Roivant Sciences Ltd. has sold another company, this time offering up Dermavant Sciences Ltd. to Organon & Co. for $1.2 billion. The massive amount comprises an up-front $175 million payment, along with a potential $75 million regulatory milestone and up to $950 million in commercial milestones. In the deal, Organon brings in Vtama (tapinarof) cream, a topical treatment for mild, moderate and severe plaque psoriasis in adults. In October 2023, for $7.1 billion up front, Roche bought Televant Holdings Inc., which was then owned by Roivant and Pfizer Inc. That deal included $150 million on the back end, and Roche gained rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize a fully human monoclonal antibody targeting TL1A, RVT-3101, for treating inflammatory bowel disease and possibly other diseases in the U.S. and Japan. Pfizer retained the rights for the rest of the world.

No adcom needed for Applied Therapeutics’ galactosemia therapy

Shares of Applied Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:APLT) were up nearly 70% in morning trading as investors opted for a positive interpretation of news that a U.S. FDA advisory committee would no longer be needed ahead of a decision on govorestat for the treatment of classic galactosemia. The adcom, which would have been only the second meeting of the recently formed Genetic Metabolic Diseases Advisory Committee, had been tentatively set for Oct. 9. Applied Therapeutics said it recently completed a late-cycle meeting with the agency, and review of the NDA remains on track, with a PDUFA date of Nov. 28.

Market whacks Prelude on early SMARCA2 results; Foghorn continues push

Prelude Therapeutics Inc.’s phase I data with SMARCA2 degrader PRT-3789 in cancer brought further attention to the promising class. Rolled out at the recent European Society of Medical Oncology Congress by Wilmington, Del.-based Prelude were findings from the open-label, dose-escalation trial with the intravenously given drug, which is highly selective for SMARCA2 and designed to treat cancer patients with a SMARCA4 mutation. Shares of Prelude (NASDAQ:PRLD) have lost 50% of their value over the past five days, and were trading at $2.48, up 3 cents. Among others forging ahead in SMARCA2 is Foghorn Therapeutics Inc. with FHD-286, an oral SMARCA2/4 inhibitor.

Cancer deaths declining, but AACR says more funding still needed

The 14th edition of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Cancer Progress Report details the progress scientists and doctors have made in preventing and treating cancer. But AACR is concerned with spending caps that were put into place for the U.S. fiscal 2024 budget, which is scheduled to continue for the 2025 budget. To keep the progress in prevention and treatment moving forward, AACR would like to see increases in the government's funding of the NIH, FDA and the CDC.

ESMO 2024: Innovent’s IBI-354 shows promise across tumor types

Innovent Biologics Inc. unveiled for the first time safety and efficacy data of IBI-354, an HER2 monoclonal antibody-camptothecin derivative conjugate that shows promising efficacy signals across a range of advanced solid tumors, during the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2024 Congress. The phase I/II study of IBI-354 in 368 patients with advanced solid tumors who received different doses included 178 patients with breast cancer, 92 with ovarian cancer, 38 with colorectal cancer, and 60 with other tumors.

Studies on exercise and health win EASD prize

How do exercise and insulin collaborate in metabolism? The European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) and the Novo Nordisk Foundation recognized the work of Juleen Zierath in this topic with the Diabetes Prize for Excellence at their recent annual meeting. Zierath is a professor at the Karolisnka Institutet (KI) and at the University of Copenhagen, where she directs two laboratories, the Integrative Physiology group in Sweden and the Circadian Biology group in Denmark. As part of the KI, Zierath is one of the 50 members of the Nobel Assembly, who award the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. “The regulation of glucose transport in muscle metabolism sort of set my own interest in research into this field,” Zierath told the audience.

Also in the news

Abbvie, AC Immune, Alkeus, Anacardio, Anew Medical, Aptevo, Āshibio, Athira, Atsena, Beigene, Bicara, Boost, Bridgebio, Camp4, Charles River Laboratories, Daichi Sankyo, Dermata, Dizal, Eisai, Enzian, GSK, Ideaya, Imidomics, Immunos, Inmune, Kairos, MBX, Merck, Nexilico, Nura, Orbis Medicines, Ossium Health, Papillon, Rakovina, Revalesio, Ripple, Siolta, Sonoma, Structure, Syntax, Tempest, Tris, Vivtex