Dupixent (dupilumab) continues to expand its scope, this time potentially leading it and its developers into a new, multibillion dollar blockbuster market. Dupixent hit the primary and all key secondary endpoints in a phase III study of treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Ancora Heart Inc. reported 12-month data showing its Accucinch system significantly improves outcomes in heart failure (HF) patients, including positive changes in cardiac structure and function. The results, presented at the Technology and Heart Failure Therapeutics conference (THT 2023) in Boston, were simultaneously published in the Journal of Cardiac Failure.
89bio Inc.’s top-line phase IIb data from the 216-subject study called Enliven testing pegozafermin in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) pushed shares (NASDAQ:ETNB) to a closing price March 22 of $13.68, up $2.75, or 25%. The drug, due next for phase III investigation, is a glycopegylated analogue of fibroblast growth factor 21.
Astellas Pharma Inc.’s zolbetuximab, a monoclonal antibody targeting Claudin 18.2, met the primary endpoint for progression-free survival as well as secondary endpoints for overall survival in the phase III Glow trial in CLDN18.2-positive, HER2-negative, locally advanced unresectable or metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.
Mereo Biopharma Group plc said its path to approval for alvelestat is a phase III study that would preclude an additional confirmatory trial. After meetings with the U.S. FDA and the EMA to discuss next steps, Mereo said it is designing a single, 12- to 18-month, global phase III of the neutrophil elastase inhibitor for treating alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency-associated lung disease.
Selecta Biosciences Inc. and Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB unveiled top-line phase III data from the Dissolve I and II trials testing SEL-212 in adults with chronic refractory gout (CRG) – results that position the companies for a regulatory filing in the U.S. during the first half of next year. SEL-212 could take on Horizon Therapeutics plc’s Krystexxa (pegloticase), a pegylated uric acid specific enzyme cleared by the U.S. FDA for CRG in September 2010.
Likang Life Sciences Holdings Ltd. received approval from China’s NMPA to start a clinical trial of its candidate, LK-101 injection, for advanced solid tumors. The company claims this is the first personalized neoantigen vaccine and mRNA editing product to enter the clinic in China.
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.’s oral allosteric tyrosine kinase 2 inhibitor TAK-279 met primary and secondary endpoints in a phase IIb clinical trial in patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, but analysts say it may be too little too late to make a big splash compared to competitors.
Abbisko Therapeutics Co. Ltd.’s colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF-1R) inhibitor, pimicotinib (ABSK-021), is advancing from phase I trials to pivotal phase III trials in patients with tenosynovial giant cell tumors (TGCT) in the U.S. and China following clearance from both regulators.
By adapting computational methods for dealing with large volumes of data, and slimming down that data, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have discovered previously unknown genetic associations with 19 rare diseases, and validated three of those associations.