Shares of Unity Biotechnology Inc. (NASDAQ:UBX) fell 66.6% to $4.15 on Aug. 17 after UBX-0101, its one-time lead candidate, failed to best a placebo on an established measure of osteoarthritis pain in a phase II study.
The industry's expanding quest for protein degraders grew a little larger on July 9 with Sanofi SA tapping Kymera Therapeutics Inc. to advance two new protein degrader programs, one of which will target IRAK4 in patients with immune-inflammatory diseases and another for an undisclosed target. Each program could yield multiple therapies.
DUBLIN – Gesynta Pharma AB raised SEK190 million (US$20.6 million) in new funding to move GS-248, a selective inhibitor of microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1 (mPGES-1), into a phase IIa trial in systemic sclerosis. The study is due to get underway toward the year end. “It’s going to be in the second half of the fourth quarter,” said Patric Stenberg, CEO of Lund, Sweden-based Gesynta.
PERTH, Australia – Melbourne-based regenerative medicine company Cynata Therapeutics Ltd. is gearing up to take its Cymerus mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) product candidate, CYP-004, into a phase III trial in osteoarthritis.
Four years after the EMA first approved Novartis AG's Ilaris (canakinumab) for the treatment of adult-onset Still’s disease (AOSD), the FDA has followed suit, giving it a green light in the indication following a priority review. The rare rheumatic condition usually affects younger adults and can occur as infrequently as once, but also intermittently or chronically.
HONG KONG – Japan’s Seikagaku Corp. is contemplating the next move for its ONO-5704/SI-613 (diclofenac etalhyaluronate), a treatment for arthritis that it is co-developing with fellow Japanese company Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.
Selecta Biosciences Inc., of Watertown, Mass., and Stockholm’s Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (Sobi) signed a licensing agreement for SEL-212, which is designed to control serum uric acid, reduce immunogenicity and allow for repeated monthly dosing when treating chronic refractory gout.
CEO Carsten Brunn said Selecta Biosciences Inc. has “not seen a material impact” from the COVID-19 pandemic and remains on track to report in the third quarter phase IIb data from a head-to-head trial comparing its refractory gout candidate, SEL-212, with Krystexxa (pegloticase), from Horizon Therapeutics plc, of Dublin.
HONG KONG – South Korean biopharmaceutical company Kolon Tissuegene Inc. got a new lease on life as the U.S. FDA lifted the hold on the phase III trial for its lead candidate, Invossa-K (Invossa), for the treatment of osteoarthritis.
PERTH, Australia – Australian stem cell therapy company Mesoblast Ltd. plans to evaluate its allogeneic mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) candidate, remestemcel-L, in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) caused by coronavirus (COVID-19) in the U.S., Australia, China and Europe.
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