HONG KONG – Hutchison China Meditech Ltd. (Chi-Med) is preparing for the next step after surufatinib achieved its primary endpoint in a phase III SANET-ep study in extra-pancreatic advanced neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) in China.

After its momentum-building end-of-phase II meeting with the FDA, Contrafect Corp. will start a single phase III trial of exebacase to treat Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia before year-end.

A large-scale U.K. clinical trial of a portable electronic nose device has shown it is possible to distinguish bacterial from viral infection in an unselected population of patients presenting with a respiratory tract infection (RTI) symptoms, at the point of care.

Minerva Neurosciences Inc. CEO Rémy Luthringer said his firm knew about the cyberattack on a contractor helping with the roluperidone phase III trial in schizophrenia "toward the end of the summer," when "the provider was trying to solve the problem" and ultimately did. But the attack still meant an enrollment delay, and Wall Street reacted accordingly. Despite imminent, possibly transforming data in major depressive disorder (MDD), investors pushed Minerva shares (NASDAQ:NERV) down $2.04, or 26.3%, Tuesday to close at $5.71.

The Cushing's syndrome market is heating up with three second-generation drugs in late-stage development to join the two approved medications, Signifor (pasireotide, Recordati SpA) and Korlym (mifepristone, Corcept Therapeutics Inc.), as well as a couple of off-label options.

Abbott Laboratories had a busy Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) 2019 conference. Among the news it generated was the unveiling of new analyses of the COAPT trial on the cost-effectiveness of Mitraclip vs. guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) alone in heart failure patients with secondary mitral regurgitation (MR).

Wall Street will have to wait until the American Heart Association (AHA) meeting next month in Philadelphia for full data from Resverlogix Inc.'s phase III BETonMACE trial with apabetalone, but disclosure of the endpoint miss was enough to send investors fleeing.

Shares of Seattle Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ:SGEN) rose 12.4% to $85.40 on news that an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) it is developing with Tokyo-based Astellas Pharma Inc., when combined with Keytruda (pembrolizumab, Merck & Co. Inc.), shrank tumors in the majority of people participating in a phase I first-line bladder cancer study.