The Australian government is investing AU$1.89 billion (US$1.25 billion) in what it is calling a “once-in-a generation transformation” of health and medical research in Australia with $1.4 billion tagged for new research for the Medical Research Future Fund.
Shares of Aeon Biopharma Inc. (NYSE:AEON) closed May 3 down $1.66, or 49%, finishing at $1.70 on word that the planned interim analysis of phase II data with ABP-450 (prabotulinumtoxinA) for preventing chronic migraine showed that the compound did not meet the primary endpoint. The Irvine, Calif.-based firm said it has “immediately commenced cash preservation measures and will review all strategic options.”
In the wake of Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide nabbing the title of the U.S.’s biggest blockbuster drug, it’s little surprise that Amgen Inc.’s obesity candidate, Maritide (maridebart cafraglutide), hogged the stage during the firm’s first-quarter earnings call after market close May 2, with company executives touting promising phase II data and a differentiated profile, sending shares of Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) up nearly 12% to close May 3 at $311.29.
Achieving proof of concept and a substantial clinical benefit with its PARP inhibitor stenoparib in advanced recurrent ovarian cancer, Allarity Therapeutics Inc. stopped a phase II trial and is preparing for a registrational study for what is now the company’s only internal drug candidate.
Lindis Blood Care GmbH recently revealed excellent data from the Remove study that showed that its Catuvab device was safe and effective in removing tumor cells from intraoperative blood during high blood loss cancer surgeries.
While Nrx Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s oral antidepressant NRX-101 failed, producing a not statistically significant 33% reduction in suicidality along with a 70% reduction in the symptoms of akathisia, the company said it plans to forge ahead and conduct a registrational study.
A readout of phase III data of buntanetap in Parkinson’s disease is up next as Annovis Bio Inc. tries to recover from the market’s reaction to mixed phase II/III results in Alzheimer’s disease. The company’s stock (NYSE:ANVS) dropped 60% when the data were released on April 29 and continued downward on April 30, with shares closing 23.5% lower at $5.57 each. The shares’ 12-month peak was on Dec. 27 at $19.54 each.
Newron Pharmaceuticals SpA added heft to the data supporting evenamide, reporting positive top-line results from a phase II/III placebo-controlled trial of the glutamate inhibitor in patients with chronic schizophrenia who were receiving a second-generation antipsychotic, but having an inadequate response to that treatment.
As of Jan. 31, 2024, there were more than 300 CAR T trials registered in China, surpassing the U.S. and becoming the country with the most CAR T therapy clinical trials. Among them, CD19 is the most frequently studied target, according to BioWorld and Cortellis. The rapid evolution of CAR T-cell therapies in China has escalated over the past decade from the start of the first clinical trials in 2013 to the country becoming an established host for CAR T-cell-related trials by 2017, according to Yongxian Hu and researchers from Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China. Chinese cell therapy companies – backed by $2.37 billion in funding in 2021 – have since significantly increased basic research and trial output for CAR Ts, which was welcomed by large patient demand.
Precision medicine holds exciting promise for the medical device industry as it offers a range of solutions within diagnostics, digital devices and imaging, which could transform patient care, delegates heard at the LSX World Congress in London. However, there are a range of challenges ahead, including the population of clinical data, getting past the inertia of physicians and making it easier to run clinical studies.
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