Rain Oncology Inc.’s only asset failed a pivotal phase III study for treating dedifferentiated liposarcoma, casting shadows on the future of the small molecule and the company’s direction. Milademetan, an oral inhibitor of the MDM2-p53 complex that reactivates p53, missed the Mantra study’s primary endpoint of progression-free survival compared to the standard of care treatment, Yondelis (trabectedin, Johnson & Johnson/Pharmamar SA).
Among the many companies presenting data at the EuroPCR conference in Paris, several late breaking trials from heavy hitters Medtronic plc, Royal Phillips NV and Edwards Lifesciences Corp. stood out.
Heartpoint Global Inc. will begin human trials of its Intellistent device shortly and expects to make submission to the U.S. FDA in 2024, Seth Bogner, its chairman and CEO told BioWorld in an interview on the sidelines of the EuroPCR conference in Paris. Intellistent is a multi-lumen stent system for interventional adjustment of pulmonary blood flow in congenital heart disease. It is a minimally invasive device that will meet an unmet need in pulmonary artery hypertension caused by congenital heart disease, said Bogner.
After Keros Therapeutics Inc.’s first-quarter earnings report, the Wall Street spotlight turned its beam toward additional data due soon from the phase II studies with KER-050, an ActRIIA-Fc fusion protein in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and myelofibrosis.
Shockwave Medical Inc. enrolled the first patient in its EMPOWER CAD study, the first prospective, all-female study of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The study seeks to confirm the benefits of coronary intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) in female patients with calcified lesions. Women have historically been underrepresented in cardiovascular trials and have had less favorable outcomes in response to therapies.
Elixir Medical Corp. reported that the Bioadaptor randomized controlled trial which compared its Dynamx coronary drug-eluting bioadaptor system to Dublin-based Medtronic plc’s Resolute Onyx drug-eluting stent (DES) in de novo native coronary arteries, met its primary endpoint of target lesion failure (TLF) non-inferiority at 12 months. The results were presented at a late-breaking clinical session during the EuroPCR 2023 conference in Paris.
Abbott Laboratories Inc. reported late-breaking data from the Bright study which showed that its Triclip transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) system reduced tricuspid regurgitation and improved the quality of life of patients with leaky tricuspid valves. The results from the largest real-world dataset were presented, for the first time, at the EuroPCR 2023 conference in Paris.
Heightening prospects for an oral neutropenia therapy, X4 Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s lead CXCR4 antagonist mavorixafor slashed yearly infection rates in patients with WHIM syndrome by 58% in a pivotal phase III trial, an effect that was statistically significant.
With PTC Therapeutics Inc.’s positive results in phase III with sepiapterin for pediatric and adult patients with phenylketonuria (PKU), attention turned to the would-be showdown with Kuvan (sapropterin dihydrochloride), the drug from Biomarin Pharmaceuticals Inc. that was approved in December 2017.
With GSK plc’s Arexvy approved in the U.S. as the first respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine, several other developers are lining up for what in five years could be a $10 billion market. Their aim is to provide lasting protection for those most susceptible to the endemic virus, particularly young children and those older than 60. Behind GSK is Pfizer Inc. with PF-06928316, which has a U.S. FDA PDUFA date set for this month, and Sanofi SA’s nirsevimab, for which FDA action is expected in the third quarter.