Since late 2006, when hiked levels of aldosterone and increases in blood pressure foiled Pfizer Inc.’s torcetrapib, researchers have been wary of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitors. But not all researchers. Among the still-hopeful is Newamsterdam Pharma NV, which recently rolled out positive phase II data with obicetrapib, and the company is forging ahead despite other CETPs that have not fared well in late-stage testing after performing nicely in phase II, including candidates from Merck & Co. Inc. and Eli Lilly and Co.

Promising early data continue to roll out for Intellia Therapeutics Inc.’s hereditary angioedema (HAE) candidate, NTLA-2002, with one of the earliest treated patients in the phase I study remaining attack-free for more than a year. But it was the systemic CRISPR candidate’s potential as a one-time treatment that generated the most discussion on the company’s call as investors tried to assess its potential advantage in a crowded HAE market.

For Jeff Galvin, the CEO and founder of newly launched Addimmune Inc., HIV is not a condition that’s in the rearview mirror. It needs a functional cure to save lives, make people healthier and save money that need not have been spent. People wonder why it’s worth bothering to cure HIV, Galvin told BioWorld, when they are taking their medications every day and they are feeling pretty close to normal. But it’s not close for Galvin, who noted that there are side effects from taking the pills that can cause headaches, fatigue, nausea and diarrhea.

It has been a tough spring for Fibrogen Inc., which reported another phase III miss on June 7, this time for rare disease drug pamrevlumab to treat non-ambulatory patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).