Alesta Therapeutics BV has closed an oversubscribed €65 million (US$67 million) series A financing round designed to support development of its two small-molecule therapeutics.
With obesity drugs taking the U.S. and global markets by storm and more than 100 clinical programs currently in progress for the drugs, the U.S. FDA released a draft guidance Jan. 7 to help sponsors develop drugs and biologics for weight reduction and long-term maintenance of body weight.
Sana Biotechnology Inc. CEO Steve Harr said “cool and transformative science” led to his firm’s latest strides in type 1 diabetes, and the “very generalizable [clinical] result” cheered Wall Street, which led shares of the Seattle-based firm (NASDAQ:SANA) to close Jan. 8 at $4.30 up $2.65, or 160.6%. “I believe we now have all of the pieces in place to move forward rapidly,” Harr said.
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. has divulged incretin analogues acting as dual agonists of gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIPR) receptor/GLP-1 or GLP-1/glucagon receptor (GCGR) or triple agonists of GIPR/GLP-1/GCGR reported to be useful for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, obesity, metabolic syndrome, neurodegeneration, fibrosis and cardiovascular disorders.
Ibio Inc. has expanded its cardiometabolic and obesity treatment development program by in-licensing a long-acting anti-myostatin antibody from Astralbio Inc. The antibody, now named IBIO-600, was identified by Astralbio using Ibio’s proprietary technology stack.
2024 was another banner year for GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) on multiple fronts. They continued to expand into new indications, and provide their developers with both rich remuneration and scientific acclamation. There are now seven approved GLP-1RAs. Commercially, the most successful one so far is semaglutide, sold under the brand name Wegovy or Ozempic depending on the indication.
Hoth Therapeutics Inc. has entered into an exclusive patent license agreement with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), providing Hoth with exclusive rights to a jointly owned patent portfolio co-developed by the VA and Emory University.