Sandoz Inc. came out the big winner Nov. 18 when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit wiped out $39 million in infringement damages a jury had awarded to Allergan plc. Sandoz overcame “the doubly high burden of persuading us to overturn a jury verdict of no invalidity,” the appellate court said in its precedential opinion.
A new oral HER2-directed breast cancer therapy from Bayer AG, and its companion diagnostic from Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., have been approved by the U.S. FDA. Hyrnuo (sevabertinib), a reversible tyrosine kinase inhibitor, was greenlit by the agency for adults with locally advanced or metastatic non-squamous advanced HER2-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer.
“Our goal is that by the end of this call, you’ll share our conviction in the totality of the data.” So said Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc. CEO Brian Goff as the company reported top-line data from its 52-week Rise Up trial testing mitapivat in sickle cell disease showing the oral pyruvate kinase activator hit statistical significance on one of two primary endpoints and two of three key secondary endpoints.
In non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and various other cancers, mutations in nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2) cause aberrant activation of NRF2 transcriptional activity, resulting in therapeutic resistance and poor survival.
The U.S. FDA gave the thumbs up to Kura Oncology Inc./Kyowa Kirin Co. Ltd.’s selective oral menin inhibitor, ziftomenib, to treat relapsed, refractory (r/r) nucleophosmin1 (NMP1)-mutant acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The approval of the drug, branded Komzifti, came more than two weeks ahead of the Nov. 30 PDUFA date.
Laekna Inc. outlicensed select rights to LAE-002 (afuresertib), an oral pan-AKT kinase inhibitor licensed from Novartis AG in 2018, to Qilu Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. under a potential ¥2.045 billion (US$287.23 million) deal.
Top-line results from a midstage study of Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s tradipitant hit its primary endpoint by preventing the nausea and vomiting that can be caused by the GLP-1 receptor agonist Wegovy (tirzepatide, Eli Lilly and Co.) in overweight and obese adults. The positive phase II study data prompted Vanda to look at a phase III study of the oral neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist next year.
Roche AG’s Genentech unit landed another clinical victory with giredestrant that provided a major stock boost for competitor Olema Pharmaceuticals Inc. Made public were positive phase III data from the Lidera study testing selective estrogen receptor degrader and complete estrogen receptor antagonist (CERAN) as an adjuvant endocrine treatment for people with ER-positive, HER2-negative, early stage breast cancer (BC).
Merck & Co. Inc. is buying Cidara Therapeutics Inc. for $9.2 billion to acquire a late-stage flu candidate and also to outrace blockbuster Keytruda’s looming patent expiration. CD-388, Cidara’s lead candidate, is in a phase III study of adolescents and adults for preventing influenza A and B in those who are at a high risk of developing complications.
Melanocortin-4-receptor MC4R is a crucial molecule involved in energy homeostasis, feeding behavior and metabolism, and loss-of-function mutations in this gene are the main monogenic cause of early-onset obesity. Congruence Therapeutics Inc. has developed a small molecule, CGX-926, that corrected MC4R deficiency and restored its cell-surface expression and function.
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