PERTH, Australia – Astrazeneca plc is leasing 175 Sozo devices from Impedimed Ltd. and plans to put them in 20 countries to run phase II trials for a combination drug that looks at fluid imbalance in the human body in patients with heart failure (HF) and chronic kidney disease.
Cytokinetics Inc. as a competitor for Myokardia Inc.’s cardiovascular drug, mavacamten, didn’t come up until near the end of the conference call related to the $13.1 billion buyout of the latter company by Bristol Myers Squibb Co., but the prospect is on Wall Street’s mind.
While its mRNA COVID-19 vaccination effort gets the most attention these days, Moderna Inc. is also moving in other directions as the company will lead mRNA discovery programs drawn from its early stage pipeline in new collaborations with Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Italy’s Chiesi Farmaceutici SpA. These two deals highlight the “huge opportunity for mRNA beyond SARS-CoV-2 and vaccines,” Piper Sandler analysts wrote Sept. 16.
In March, when a district court ruled in favor of two ANDA filers in Amarin Corp. plc’s patent litigation case regarding its fish oil cardiovascular therapy franchise, Vascepa (icosapent ethyl), CEO John Thero said an appeal was a strong possibility.
Times have changed at Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc. since it spun out Akcea Therapeutics Inc. in 2015. The company’s evolution is such that Ionis is now ready to bring Akcea back into the fold by acquiring the remaining 24% of its affiliate.
New and updated preclinical and clinical data presented by biopharma firms at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2020, including: Akcea, Amarin, Amgen, Arrowhead, Astrazeneca, Boehringer, Innovent, Lilly, Myokardia, Novartis.
LONDON – Five years after offloading it to Amgen Inc. for $300 million, Dutch VC Forbion has reacquired Dezima Pharma BV and its sole product obicetrapib, a cholesterol-lowering drug for patients intolerant to statins.
HONG KONG –Stempeutics Research Pvt Ltd. received the green light from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to launch its Stempeucel therapy to treat critical limb ischemia (CLI) due to Buerger’s disease and atherosclerotic peripheral arterial disease.
A promising but side effect-ridden phase III study by Novartis AG with oral imatinib in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) led Boston-based Aerovate Therapeutics Inc. to start exploring two years ago an aerosol form of the kinase inhibitor, and the project has won backing to the tune of $72.6 million in series A money.
HONG KONG – Tokyo-based Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. has hit its goals in a phase III study testing the use of prasugrel hydrochloride in thrombotic stroke patients.