Now that Ovid Therapeutics Inc.’s and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.’s phase II study of soticlestat in children with Dravet syndrome (DS) or Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) has produced positive top-line data, Ovid is planning the drug’s phase III clinical trial while pricing a $50 million common stock offering.
Onconova Therapeutics Inc.’s lead candidate in myelodysplastic syndromes took a major hit Monday as the small molecule I.V. rigosertib failed to meet the primary endpoint of significantly improved survival vs. best supportive care in higher-risk patients.
Tricida Inc. executives were not surprised when the FDA issued a complete response letter for veverimer to treat chronic metabolic acidosis. Despite an Aug. 22 PDUFA date, the company had received an FDA notification on July 16 that there were deficiencies that would preclude discussion of labeling and postmarketing requirements and commitments.
Kymera Therapeutics Inc. debuted on NASDAQ Friday by pricing its upsized IPO of 8.68 million common shares at $20 each as it eyes gross proceeds of $173.3 million. By the end of the day, Kymera stock (NASDAQ:KYMR) had soared 66.3%, with shares closing at $33.26 each.
Privately held Alzheon Inc. picked up a $47 million grant from the NIH’s National Institute on Aging that will last over five years to support a phase III clinical trial of its oral brain-penetrant small molecule ALZ-801 to treat Alzheimer’s disease.
An FDA rejection of Galapagos NV's rheumatoid arthritis (RA) drug filgotinib, announced Aug. 18, was "disappointing and unexpected," CEO Onno van de Stolpe said, adding that "there is so much more" to his company's story and pipeline. Gilead Sciences Inc., the Belgian company's partner and a substantial backer of both the drug and the pipeline, said it would "evaluate the points raised" by the CRL, but continued to believe in the drug.
The pace of biopharma mergers and acquisitions has quickened with Johnson & Johnson’s $6.5 billion all-cash acquisition of Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc. Bringing Momenta into the fold strengthens the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson’s immune-mediated disease portfolio and grows its interest in autoantibody-driven disease therapies.
Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc.’s complete response letter (CRL) for Roctavian (valoctocogene roxaparvovec; Valrox) gene therapy for severe hemophilia A shocked the company, its investors and analysts mere days before its Aug. 21 PDUFA date. Now an approval and launch for what would have been the first approved hemophilia gene therapy is likely pushed back roughly two years.
