A prespecified interim analysis revealed that Astrazeneca plc’s oral factor D inhibitor danicopan met the primary endpoint of a phase III trial as an add-on therapy for patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) who were also taking a C5 inhibitor, but who still experienced extravascular hemolysis.
At the European Hematology Association's annual meeting in Vienna last week, companies reported impressive progress for the treatment of sickle cell disease.
As it settles a patent dispute with Japan’s Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. for $775 million, the U.K.’s Astrazeneca plc is looking to bring intellectual property in-house by snapping up a new generation of talented scientists.
As it settles a patent dispute with Japan’s Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. for $775 million, the U.K.’s Astrazeneca plc is looking to bring intellectual property in-house by snapping up a new generation of talented scientists.
Astrazeneca plc’s recently acquired Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. has signed a deal worth up to $760 million with Neurimmune AG, the Swiss biotech that discovered Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm (aducanumab), buying rights to amyloidosis drug NI-006. While Biogen Inc.’s Aduhelm targets amyloid plaques thought to cause Alzheimer’s in the brain, the phase Ib drug in Alexion’s deal is intended to tackle the build-up of the rogue protein that causes heart disease caused by transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM).
Astrazeneca plc’s Alexion rare diseases unit has taken an option to buy all remaining equity in Caelum Biosciences Inc., adding a rare disease drug to its pipeline in a deal worth $500 million. At the center of the deal is CAEL-101, a potentially first-in-class monoclonal antibody designed to tackle the toxic amyloid deposits that build up in organs of people with the rare disease light chain amyloidosis.
A potential new treatment for the rare condition Wilson disease moved a step closer to reality after Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc., now part of Astrazeneca plc, announced positive top-line results from a phase III trial of ALXN-1840 (tiomolibdate choline). Astrazeneca’s shares (NASDAQ:AZN) ticked up following the announcement, closing Aug. 26 at $58.76, up 18 cents. From the point of view of the big U.K. pharma, it’s a good piece of news as it hopes to build a rare disease franchise from its $39 billion acquisition of Alexion, which was completed last month.
A month after Astrazeneca plc’s $39 billion takeover of Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. was finalized, the merged company has hit its first speed bump after the new unit discontinued a phase III rare disease trial. Alexion, of Boston, said it axed the 382-patient CHAMPION-ALS trial of its long-acting C5 complement inhibitor Ultomiris (ravulizumab) in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Canada’s Federal Court of Appeal took the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board to task for ordering Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. to “forfeit excess revenues” generated by Soliris (eculizumab) between 2009 and 2017.
