Prospects for Zerigo Health Inc. brightened with a series B fundraising round that brought in $43 million to support expansion of the company’s at-home ultraviolet B phototherapy system for chronic skin conditions. The connected system enables a physician to ensure the prescribed dose is delivered while freeing patients from the thrice-weekly office visits often required for treatment of psoriasis, vitiligo and eczema.
Castle Biosciences Inc. is acquiring gastrointestinal (GI) diagnostics company Cernostics Inc. in a transaction valued up to $80 million. The deal marks a move from Castle’s focus on dermatology diagnostics to include GI disorders and could expand its estimated U.S. total addressable market by approximately $1 billion, the company said. Shares of Castle Biosciences (NASDAQ:CSTL) jumped 7.8% to close at $67.58 on Tuesday Oct. 19.
A few months after disclosing its merger with Chiasma Inc., Amryt plc rolled out second quarter financials pleasing to Wall Street, where considerable interest has begun to manifest in the company’s epidermolysis bullosa program with Filsuvez, also known as Oleogel-S10.
With its topical gel for primary axillary hyperhidrosis (excessive underarm sweating) in adults and children 9 years of age and older, Brickell Biotech Inc. is gearing up to challenge Journey Medical Corp.’s Qbrexza (glycopyrronium), an anticholinergic agent contained in a single-use, pre-moistened, medicated cloth.
New and updated preclinical and clinical data presented by biopharma firms at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology Congress, including: Abbvie, Arcutis, BMS, Dermavant, Eli Lilly, Leo, Novartis, Rapt, Sanofi.
Denmark’s Union Therapeutics A/S has begun a strategic collaboration with Innovent Biologics Inc. over orismilast, a next-generation oral PDE4 inhibitor for inflammatory dermatology conditions that could compete directly with Amgen Inc.’s psoriasis blockbuster, Otezla (apremilast). At the same time, the company is looking for partners in the medium term to develop the drug in the rest of the world as it bids to take on Amgen and other dermatology players such as Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.
What one analyst characterized as “a little bit of an exotic or at least unusual statistical analysis on the phase II primary endpoint” may have dampened enthusiasm somewhat for Evelo Biosciences Inc.’s results in mild and moderate psoriasis with EDP-1815, but the firm is advancing the compound to registration studies.
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