Invivyd Inc.’s VYD-222 produced positive initial top-line results in the ongoing pivotal phase III Canopy study for preventing symptomatic COVID-19. The results could reach a vulnerable population of patients who are immunocompromised and don’t get the same protection as other patients, the company’s CEO, Dave Hering, told BioWorld.
Given what CEO Raymond Stevens called a space that’s “evolving extremely rapidly,” Structure Therapeutics Inc. chose – rather than wait for next year’s 12-week data – to unblind the eight-week obesity findings with GSBR-1290, an oral glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist for which the firm also provided a phase IIa update in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Wall Street will be watching closely for such adverse effects as anemia that foiled Gilead Sciences Inc.’s CD47-binding magrolimab earlier this year, but so far Shattuck Labs Inc.’s SL-172154 looks strong in combination with azacitidine to treat front-line higher-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (HR-MDS) and TP53-mutant (TP53m) acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
All treatment groups in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s phase II study of the non-opioid VX-548 showed meaningful reductions in pain from baseline in treating diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN), pointing the company toward pivotal phase III studies and prompting analysts to applaud enthusiastically.
Multiple studies at the 65th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting 2023 have the potential to change the treatment paradigm for first-line treatment of multiple myeloma.
It’s not every day you see a small drug company’s presentations get picked for both the plenary session and the late-breaker session at a conference, but Syndax Pharmaceuticals Inc. managed to do just that at the 65th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting 2023 – with a little help from a friend.
Spirits were high at the 2023 annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), buoyed by the U.S. FDA approval of the first two gene therapies for sickle cell disease (SCD) the day before the conference kicked off in San Diego. The addition of gene therapy to the therapeutic arsenal for SCD is “phenomenal,” Adetola Kassim, director of the Adult Sickle Cell Disease Program and professor of medicine at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, told BioWorld. Nevertheless, at a Saturday, Dec. 9, session titled, “Improving Outcomes for Individuals with Sickle Cell Disease: Are We Moving the Needle?,” which Kassim chaired, the answer remained “maybe.”
Prescient Therapeutics Pty Ltd.’s PTX-100 met primary safety endpoints and showed preliminary efficacy in a phase Ib trial in patients with relapsed and refractory T-cell lymphomas that exceeded the standard of care, and the company hopes to advance to a phase II registrational study in 2024, Prescient CEO Steven Yatomi-Clarke told BioWorld.
Biomea Fusion Inc.’s diabetes treatment produced enhanced glycemic control at week 26 courtesy of its 200-mg cohort. It’s the latest advance for the company’s candidate that also has strong prospects in treating leukemia. Top-line data from the ongoing phase II Covalent-111 study of BMF-219, a covalent menin inhibitor for regenerating insulin-producing beta cells, demonstrated that about 40% of participants, four of 11 patients, in the 200-mg cohorts showed a durable reduction, 1% or more, in the amount of blood sugar attached to the type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients’ hemoglobin. The data came from participants who had received the last dose in a four-week treatment.
Spirits were high at the 2023 annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), buoyed by the U.S. FDA approval of the first two gene therapies for sickle cell disease (SCD) the day before the conference kicked off in San Diego. The addition of gene therapy to the therapeutic arsenal for SCD is “phenomenal,” Adetola Kassim, director of the Adult Sickle Cell Disease Program and professor of medicine at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, told BioWorld. Nevertheless, at a Saturday, Dec. 9, session titled, “Improving Outcomes for Individuals with Sickle Cell Disease: Are We Moving the Needle?,” which Kassim chaired, the answer remained “maybe.”