The closely watched pivotal phase III trial called Stellar by Merck & Co. Inc. with sotatercept delivered in a big way for the company, helping to validate the firm’s $11.5 billion buyout about a year ago of Acceleron Pharma Inc.
Aqualung Therapeutics Corp. has been awarded two 3-year National Institutes of Health (NIH) Fast Track awards to support development of ALT-100 (enamptcumab), a humanized monoclonal antibody therapy for the chronic indications of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is still widely seen as the most common cause of irreversible blindness in those aged 50 and older, but the U.S. NIH and two partners from the private sector believe they have a solution. The three have teamed up to develop a patch embedded with induced pluripotent stem cells that has been implanted in a patient in the U.S. for the first time, marking the commencement of a safety study that may help take a bite out of the $4.6 billion in direct medical spending on AMD each year in the U.S.
The U.S. FDA has granted Sonivie Ltd. IDE approval for a pilot study to treat resistant hypertension patients with renal artery denervation (RDN) using its Tivus ultrasound ablation system. The intravascular, catheter-based system uses high-frequency non-focused ultra-sound energy to ablate nerves in the renal artery and cause denervation of nerves in other structures such as the bronchus.
Keros Therapeutics Inc. announced preliminary results from a phase I trial of its engineered ligand trap KER-012 that gave its team confidence to proceed with larger studies in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and potentially some bone diseases. But company shares (NASDAQ:KROS) fell 16.6% to $38.50 May 18, following the announcement, perhaps over concerns about trial subjects that emerged in a company-hosted investor call.
In the year’s second biggest M&A deal, Merck & Co. Inc. will take over pulmonary and hematologic specialist Acceleron Pharma Inc. for $11.5 billion. The acquisition brings Merck a pair of potential blockbuster drugs, one of them already marketed. There is sotatercept, in development for treating pulmonary hypertension (PH), and also Reblozyl (luspatercept-aamt), the first and only erythroid maturation agent approved in the U.S., Europe and Canada for treating anemia in certain blood disorders.
The first selective inhibitor of protein kinase R- (PKR)-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK), GSK-2606414, has been shown to attenuate vascular remodeling in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in mice, according to a study reported in the January 26, 2021, edition of Science Signaling.
While its mRNA COVID-19 vaccination effort gets the most attention these days, Moderna Inc. is also moving in other directions as the company will lead mRNA discovery programs drawn from its early stage pipeline in new collaborations with Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Italy’s Chiesi Farmaceutici SpA. These two deals highlight the “huge opportunity for mRNA beyond SARS-CoV-2 and vaccines,” Piper Sandler analysts wrote Sept. 16.
A promising but side effect-ridden phase III study by Novartis AG with oral imatinib in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) led Boston-based Aerovate Therapeutics Inc. to start exploring two years ago an aerosol form of the kinase inhibitor, and the project has won backing to the tune of $72.6 million in series A money.
Aria CV Inc., which focuses on pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), has won a breakthrough device designation from the U.S. FDA for the Aria CV pulmonary hypertension (PH) system. The implanted Aria CV PH system aims to restore the benefits of a healthy, elastic pulmonary artery, which in turn reduces cardiac workload and enhances blood flow.
