Word that big pharma firms are sniffing around Horizon Therapeutics plc as a takeover candidate caused not only that firm’s shares to jump but also provided a boost for Viridian Therapeutics Inc., which has a thyroid eye disease (TED) candidate set to challenge Horizon’s Tepezza (teprotumumab-trbw), cleared by the U.S. FDA in January 2020.
Researchers have identified a link between amyloid plaques and dysfunctional neuronal conduction in animal models of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Their study, which was published in the Dec. 1, 2022, issue of Nature, suggests new ways to think about AD, as well as badly needed potential alternatives to plaque removal to fight the disease.
Results from the largest trial yet in transcatheter valve replacement continues to demonstrate strong results for Edwards Lifesciences Corp.’s Evoque system. A late-breaking presentation at the PCR London Valves 2022 meeting provided one-year follow-up results from the Triscend study showing better than 90% survival and 99% freedom from heart failure hospitalization. Further, 97.6% of patients maintained mild or trace tricuspid regurgitation.
Eisai Co. Ltd. and Biogen Inc. presented the full data set for the Clarity Alzheimer’s disease trial of lecanemab at the 2022 Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease, which was simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The data supported the top-line results released in September 2022.
Wall Street’s reaction to phase I news in chondrosarcoma from Inhibrx Inc. puzzled some onlookers and brought renewed attention to the rare disease, which is also the most common form of primary bone cancer in adults. Big pharma and smaller concerns have been throwing drug prospects at the condition for years without much luck.
The shadow of two reported patients’ deaths hovers over Eisai Co Ltd. and Biogen Inc.’s Alzheimer’s disease treatment, lecanemab, as the companies prepare to present phase III study data on the drug later today at the 15th Clinical Trials on Alzheimer's Disease conference.
A combination of radiation therapy and CD47 blockade induced an abscopal effect in animal studies even in animals that lacked T cells, researchers reported in the Nov. 21, 2022, online issue of Nature Cancer.
Nearing the end of 2022, the COVID-19 pandemic clearly no longer dominates the clinical activity reported by biopharma companies. Overall clinical data tracked by BioWorld is down significantly, as is the proportion focused on the SARS-Cov-2 virus. Therapeutics and vaccines targeting cancer, infectious diseases and neurological disorders, however, remain a stronghold.
Endologix LLC reported 12-month results from the second of two studies of a fully percutaneous, transmural arterial bypass therapy for treating peripheral arterial disease. Presented at this month's annual Vascular Interventional Advances Conference in Las Vegas, the Detour-2 study revealed technical success in 100% of treated patients using the system which also surpassed a 30-day, major adverse event rate of just 7%.”
Axsome Therapeutics Inc.’s AXS-05 (dextromethorphan + bupropion) has notched another success by hitting its phase III primary endpoint in treating a notoriously difficult Alzheimer’s disease (AD) indication when compared to placebo. Newly released data from the Accord study showed AXS-05, an oral, NMDA receptor antagonist with multimodal activity, statistically significantly delayed time to relapse of AD agitation vs. placebo (p=0.014), which was the primary endpoint.