DUBLIN – Ochre Bio Ltd. has raised $9.6 million in seed financing to drug the liver like never before, by combining genetics, single-cell genomics, spatial sequencing, imaging and machine learning to build a high-resolution, in silico model of the organ, which can provide new insights into disease biology and open up new drug targets.
LONDON – Alentis Therapeutics SA is now equipped to deliver initial proof of concept for its universal approach to treating fibrosis, after raising $67 million in an oversubscribed series B.
Data from a prospective study rolled out by Allakos Inc. last month at the Digestive Disease Week meeting made the case for broader prevalence than previously believed of eosinophilic gastritis and/or eosinophilic duodenitis – and the Redwood City, Calif.-based firm may have just the drug for the conditions in lirentelimab (AK-002).
In February 2020, when Redhill Biopharma Ltd. acquired the peripherally acting mu-opioid receptor antagonist (PAMORA) Movantik (naloxegol) from Astrazeneca plc, new prescriptions were dropping. But that picture has turned around after about nine months of promotion, with strong reimbursement trends for the product, and Redhill may have positioned itself to become a leader in the gastrointestinal (GI) space.
Bristol Myers Squibb Co. said the FDA has approved Zeposia (ozanimod) as the first and only oral sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) receptor modulator for the treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC). The medicine, first FDA-approved in March 2020 for certain adults with multiple sclerosis, can now be used to treat patients with moderately to severely active UC.
Vectivbio Holding AG’s IPO last month shone light on short bowel syndrome (SBS), where the company has advanced the glucagon-like peptide-2 analogue apraglutide to the phase III stage. The company aims to show an advantage over same-class Gattex (teduglutide) from Takeda Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., cleared by the FDA in December 2012 for adults with SBS and in May 2018 for children at least 1 year of age.
DUBLIN – Abivax SA has started planning for a pivotal phase III program for its inflammatory bowel disease drug candidate, ABX-464, following a readout of top-line data from a phase IIb induction study in ulcerative colitis, in which the molecule attained the primary endpoint at all three dose levels tested. It demonstrated efficacy on a range of secondary endpoints, too, while its safety profile also appeared to be favorable.
Missing the primary endpoint in a phase IIb study of aldafermin for treating nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) has caused NGM Biopharmaceuticals Inc. to halt the program’s development while rattling the company’s share value. But the failure didn’t stop there as other NASH therapy developers felt the reverberations. South Francisco-based NGM’s stock (NASDAQ:NGM) took a battering May 24 as shares closed down 40.77% at $16.81 each. Others in the NASH space rocked by NGM’s negative data on the day included San Francisco-based 89bio Inc., which is prepping BIO89-100, a glycopegylated FGF21 analogue for a phase IIb NASH study. 89bio’s stock (NASDAQ:ETNB) plunged 14.24% to close at $19.40 per share.
New and updated preclinical and clinical data presented by biopharma firms at Digestive Disease Week, including: 4D Pharma, Abbvie, Axcella, BMS, Eli Lilly, Ferring, Redhill, Seres, Surrozen.
LONDON – Technology commercialization specialist Eurekare SA has arrived on the scene after raising a $60 million series A, with which it plans to seed fund the formation of microbiome and synthetic biology startups and invest in later-stage rounds of companies specializing in those two fields.
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