An oligonucleotide-based TLR antagonist developed by Idera Pharmaceuticals Inc. to treat adults with the rare inflammatory disease dermatomyositis (DM) has failed to best a placebo on a common measure of disease severity, missing the phase II trial's primary endpoint. The shortfall for Idera's IMO-8400 opens the field for the mid-stage cannabinoid receptor type 2 agonist, lenabasum, in development at Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc., and other DM programs as Idera turns its attention more fully to advancing its lead program, tilsotolimod, for melanoma and other tumor types, and its proposed merger with Biocryst Pharmaceuticals Inc.