HONG KONG – Mitoimmune Therapeutics Inc., a company that earlier this year completed a ?27.5 billion (US$24.41 million) series B financing led by Korea Development Bank, has received investigational new drug approval in the U.S. for MIT-001, its anti-inflammatory and anti-necrotic agent, moving the company a step closer to entering the clinic.
Beigene Ltd.’s selective inhibitor, Brukinsa (zanubrutinib), made up for a 2019 miss in a head-to-head study against Johnson & Johnson and Abbvie Inc.’s Imbruvica (ibrutinib) with positive new data from a phase III trial.
HONG KONG – Lutris Pharma Ltd., a company taking on the dermal toxicity common to cancer therapy with EGFR inhibitors, has begun testing its lead product, the B-Raf inhibitor LUT-014, in a phase II trial targeting reduction of acne-like lesions associated with the class. Partial results are expected by the end of 2021.
New phase IIb clinical trial data show the antigen R-21, a malaria vaccine candidate created by the University of Oxford that uses Novavax Inc.'s Matrix-M adjuvant, demonstrated 77% efficacy in children.
LONDON – A large scale U.K. study looking at the impact of COVID-19 vaccinations on antibody responses and new infections in 373,402 people in the general population has shown a single dose of vaccine cut infections by 65%.
With phase III data due from Phathom Pharmaceuticals Inc. in the near term, investor eyes are turning to the ways that lead compound vonoprazan, a potassium-competitive acid blocker, might distinguish itself from proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) in gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
PERTH, Australia – Implicit Bioscience Ltd.’s lead candidate, IC-14, is the first anti-CD14 monoclonal antibody (MAb) to progress to the clinic as it enters a phase II trial in the U.S. in COVID-19 patients.
HONG KONG – Covig-19, an anti-SARS-CoV-2 hyperimmune immunoglobulin therapy that Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. developed alongside the Covig-19 Plasma Alliance, has failed to meet its endpoints in a global phase III trial.
Challenges to ongoing efforts to provide effective aid for hospitalized patients with COVID-19 continued April 8, with two new trial failures reported. A phase III trial testing the Olumiant (baricitinib) vs. placebo, both on top of standard of care, missed its primary endpoint of progression to non-invasive ventilation, invasive mechanical ventilation or death, said drugmakers Eli Lilly and Co. and Incyte Corp. A phase II trial testing Beigene Ltd.'s Brukinsa (zanubrutinib) vs. placebo in patients hospitalized with respiratory symptoms of COVID-19 also fell short, missing its co-primary efficacy endpoints of respiratory failure-free survival or reduction in days on oxygen.
HONG KONG – In a surprisingly candid statement, the director of China’s Centers for Disease Control conceded that the efficacy of Chinese coronavirus vaccines is "not high" and may require improvements.