Though data won’t be available for a few years, the disclosure in mid-July that Grifols SA completed enrollment in the phase III study called Sparta caused some ears to perk up in the alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) space, where a number of contenders are busy.

One hepatitis delta virus player (HDV) has dropped out after Eiger Biopharmaceuticals Inc.’s phase III effort with peginterferon lambda turned up safety issues, while others remain busy in a space highlighted during last November’s meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. Shares of Palo Alto, Calif.-based Eiger (NASDAQ:EIGR) closed Sept. 13 at 41 cents, down 28 cents, or 40.6%, on word that the company is stopping the Limt-2 study in patients with chronic HDV.

Regenerative tissue developer Humacyte Inc. has posted positive top-line phase II/III results for its Human Acellular Vessel, a tissue-engineered graft consisting entirely of decellularized extracellular matrix, for vascular trauma repair. The data showed higher rates of patency, a measure of the lack of vascular obstruction, when compared to synthetic graft benchmarks.

Neurocrine Biosciences Inc.’s positive top-line data from the phase III study called Cahtalyst in classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) further whetted Wall Street’s appetite for soon-to-come results in the same indication from Spruce Therapeutics Inc.

HLB Co. Ltd. is ready to take half of the liver cancer treatment market with its potential first-line treatment, rivoceranib, currently undergoing U.S. FDA review, company chairman Jin Yang-gon said, backed by positive survival data that beat out competitors by three months.

The majority of patients with acromegaly who switched from therapy with injected somatostatin receptor ligands to Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s once-daily, oral drug paltusotine maintained stable levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 in a phase III trial, moving the company’s first-in-class lead closer to becoming the potential new standard of care for the rare hormonal disorder.

Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd.’s HER3-directed antibody-drug conjugate patritumab deruxtecan showed clinically meaningful and durable responses in patients with EGFR-mutated locally advanced or metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the Herthena-Lung1 phase II trial.

Positive phase III data from Cymabay Therapeutics Inc. with seladelpar, the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor for primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), could mean trouble for Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s second-line therapy, the farnesoid X receptor agonist Ocaliva (obeticholic acid), which Cymabay aims to replace with its compound as the preferred choice.