Civil servants around the world are wrestling with a vast web of incredibly complex social problems.

From meeting net zero targets in cash-strapped economies, with often low levels of political support, to managing ageing populations, sluggish productivity levels and handling the repercussions of soaring inequality, there are no easy answers.

But a growing body of detailed academic research can help. The biggest challenge is assessing and then effectively communicating this research to governments so they can use it to inform and shape policy.

In December 2020, as the UK was about to enter its third pandemic lockdown, The Conversation partnered on the £2 million, ESRC-funded International Public Policy Observatory (IPPO), a collaboration of UK academic institutions – including UCL, the Welsh Centre for Public Policy (WCPP), Queen’s University Belfast, and the University of Glasgow – and the International Network for Government Science Advice (INGSA) to help make sense of the flood of COVID-related evidence and then report it usefully to policymakers across the UK.

Three years later, IPPO is now a third of the way through its second two-year phase, and has extended its focus to include the challenges of net zero, socio-economic inequalities, place and spatial inequality and COVID-19 recovery.

It has also been engaging with national and local policymakers to find out what kinds of evidence would be of most use to them. After all, to provide impactful answers, researchers need to know what questions people are asking.

What’s coming up?

Since June 2023, our team has been reviewing the new normal of hybrid and remote work, and how these changes are affecting workers with disabilities and long-term health conditions. In our next report, we’ll look at what policymakers can do to ensure that potential gains from more flexible working conditions are embedded into work spaces.

Read more: Sunak should be wary of backtracking on net zero – what history tells us about flip-flopping on the environment

IPPO has also focused its attention on the challenges posed by net zero goals, and highlighted the pathways and barriers to change when it comes to people making their homes more energy efficient. It has also suggested the novel idea of home upgrade agencies to offer bespoke, data-driven advice to households and help everyone make a positive difference.

This month, the team is holding a public event on the best ways to engage society in how we meet net zero goals, as countries across the world face increased opposition to green policies.

In Northern Ireland and Scotland, the team has also been exploring policy interventions to reduce high levels of economic inactivity. It now intends to expand this research to look at what different geographic areas around the UK can learn from one another.

Innovations in evidence

As part of its remit to challenge and improve how evidence is gathered and used, IPPO recently launched a new series of public, online events on new methods for mobilising evidence for greatest impact, to guide researchers, policymakers and intermediaries.

Our next events on “How to Commission Rapid Evidence Assessments for Policy” and “Systems Mapping: Best Approaches and What Works for Policy Design” will bring together experts in evidence and policy to discuss best practice for evidence-informed decision making.

Read more: The UK's four-day working week pilot was a success – here's what should happen next

We’ll also be welcoming David Halpern, chief executive of the behavioural insights team at Nesta, to discuss how to gauge whether an approach that works in one place and time, will work in others, during a public, online event.

Unlocking potential in a crisis

On November 21, IPPO will launch its first evidence review of 2023 looking at how local authorities can accelerate policy change under pressure.

Over the last four months, IPPO and its partner RREAL have looked at the COVID-19 recovery plans developed by local authorities across the country.

During our launch event, the report’s authors will discuss key takeaways from their research, reveal what mechanisms help unlock and deliver progressive policies, and share in-depth case studies of the experiences of those involved in the design and implementation of recovery plans at the local authority level. You can sign up here.

For more information about IPPO, its events and upcoming work, please click here.

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Lonza’s Synaffix is adding another manufacturing licensing partnership by securing a $740 million deal with Sotio Biotech, which would allow Sotio to use the Dutch company’s three-pronged ADC tech.

It’s been a busy year for Synaffix: It was acquired by Lonza in June and the Sotio deal is its fifth new licensing deal of the year. Synaffix CEO Peter van de Sande told Endpoints News the Lonza acquisition will allow the company to bolster its ADC services. This includes plans to increase its personnel count from 35 to 50 in the next year, as well as expand its facilities and increase its manufacturing R&D capacity.

Since its inception in 2014, Synaffix has had at least 15 licensing deals in total and, according to its website, has its hands on three Phase I assets and nine preclinical programs.

