Much has been made of the recent skyrocketing of Medicare spending on skin substitutes, but a new enforcement action by the U.S. Department of Justice might help to explain some of those spending increases.
Recludix Pharma Inc. has obtained IND clearance from the FDA to advance REX-8756 (SAR-448755), an oral STAT6 inhibitor for inflammatory diseases, into phase I testing. REX-8756 is an oral, selective STAT6 inhibitor that employs a novel therapeutic approach by targeting STAT6’s SH2 domain.
Peptidream Inc. has announced progression of an oral dual IL-17A and IL-17F macrocyclic peptide inhibitor for psoriasis, with the program entering the company’s clinical development portfolio.
Absci Corp. has released new preclinical data for ABS-201, an AI-designed antibody targeting the prolactin receptor (PRLR) designed to stimulate hair follicle regeneration and promote durable hair regrowth for the potential management of androgenetic alopecia.
Relation Therapeutics Ltd. will collaborate with Novartis AG in a $1.7 billion deal to develop multiple programs to find and advance targets for treating atopic diseases caused by immune dysregulation. Novartis will pay Relation an up-front amount, an equity investment and R&D funding of $55 million. It’s the company’s second deal with big pharma in the past 12 months.
The collaboration brings together Relation’s AI-powered drug discovery platform and human data generation capabilities with Novartis’s expertise in immuno-dermatology to identify, validate and advance potential first-in-class targets in atopic diseases driven by immune dysregulation.
Fourteen therapies to treat moderate to severe psoriasis are expected to enter the Chinese market in the next two years, according to Clarivate and BioWorld reports. Eleven of them are being developed by domestic biopharmaceutical firms.
Shares of Cosmo Pharmaceuticals NV rose sharply on Dec. 3 following top-line pivotal phase III data showing a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in male androgenetic alopecia patients receiving clascoterone 5%, the first topical androgen receptor inhibitor, which uses the same active ingredient as the company’s acne treatment, Winlevi.
Pharvaris NV looks to start filing marketing applications in the first half of 2026 on the back of positive phase III data showing oral bradykinin B2 receptor antagonist deucrictibant hit all primary and secondary endpoints as an on-demand treatment for hereditary angioedema (HAE) attacks.
Wall Street was sorting through two batches of news from Jasper Therapeutics Inc., which made public positive data from the phase Ib study called Etesian with KIT-targeting briquilimab in adults with allergic asthma, while making known the outcome of a probe into the phase Ib/II Beacon study with the same drug in chronic spontaneous urticaria.