Psychedelic drugs continued to make regulatory and clinical headway, as non-believers converted to believers in the category once regarded with skepticism, to say the least.
Already hot for years, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) continued to hold charm for the industry, sparking a number of sizable deals starting early in 2024, when Johnson & Johnson (J&J) put $2 billion on the table to take over Ambrx Biopharma Inc.
Major depressive disorder (MDD) notched another late-stage failure in the form of Neumora Therapeutics Inc.’s data from the phase III Koastal-1 study, the first of three replicant trials in the pivotal program testing kappa opioid receptor antagonist navacaprant.
Kaken Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.’s license agreement with Johnson & Johnson (J&J) for signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)6 inhibitor KP-723 could presage further deals in STAT6, where a number of developers are active. Kaken’s arrangement with J&J involves the global development, manufacturing and sale of KP-723, which has reached the preclinical stage. Tokyo-based Kaken will take the drug through phase I trials, after which J&J takes over.
Intriguing scientific data continue to roll out in the head and neck cancer space, where the need for therapies has spurred a number of drug firms to try new approaches, which BioWorld examines in part two of a series that began in the Dec. 30 issue.
Kaken Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.’s license agreement with Johnson & Johnson (J&J) for signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)6 inhibitor KP-723 could presage further deals in STAT6, where a number of developers are active. Kaken’s arrangement with J&J involves the global development, manufacturing and sale of KP-723, which has reached the preclinical stage. Tokyo-based Kaken will take the drug through phase I trials, after which J&J takes over.
Though Pyxis Oncology Inc.’s preliminary phase I data with antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) PYX-201 in solid tumors were characterized as positive, findings sent the Boston-based firm’s stock (NASDAQ:PYXS) into a tailspin. Shares dropped from $3.82 to $2.01 between Nov. 20 and the morning of Nov. 21, even as experts along with Wall Street agreed that the compound shows particular promise in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma – a space where developers aplenty remain busy.
Kaken Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.’s license agreement with Johnson & Johnson (J&J) for signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)6 inhibitor KP-723 could presage further deals in STAT6, where a number of developers are active. Kaken’s arrangement with J&J involves the global development, manufacturing and sale of KP-723, which has reached the preclinical stage. Tokyo-based Kaken will take the drug through phase I trials, after which J&J takes over.
A Chinese player entered the U.S. non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) arena as the U.S. FDA cleared Xcovery Holdings Inc.’s Ensacove (ensartinib) as a first-line therapy for adults with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive locally advanced or metastatic disease who have not previously received an ALK-inhibitor. Xcovery, of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., is a subsidiary of Betta Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd, of Hangzhou, China.