In the Sotio deal, the biotech will lead the R&D for one unnamed bioconjugate program, with Synaffix manufacturing relevant assets. The $740 million deal includes signature, target nomination and milestone payments, as well as the potential for royalties once the asset hits the market. The deal has the potential to expand to two more programs.

Sotio chief business officer Jens Hennecke told Endpoints it chose Synaffix as it is “a recognized player” in the ADC field. “We see them as a perfect fit to what we try to achieve to really lead the forefront of the ADC field,” he added in an interview.

On Friday, Sotio signaled it is increasing its focus on ADC products — what Hennecke described as the company’s “internal darling” — and dumped three clinical trials that studied its interleukin-15 superagonist called nanrilkefusp alfa.

Aside from Sotio, Synaffix also licensed its tech to ABL Bio on Sept. 13 for an undisclosed amount. Earlier, On Feb. 6, Synaffix also licensed its tech to South Korea-based Chong Kun Dang Pharm and, on Jan. 5, partnered with Amgen through a $2 billion licensing deal. This year started with a $150 million partnership with Hummingbird Bioscience, which was announced on Jan. 4.

Last week, Lonza revealed it is boosting its in-house ADC manufacturing by extending its partnership with an unnamed “major biopharmaceutical partner.”

Despite Lonza’s reduced CDMO sales outlook for 2023, van de Sande said Synaffix remains largely unaffected, as highlighted by its licensing deals. “We have more deals up our sleeve as well. You see, the funding landscape for ADCs is still good,” he added.

Synaffix’s ADC platform houses three technology products: GlycoConnect converts monoclonal antibodies into ADCs, HydraSpace stabilizes the linker, which attaches the antibody to the drug of choice or payload, and toxSYN provides six linkers with different payloads that have alternative mechanisms of action.

Read More

Lonza’s Synaffix is adding another manufacturing licensing partnership by securing a $740 million deal with Sotio Biotech, which would allow Sotio to use the Dutch company’s three-pronged ADC tech.

It’s been a busy year for Synaffix: It was acquired by Lonza in June and the Sotio deal is its fifth new licensing deal of the year. Synaffix CEO Peter van de Sande told Endpoints News the Lonza acquisition will allow the company to bolster its ADC services. This includes plans to increase its personnel count from 35 to 50 in the next year, as well as expand its facilities and increase its manufacturing R&D capacity.

Since its inception in 2014, Synaffix has had at least 15 licensing deals in total and, according to its website, has its hands on three Phase I assets and nine preclinical programs.

In the Sotio deal, the biotech will lead the R&D for one unnamed bioconjugate program, with Synaffix manufacturing relevant assets. The $740 million deal includes signature, target nomination and milestone payments, as well as the potential for royalties once the asset hits the market. The deal has the potential to expand to two more programs.

Sotio chief business officer Jens Hennecke told Endpoints it chose Synaffix as it is “a recognized player” in the ADC field. “We see them as a perfect fit to what we try to achieve to really lead the forefront of the ADC field,” he added in an interview.

On Friday, Sotio signaled it is increasing its focus on ADC products — what Hennecke described as the company’s “internal darling” — on the back of dumping three clinical trials studying its interleukin-15 superagonist called nanrilkefusp alfa.

Aside from Sotio, Synaffix also licensed its tech to ABL Bio on Sept. 13 for an undisclosed amount. Earlier, On Feb. 6, Synaffix also licensed its tech to South Korea-based Chong Kun Dang Pharm and, on Jan. 5, partnered with Amgen through a $2 billion licensing deal. This year started with a $150 million partnership with Hummingbird Bioscience, which was announced on Jan. 4.

Last week, Lonza revealed it is boosting its in-house ADC manufacturing by extending its partnership with an unnamed “major biopharmaceutical partner.”

Despite Lonza’s reduced CDMO sales outlook for 2023, van de Sande said Synaffix remains largely unaffected, as highlighted by its licensing deals. “We have more deals up our sleeve as well. You see, the funding landscape for ADCs is still good,” he added.

Synaffix’s ADC platform houses three technology products: GlycoConnect converts monoclonal antibodies into ADCs, HydraSpace stabilizes the linker, which attaches the antibody to the drug of choice or payload, and toxSYN provides six linkers with different payloads that have alternative mechanisms of action.

Read More