Acrivon Therapeutics Inc.’s $130 million financing disclosed April 9 hiked confidence in then-pending data with ACR-368 (prexasertib), the selective small-molecule inhibitor that targets checkpoint kinase 1 (CHK1) and CHK2. Undergoing tests in a potentially registrational phase II trial across multiple tumor types, ACR-368 also raised the stakes for Boundless Bio Inc., which is developing CHK1 inhibitor BBI-355.
Hyperfine Inc. aims to simplify monitoring of potentially dangerous adverse events associated with amyloid-targeting therapies with the launch of its Capturing ARIA Risk Equitably with Portable MR observational study. The study will evaluate the benefits of the Swoop portable brain MRI system in acquiring images needed to detect amyloid-related imaging abnormalities in Alzheimer’s patients as specified in product labeling.
In its first quarter earnings call, Boston Scientific Corp. reported 72% global sales growth in its electrophysiology division, for $300 million, bolstered by surging sales of its recently debuted Farapulse pulse field ablation system, which the company received U.S. FDA approval for in Janua.
The U.S. FDA’s device center launched a new health care program designed to provide patients with a seamless home health care environment that stitches together various health care functions into an integrated system that eases the patient’s use of such technologies. The initiative, part of the agency’s health equity agenda, will rely on augmented and virtual reality and requires the development of a prototype that will be rolled out in underserved areas with several overarching objectives, including the democratization of clinical trial participation.
The U.S. FDA approved Utility Therapeutics Ltd.’s Pivya (pivmecillinam), an oral prodrug of injectable mecillinam, on its April 24 PDUFA date for female adults with uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs) caused by Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis and Staphylococcus saprophyticus.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s final rule for noncompete clauses in employment contracts would seem to endanger life science patents and trade secrets, but there is a question of whether the agency stepped outside its statutory bounds in forming the rule. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has already filed suit on the rule, but Joshua Rich of McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP told BioWorld, that the Chamber is unlikely to be the last entity to file suit over the rule.
Becoming the first type II RAF inhibitor for relapsed or refractory BRAF-altered pediatric low-grade glioma, Day One Biopharmaceuticals Inc.’s Ojemda (tovorafenib, DAY-101) gained U.S. FDA accelerated approval on April 23, a week earlier than its expected PDUFA date, bringing the Brisbane, Calif.-based company a rare pediatric disease priority review voucher.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. has tapped into Treefrog Therapeutics SA’s high-throughput stem cell manufacturing technology in a deal worth potentially up to $780 million to help it advance its type 1 diabetes programs, including phase I/II asset VX-880.
Samsung Bioepis Co. Ltd. and Celltrion Inc. are making headway in Europe and U.S. with respective follow-on biologic products, with Samsung Bioepis the latest to gain EMA approval for Pyzchiva, a Stelara (ustekinumab, Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc.) biosimilar, on April 23.
In March, the U.S. FDA approved 30 new drugs, marking the highest monthly count in BioWorld’s records. The previous highest month of June 2020, with 29 FDA approvals, is followed by November 2017’s 27 approvals.
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