As expected, Viela Bio Inc. won FDA clearance for the humanized anti-CD19 monoclonal antibody Uplizna (inebilizumab-cdon) to treat adults with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), a rare neuroinflammatory disease.
According to Todd Haim, chief of the Office of Small Business Research at the National Institute on Aging (NIA), Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a major issue. In his opening remarks on a BIO Digital panel, titled “Brave Innovations: public and private solutions to advance Alzheimer’s therapeutics and diagnostics in a risk-averse climate,” he provided data showing why new treatments for AD and AD-related dementias (ADRD) are desperately needed.
LONDON – Evox Therapeutics Ltd. sealed a $1.2 billion collaboration with Eli Lilly and Co. to apply its exosome technology to the doubly difficult task of systemically delivering RNA interference and antisense oligonucleotide drugs, to reach central nervous system targets.
Athira Pharma Inc. closed on an $85 million series B financing designed to advance its small molecule, NDX-1017, into a phase II/III trial for treating Alzheimer’s disease later this year. The company is using positive data generated last year from its phase Ia/b trial in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease as a springboard to the clinic.
LONDON – With results of its first phase I trial imminent, inflammasome specialist Nodthera Ltd. has raised $55 million in a series B round, providing funding for phase II proof-of-concept studies and to advance a second, brain-penetrant, compound to the clinic.
Prilenia Therapeutics BV, a private company developing an experimental therapy for Huntington's disease (HD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), has raised $62.5 million in a series A financing round to support new trials in the indications, both of which are expected to yield top-line data by the end of 2022, CEO Michael Hayden told BioWorld.
A phase III test of roluperidone, a drug developed by Minerva Neurosciences Inc. with a goal of treating negative symptoms in schizophrenia, found that the experimental medicine failed to deliver statistically significant differences vs. placebo in improving both the trial's primary endpoint, a common measure of symptom severity, and its secondary endpoint, a score measuring social function.
HONG KONG – South Korean conglomerate SK Group is preparing to list its subsidiary, SK Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., on the Stock Market Division of the Korea Exchange.
Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s apomorphine sublingual film (APL-130277), a dopamine agonist the company will market as Kynmobi, has won FDA approval for the acute intermittent treatment of motor fluctuations (off episodes) associated with Parkinson’s disease.
Researchers at Duke University have identified a region in the central amygdala – more often thought of as a processing hub for emotions – that could suppress pain when activated.
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