Astrazeneca plc reported results from its BaxHTN phase III trial showing aldosterone synthase inhibitor (ASI) baxdrostat met primary and secondary endpoints in patients with uncontrolled or treatment-resistant hypertension. The news marks a positive outcome of the company’s $1.8 billion gamble on Cincor Pharma Inc. in 2023, and keeps baxdrostat in the race with Mineralys Therapeutics Inc., which has said it anticipates a pre-NDA meeting this year for its ASI, lorundrostat, after reporting pivotal hypertension data in March 2025.
It may be a year later than originally planned, but Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. is set to commercialize Lynozyfic (linvoseltamab) in the U.S. following FDA approval for use in adults with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma. A bispecific antibody targeting B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) and CD3, Lynozyfic was cleared under the accelerated approval pathway, with continued approval contingent upon a confirmatory trial.
Celldex Inc.’s KIT inhibitor, barzolvolimab, which hit its phase II endpoints in late 2023, kicking off phase III development in chronic spontaneous urticaria, offered up some impressive long-term findings at the EAACI Congress 2025, including complete responses in patients for as long as seven months after the cessation of therapy, which analysts said could position the drug as a potentially best-in-class option.
Philochem AG’s ligand-targeting approach drew to the table Bristol Myers Squibb Co. in a potential $1.35 billion agreement granting BMS subsidiary Rayzebio Inc. exclusive worldwide rights to OncoACP3, a diagnostic and therapeutic candidate targeting prostate cancer.
One of the big questions going into the phase I readout for Metsera Inc.’s amylin analogue, MET-233i, was whether findings would support once-monthly dosing for the potential obesity candidate. They did. Results also indicated solid and dose-dependent weight loss activity, and Metsera was able to identify well-tolerated starting doses for subsequent studies, said Steve Marso, chief medical officer. “So we exceeded expectations on all three scientific objectives.”
It’s a good week to be working on drugs targeting STAT6. Kymera Therapeutics Inc.’s, KT-621, the first oral STAT6 degrader candidate to enter the clinic, surpassed expectations with impressive safety, pharmacokinetic and biomarker data from a phase I trial, while potential fast-followers from Nurix Therapeutics Inc. and Recludix Pharma Inc. advanced via respective partnerships with Sanofi SA.
Shares of Lyra Therapeutics Inc. soared more than 310% on data from its second phase III trial testing drug-device candidate LYR-210 in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis, with results from the Enlighten 2 study showing statistical significance on primary and key secondary endpoints and offering hopes of a regulatory pathway ahead.
For the second time in as many months, the lack of statistically significant overall survival data sent shares of Summit Therapeutics Inc. sliding, despite otherwise positive findings for PD-1/VEGF bispecific candidate ivonescimab in non-small-cell lung cancer. But analysts noted the stock reaction overlooks the consistency of the efficacy data to date, as well as the fact that the phase III Harmoni study marks the first pivotal trial testing ivonescimab in a global population.
The funding boost Moderna Inc. had expected via a roughly $590 million Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority award now looks to be off the table. The company disclosed May 28 that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said it will terminate the award for late-stage development and right to purchase pre-pandemic influenza vaccines.
Four months after Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s U.S. FDA nod for Journavx (suzetrigine) as the first drug targeting NaV1.8 for treating pain, Eli Lilly and Co. is joining the potential competition via a buyout of Siteone Therapeutics Inc., a privately held firm developing small-molecule sodium channel inhibitors, including a phase II-ready NaV1.8 inhibitor.
