LONDON – Kandy Therapeutics Ltd. has announced positive results for its nonhormonal treatment for menopause symptoms, showing a reduction in the number of hot flashes and night sweats, and a positive effect on secondary endpoints relating to mood and quality of life.

Researchers are hopeful that within three to five years the first once-a-month oral contraceptive could reach human testing. They achieved an early step on that path with the publication of research testing the long-lasting drug delivery device from Watertown, Mass.-based startup Lyndra Therapeutics Inc. in the Dec. 4, 2019, issue of Science Translational Medicine. 

New top-line results from a phase III study of Ardelyx Inc.'s tenapanor – recently approved in irritable bowel syndrome – confirmed the drug can also help dialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease patients with hyperphosphatemia achieve reduced serum phosphorus levels vs. placebo.

After two complete response letters (CRLs), Agile Therapeutics Inc. with its Twirla (levonorgestrel/ethinyl estradiol) contraceptive patch – hounded by FDA concerns regarding manufacture and adhesion properties – might just be on the road to success.