of Representatives fast tracks H.R. 3, the Lower Drug Costs Now Act, as its solution to making prescription drugs more affordable, other bills aimed at drug pricing continue to roll in.