As U.S. regulatory uncertainty swirls around the vaccine space and health care in general, Vaxcyte Inc. stands poised for a readout of phase II infant data by the end of this quarter with VAX-24, the 24-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV). The San Carlos, Calif.-based firm will offer top-line safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity data, to be followed by top-line data with the booster dose by the end of this year.
The map of cystic fibrosis (CF) research is being redrawn in the U.K. as improvements in treatment, and in particular the introduction of CF modulator drugs, mean people with the rare inherited disease are living much longer.
The lung and thrombosis may play a key role in cancer and metastasis progression, according to a collaborative study led by Cornell University scientists.
The longstanding ambition of developing an inhaled gene therapy for cystic fibrosis has taken a step forward, with the start of a phase I/II trial of a product using a novel pseudotyped viral vector that it is hoped will circumvent problems encountered in previous studies with other vectors.
Pliant Therapeutics Inc., which offered few details earlier this week when it voluntarily paused enrollment in the phase IIb Beacon-IPF trial testing bexotegrast in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), has taken an unusual step as it assembles a panel of outside experts to review unblinded data from the study with the goal of providing an independent recommendation.
Ligachem Biosciences Inc. landed another exclusive licensing deal to develop and commercialize antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), this time with T-cell receptor therapy specialist Daan Biotherapeutics Inc. for a cancer-targeting antibody.
A mysterious turn in the phase IIb story with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) candidate bexotegrast sent shares of Pliant Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) down 60.6%, or $4.72, to close Feb. 10 at $3.07.
Sionna Therapeutics Inc. has opened on Nasdaq in the year’s fourth IPO, this one priced at the upper end of its original per-share range at $18. The cystic fibrosis therapy developer is looking for gross proceeds of about $191 million by offering 10.58 million shares of common stock. On Feb. 7, shares (NASDAQ:SION) closed the day 39% upward at $25.
The European Commission on Feb. 5 cleared Shanghai Henlius Biotech Inc.’s serplulimab (HLX-02) under the brand name of Hetronifly as a first-line combination therapy with carboplatin and etoposide to treat extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer.
Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh have tested a broadly neutralizing antibody that binds the stem of a protein against H5N1 avian influenza, which prevented severe disease in nonhuman primates and was effective for at least 8 weeks. The scientists remark on the potential of the design developed by Astrazeneca plc against a possible outbreak of the influenza A virus.