Orexo AB enrolled the first patient in a pivotal trial of its digital therapeutic Modia plus sublingual buprenorphine/naloxone for treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD). Orexo’s Zubsolv, the combination of buprenorphine and naloxone used in the study, has been employed to help U.S. patients with OUD since 2013.
Clinical updates, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications: Briacell, Cohbar, Cyxone, Escient, Kineta, Madrigal, Sirnaomics.
Pear Therapeutics Inc. released nine-month, real-world data showing long-term reduction in costly health care utilization categories, including inpatient stays and emergency department visits, in patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) who utilize its Reset-O prescription digital therapeutic. The findings suggest that Reset-O could help to stabilize patient outcomes long-term when used in conjunction with outpatient treatment.
Harbour Biomed Therapeutics Ltd. said its anti-FcRn monoclonal antibody, batoclimab, generated top-line phase II data in generalized myasthenia gravis, and the company expects to move into a phase III study by the end of this year, with final data reported in April 2022.
The lack of data surrounding the efficacy of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines against the Delta variant has had many questioning them, especially after a recent study showed that one of those vaccines, Sinovac Biotech Ltd.’s Coronavac, was less effective than Pfizer Inc. and Biontech SE’s Comirnaty in Chile.
Approval could come next year for Furoscix from Scpharmaceuticals Inc. (Scpharma), a solution of the standard-of-care heart failure diuretic furosemide formulated to a neutral pH and designed for outpatient use.
In infectious disease research, most of the research into genetic determinants of susceptibility to infection and disease severity are focused on the host. For COVID-19, for example, the delta variant’s infectivity, and how likely infection is to lead to severe disease, is the focus of an intense research agenda. But host genetics, too, contribute to the consequences of infections. An ongoing study into the host genetics of SARS-CoV-2 infection has identified 13 such factors that affected either the likelihood of contracting SARS-CoV-2, or the severity of disease, gleaned from the data of 50,000 infected persons and 2 million controls.
Fresh from showcasing preliminary evidence for the tolerability and potential benefits of LVGN-6051 at ASCO’s annual meeting in June, Lyvgen Biopharma Holdings Co. Ltd. is gearing up to move its CD40 agonist LVGN-7409 to clinical trials in China after initial U.S. patient dosing.
All the primary endpoints were met in Hepion Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s phase IIa trial of CRV-431 for treating nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The market, however, wasn’t celebrating as the Edison, N.J.-based company’s stock (NASDAQ:HEPA) sagged 15.27% on July 13 to close at $1.72 per share.