Rounding out a year of insider trading charges involving biopharma companies, the U.S. SEC reported Dec. 30 that it had filed a complaint against two top Humanigen Inc. executives, Cameron Durrant, CEO, and Dale Chappell, chief science officer,
for trades based on insider knowledge of FDA actions.
Intriguing scientific data continue to roll out in the head and neck cancer space, where the need for therapies has spurred a number of drug firms to try new approaches, which BioWorld examines in part two of a series that began in the Dec. 30 issue.
Radiopharm Theranostics Ltd. has been granted Belberry Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) approval in Australia to initiate a first-in-human phase I therapeutic study of 177Lu-labeled RAD-202 (177Lu-RAD-202) for the treatment of HER2-expressing solid tumors, including breast and gastric cancers.
Clinical data reported by a handful of biopharmas on Dec. 19 sent stocks soaring or plunging, as company leaders laid out next-step plans. Investors showed enthusiasm for Omeros Corp.’s narsoplimab to treat hematopoietic stem cell-transplant-associated thrombotic microangiopathy (TA-TMA), and Roche AG’s Parkinson’s prospect prasinezumab, which is partnered with Prothena Corp. plc.
Tigatx Inc. has been awarded up to $33.5 million in funding by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health and a 2-year $2 million Direct to Phase II Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Cancer Institute.
The potential for TL1A-targeting duvakitug to impact unmet needs of patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD), and to provide antifibrotic effects for a host of other diseases, boosted shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Sanofi SA by 26.5% and 6.7%, respectively, as the partners released what analysts called “best-in-class” results from the phase IIb Relieve UCCD study and prepare for a phase III trial in 2025.
A year after manufacturing issues resulted in a complete response letter for cosibelimab, the U.S. FDA approved Checkpoint Therapeutics Inc.’s drug, branded Unloxcyt, as the first anti-PD-L1 antibody for use in metastatic or locally advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma patients who are not candidates for curative surgery or curative radiation.
Disappointing readouts from separate phase II studies in atopic dermatitis sank shares of Q32 Bio Inc. and Anaptysbio Inc., as their respective antibody candidates failed to impress in a highly competitive space.
Astria Therapeutics Inc. has gained IND clearance from the FDA for STAR-0310, a monoclonal antibody OX40 antagonist being developed for atopic dermatitis.
Citryll BV has closed an €85 million (US$89.8 million) series B, enabling it to take CIT-013, an antibody designed to block pathological neutrophil extracellular traps that drive a wide range of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, into phase IIa development.
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