The U.S. FDA has approved the priority BLA for Sanofi SA’s hemophilia A treatment nearly a week before its Feb. 28 PDUFA date. The approval is for efanesoctocog alfa, a recombinant factor VIII (rFVIII) therapy – the company has managed to partially incorporate rFVIII into the drug’s brand name, Altuviiio. The price per dose was not released by the company.
The positive opinion Jan. 27 from the EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use regarding Reblozyl (luspatercept) from Bristol Myers Squibb Co. to treat adults with non‑transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia marked an advance in the space, where several developers are jockeying for position. Reblozyl, a first-in-class erythroid maturation agent, was first approved in November 2019 in the hands of Celgene Corp., acquired by Princeton, N.J.-based BMS the same year.
Hemab Therapeutics ApS raised $135 million in a series B funding round to continue its broad effort to build a company focused on developing prophylactic therapies for neglected bleeding and thrombotic disorders. The new cash brings its total equity raise to $190 million.
New drug technology may soon deliver a breakthrough to eliminate internal bleeding caused by drug overuse. Shaanxi Micot Technology Co. Ltd.’s MT-1011 is a synthetic water-soluble small-molecule anticoagulant antagonist. After a single intravenous dose, it can bind directly to other anticoagulants to stop anticoagulant effects and restore the clotting function. Data from clinical trials support its mechanism.
Privately held Vivacelle Bio Inc. has completed its phase IIa study of VBI-S in treating septic shock patients with severe hypovolemia, a drastic drop in blood pressure that can lead to organ failure and death. In the study, VBI-S, an intravenously injected fluid composed of phospholipid nanoparticles, increased blood pressure and improved organ function.
Roche Holding AG’s investigational monoclonal antibody, crovalimab, which inhibits part of the innate immune system in patients with the rare blood condition paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria, met its co-primary efficacy endpoints in a phase III trial that will form the basis of its approval submissions worldwide.
Coming off a tough year for raising money, Cadrenal Therapeutics Inc. is leading the charge into a new year by completing 2023’s first U.S. IPO. The company closed its IPO of 1.4 million shares at $5 each for $7 million. The stock (NASDAQ:CVKD) began trading Jan. 20 and closed 9.37% downward on Jan. 25 at $2.90 per share.
Just in time for the Chinese New Year, Mabwell Bioscience Co. Ltd. announced that its U.S. subsidiary, Mabwell Therapeutics Ltd., closed a licensing deal with Disc Medicine Inc. worth up to $412 million for preclinical candidate 9MW-3011, a humanized monoclonal antibody (MAb) that regulates iron metabolism.
The serious adverse event in the first phase I/II patient dosed with nulabeglogene autogedtemcel (nula-cel) – a gene editing, autologous hematopoietic stem cell therapy for sickle cell disease (SCD) – may have involved the quality of the stem cells and not the conditioning regimen or characteristics of the patient at baseline. But researchers won’t know until more work is done.
Jasper Therapeutics Inc. may have found a way around toxicity with current approaches in sickle cell disease (SCD) conditioning approaches, if phase I/II data with briquilimab stay consistent – and the drug already has proved itself across a range of indications. Wall Street liked the prospect, sending the Redwood City, Calif.-based firm’s shares (NASDAQ:JSPR) on a wild ride to close at $2.74, up $2.26, or 476%.
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