DUBLIN – Sanofi SA and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. are terminating all further development in COVID-19 of their interleukin-6 receptor inhibitor, Kevzara, following the antibody’s failure to meet the primary endpoint, as well as a key survival endpoint.
Two more companies, Novavax Inc. and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., are on the receiving end of U.S. federal government funding to develop and deliver a COVID-19 vaccine in 2021.
Missing the primary endpoint along with key secondary endpoints in a phase III trial of Kevzara (sarilumab), an interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor antibody, for treating COVID-19 patients who need mechanical ventilation caused Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Sanofi SA to halt the study.
Shares of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Ltd. hit a 52-week high on June 29 as pivotal phase III results showed that Arcalyst (rilonacept), a medicine it licensed from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., led to a 96% reduction in risk of recurrent pericarditis events among 61 people not helped by standard-of-care treatments.
Blue chip public biopharmaceutical companies continued their positive trajectory in May, with the BioWorld Biopharmaceutical index recording an 8% jump in valuation and contributing to its year-to-date performance of approximately 17%.
Preliminary data from the first part of a phase II/III trial testing the interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor antibody Kevzara (sarilumab, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Sanofi SA) in patients with severe or critical respiratory illness caused by COVID-19 found that, relative to a placebo, the medicine "had no notable benefit on clinical outcomes" among that combined group.
Given all the public-private partnerships responding to the need for timely COVID-19 therapies, diagnostics and vaccines, the demands to forgo patents or exclusive licenses for coronavirus products and the clamor that industry shouldn’t “profit” from U.S. taxpayer-supported research are growing louder.
HONG KONG – China and U.S.-based Zai Lab Ltd. has signed on to develop and commercialize REGN-1979, a CD20xCD3 bispecific antibody from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Tarrytown, N.Y.
HONG KONG – China and U.S.-based Zai Lab Ltd. has signed on to develop and commercialize REGN-1979, a CD20xCD3 bispecific antibody from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Tarrytown, N.Y.
After plunging dramatically at the beginning of the month, biopharmaceutical equities appear to be recovering some of the valuation they originally lost when the financial markets cratered. As the curtain closed on a very turbulent month that most investors will want to forget, the BioWorld Biopharmaceutical index finished up 0.75%, but down about 2% for the year.
