The race to develop an oral selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD) is under fresh scrutiny in light of Sanofi SA’s decision to axe development of its late-stage compound amcenestrant on Aug. 17, citing lack of efficacy in breast cancer trials. While there are concerns about the new class after Sanofi’s decision, a clear signal about its future could be growing nearer. The driver? Menarini Group and its development partner, Radius Health Inc., are advancing elacestrant, an oral SERD into regulatory reviews on both sides of the Atlantic.
Apollo Endosurgery Inc. released details of a landmark, multi-center randomized clinical trial demonstrating the safety and effectiveness of Apollo’s Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty procedure (ESG) performed with the company’s endoscopic suturing system. The Merit study report comes on the heels of FDA market authorization of ESG as a minimally invasive, endoscopic weight loss therapy for patients suffering from obesity.
A study involving more than 1.25 million people in the U.S. has shown there is an increased risk of developing certain neurological and psychiatric conditions for up to two years after COVID-19 infection, and that despite causing less serious disease in the acute phase, the risk with omicron is the same as with the delta variant of SARS-CoV-2.
Staidson Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. is testing a combination of two monoclonal antibodies (MAb), STSA-1002 and STSA-1005, in China for the potential treatment of people with severe-to-critical COVID-19.
Regardless of the grading scale, the U.S. NIH would have gotten an “F” for its failure to ensure that intramural and extramural clinical trials it funded complied with government reporting requirements in 2019 and 2020.
Sanofi SA has terminated development of amcenestrant, an oral selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD), following an interim analysis of data from a phase III trial in estrogen-receptor-positive advanced breast cancer patients. The company has also halted all other studies of the drug, including a phase III study in patients with early stage breast cancer.
“No good data goes unpunished in this market,” H.C. Wainwright analyst Andrew Fein wryly noted in an Aug. 17 research report highlighting Wall Street’s dismal response to Blueprint Medicines Corp.’s positive top-line readout of the registrational Pioneer study, in which KIT inhibitor Ayvakit (avapritinib) met the primary and all key secondary endpoints in patients with non-advanced systemic mastocytosis.
A study involving more than 1.25 million people in the U.S. has shown there is an increased risk of developing certain neurological and psychiatric conditions for up to two years after COVID-19 infection, and that despite causing less serious disease in the acute phase, the risk with omicron is the same as with the delta variant of SARS-CoV-2.
As biopharma and med-tech companies grapple with restrictive data privacy laws in the EU and China while trying to meet the demand for greater diversity reflective of the U.S. population, there’s been more of an interest in conducting clinical trials in the U.S., Stacy Amin, a partner at Morrison & Foerster LLP, told BioWorld.
Kringle Pharma Inc.’s phase II trial evaluating its recombinant human hepatocyte growth factor ligand, oremepermin alfa, failed to meet both primary and secondary endpoints in a study of its potential to help people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
RSS
