With its sights firmly set on being the first company to bring a topical diabetic macular edema (DME) treatment to market, Oculis Holding AG moved a step closer to this potentially game-changing reality as its dexamethasone formulation, OCS-01, turned up a statistically significant improvement in mean BCVA – a measure of visual acuity – at the three-month mark in the phase III DIAMOND trial.
Positive phase III results from Surmount-2 of Eli Lilly and Co.’s Mounjaro (tirzepatide) showed overweight and obese type 2 diabetes patients receiving the highest dose lost up to 34.4 pounds, with the majority achieving at least a 5% decrease in overall body weight. The results will help the Indianapolis-based company complete its rolling supplemental NDA with the U.S. FDA targeting an approval for obese and overweight adults with weight-related co-morbidities.
Swiss orphan biotech AB2 Bio Ltd. has completed enrollment in a pivotal phase III trial for its recombinant interleukin-18-binding protein drug tadekinig alfa for an inherited form of the ultra-rare condition hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis that results from an excess of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-18.
The proportion of clinical data focused on COVID-19 therapeutics and vaccines has dropped from 21.3% in 2020 at the height of the pandemic to only 7.7% for 2022.
Nearing the end of 2022, the COVID-19 pandemic clearly no longer dominates the clinical activity reported by biopharma companies. Overall clinical data tracked by BioWorld is down significantly, as is the proportion focused on the SARS-Cov-2 virus. Therapeutics and vaccines targeting cancer, infectious diseases and neurological disorders, however, remain a stronghold.
Nearing the end of 2022, the COVID-19 pandemic clearly no longer dominates the clinical activity reported by biopharma companies. Overall clinical data tracked by BioWorld is down significantly, as is the proportion focused on the SARS-Cov-2 virus. Therapeutics and vaccines targeting cancer, infectious diseases and neurological disorders, however, remain a stronghold.
Heading into the readout of the phase III Mont Blanc study testing Nicox SA’s NCX-470, a nitric oxide-donating version of prostaglandin analogue bimatoprost, analysts were looking for a superior intraocular pressure-lowering profile vs. latanoprost, predicting such data could position the drug as a new standard of care in a crowded market.
Clinical data through the last week of October 2022 has dropped 17% in comparison with 2021. So far in 2022, there have been a total of 2,812 phase I, II and III clinical entries, compared with 3,389 during the first 10 months of 2021.
The amount of clinical news in 2022 continues to lag last year, partly due to a decline in COVID-19-related data. Through the last week of September, there have been a total of 2,495 phase I, II and III clinical entries, compared with 3,027 during the first three quarters of 2021. This represents a drop in activity of 17.6%.
With financings, U.S. FDA approvals and mergers and acquisitions all tracking behind last year, why would clinical data be any different? According to BioWorld research, clinical trial reports are down by 16.2% this year. The number of efforts targeting the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the proportion of data focused on infectious diseases, are also dropping.
