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A Breath of French Air is a novella written by British author H. E. Bates, first published in 1959. It was the second of a series of five books about the Larkins, a rural family from Kent.

The title is a play on the expression "a breath of fresh air."

Pop and Ma Larkin and their many children take joy in nature, each other's company, and almost constant feasts. Their only income is through selling scrap, picking strawberries, and selling farm animals or previous purchases that they've tired of. Nevertheless, they joyfully spend money on horses, cars, perfume, fine furniture, and holidays abroad. Pop Larkin opposes taxes and any barriers to free enterprise.

Reception
Other literary reviews appeared in The Times and New Statesman

TV adaptation
ITV produced a television series of the Larkin novels plus additional original storylines, The Darling Buds of May, which ran from 1991 to 1993.

ARIAs 2023
The nominees were announced on 30 March 2023. Two award categories were retired; Best Independent Podcast and Best Marketing Campaign, and replaced by four new categories; Best Community Station of the Year, Best Audiobook or Reading and a split of Best New Show into Best New Radio Show and Best New Podcast. In addition, Best Fictional Storytelling which in previous years had included readings became Best Drama. There was also a one-off 2022 Special Award recognising audio coverage following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, bringing the total number of awards to 28. A change of venue was also announced.

On 21 April 2023 it was revealed that Tony Blackburn would be receiving The Pioneer Award for his near 60 years in broadcasting and contribution to the popularity of soul music in the UK. Tony is only the second recipient of The Pioneer Award, following the late Janice Long receiving the inaugural award posthumously last year. Tim Blackmore was announced as guest of honour at this years ceremony in recognition of his contribution to radio and audio over the past six decades.

=Argenx=

Argenx SE is an international biopharmaceutical company headquartered in the Netherlands, developing and commercialising humanized monoclonal antibody based therapies. It has major offices in Ghent, Belgium, Boston, USA and Tokyo, Japan as well as regional outposts in Canada, France, Germany and Switzerland.

The company has many drugs in its wider pipeline that are being investigated in a variety of diseases areas. While some of these are being developed in partnership with pharmaceutical and biotech companies, Argenx also has a proprietary pipeline with a focus on cancer and autoimmune diseases.

History
The company was incorporated under the name arGEN-X B.V. in Rotterdam on April 25, 2008 by Hans J. W. de Haard, Torsten Dreier, and Tim van Hauwermeiren on a ground-breaking antibody engineering discovery – using the diversity of the llama immune system to build differentiated human antibodies. Seed financing of 1 million Euros was provided by Erasmus MC and Thuja Capital.

The company name is inspired by the tale of the Argonauts and the philosophy that collaboration is key to success. It has been listed since July 2014 on Euronext in Brussels and May 2017 on NASDAQ in New York, both under the ticker symbol “ARGX”.

In 2011, Argenx and Eli Lilly & Company entered into a strategic partnership for the research and development of specific antibody targets. A therapeutic antibody alliance with Shire followed in 2012, which was further expanded in 2013 and 2014. Additional partnerships included Boehringer Ingelheim (2013), Bayer (2014), Staten Biotechnology (January 2015), Leo Pharma (May 2015), AbbVie (April 2016) and Janssen-Cilag (December 2018).

In 2013, the company’s lead proprietary antibody ARGX-113 entered clinical development.

In December 2020, based on positive clinical trial results, the company submitted a Biologics License Application (BLA) to the FDA for the first of it's platform drugs, Efgartigimod (ARGX-113) for the treatment of generalised myasthenia gravis. US marketing approval was granted by the FDA on 17 December 2021. Filing in Japan with the PMDA took place in January 2021 with approval granted on January 20, 2022. European filing with the EMA took place in August 2021 with the CHMP adopting a positive opinion and recommending the granting of a marketing authorisation on 23 June 2022.

Technology
Argenx sources antibodies from outbred llamas (whose ‘v’ regions very closely resemble those of human antibodies but are much more potent) by using its SIMPLE Antibody™ platform.

After fine-tuning the properties of the Fc regions of the antibodies using other technologies in its portfolio (NHance ® to extend the half-life/PD effect and enhance tissue penetration; ABDEG™ to clear disease target and autoantibodies; POTELLIGENT ® to boost the ability to kill targeted cells) the antibodies are introduced into the body of the patient. These new antibodies then strengthen and help the natural defences of the human body in order to exterminate, disable or weaken the proposed illnesses.

Approved antibodies
Efgartigimod (formerly ARGX-113, brand name Vyvgart: target FcRN) is a first-in-class humanised monoclonal antibody treatment for generalised myasthenia gravis (gMG), a rare condition (200 people per million) that leads to the failure or insufficient functioning of the muscles.

In December 2021, efgartigimod was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat adults with gMG who are positive for anti-acetylcholine receptor (AChR) antibodies — the most common type of MG-causing antibody. The therapy also has been approved in Japan to treat adults with gMG, regardless of antibody status, who failed to respond to steroids or nonsteroidal immunosuppressive therapies.

In addition to gMG, efgartigimod is being evaluated in several other autoimmune diseases known to be mediated by disease-causing IgG antibodies, including other neuromuscular disorders (Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy, Idiopathic Inflammatory Myopathy), skin blistering diseases (Pemphigus Vulgaris and Foliaceus, Bullous Pemphigoid) and Immune Thrombocytopenia Purpura (ITP). ITP is a relatively rare blood disorder (incidence: 30 people per million) in which the blood does not clot well.

Efgartigimod has been awarded orphan drug status in both the US and Europe. The designation is given to therapies for rare diseases, which are classified in the US as a disorder affecting fewer than 200,000 people, and in the EU as diagnosed in not more than 5 in 10,000 people.