Carrying the apolipoprotein E4 allele (APOE4), and not the APOE3 variant, is the strongest risk factor for developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD). But the underlying mechanism has remained elusive. Now, researchers at MIT and Mount Sinai have found that in brains carrying the APOE4 allele, lipid and cholesterol processes were dysregulated in oligodendrocytes and that this effect reduced myelination.
Barely a month after signing a €1 billion-plus deal with Menarini Group for cholesterol-lowering drug obicetrapib, Newamsterdam Pharma BV has struck a $235 million SPAC merger deal that will see the biotech list on Nasdaq in late 2022. The deal will finance phase III development and potential regulatory filings of the drug once dropped by Amgen Inc. as big pharma turned away from the cholesteryl ester transfer protein inhibitor drug class around five years ago.
Armed with compelling phase IIb data and with two phase III trials underway, Newamsterdam Pharma BV has sealed a European commercialization deal worth more than €1 billion (US$1.6 billion) with Menarini Group for its cholesterol lowering drug, obicetrapib.
Astrazeneca plc and Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc. have unveiled some eye-catching figures from their cholesterol drug, AZD-8233, in a phase IIb trial, taking aim at the PCSK9 inhibitor market where Novartis AG, Sanofi SA/Regeneron Inc. and Amgen Inc. are vying for supremacy.
Less than a month after informing the market of a slowdown caused by pandemic-related site closures in phase II studies with neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn)-targeting IMVT-1401, Immunovant Inc. said it’s voluntarily pausing dosing with the compound in thyroid eye disease (TED) in the study called Ascend Go-2 because of a worrisome physiological signal. The New York-based firm plans to investigate and, after seeking the FDA’s go-ahead on tweaks to the program, forge onward with development.
Sekar Kathiresan is building Verve Therapeutics Inc. around the concept of a one-and-done treatment for cardiovascular disease because only half of patients are disciplined enough to take a statin every day. “That’s a huge issue for durable cholesterol lowering after a heart attack,” Verve’s CEO and co-founder told BioWorld.
