Phase III Scorpio-PEP study results showed Shionogi & Co. Ltd.’s oral antiviral ensitrelvir fumaric acid (Xocova) reduced risk of symptomatic COVID-19 infection in subjects who were exposed to the virus by infected household members.
Shares of Tharimmune Inc. shot up more than 100% in early trading Oct. 30 as the firm disclosed regulatory backing to launch a phase II trial this quarter testing TH-104, a transdermal buccal film version of nalmefene, to treat pruritus that is associated with primary biliary cholangitis.
Two days after Monte Rosa Therapeutics Inc. signed a molecular glue degrader deal with Novartis AG, two other companies, Biogen Inc. and Neomorph Inc., are moving forward in the same space in a partnership worth up to $1.45 billion. Cambridge, Mass.-based Biogen and San Diego-based Neomorph will develop molecular glue degraders (MGDs) for priority targets in Alzheimer’s, rare neurological and immunological diseases, using Neomorph’s MGD platform to identify and validate novel small-molecule protein degraders.
Backed by AI technology, Aigen Sciences Inc. raised ₩12 billion (US$8.8 million) in a series A financing round to further advance its cancer and rare disease drug pipelines. Aigen said Oct. 16 that the series A round was joined by existing investors Partners Investment, Quad Investment Management and Medytox Venture Investment, as well new investors Premier Partners, K2 Investment Partners and Scale Up Partners.
Researchers from Purdue University and Eradivir Inc. presented a newly developed bispecific small molecule (zanDR) that bound and inhibited influenza neuraminidase on both free virus and virus-infected cells and also recruited the immune system. zanDR recruited naturally occurring anti-rhamnose and anti-dinitrophenyl (DNP) antibodies with rhamnose and DNP haptens.
Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Inc. is counting on the Oct. 31 meeting of the U.S. FDA’s Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee to help it break through the type 1 diabetes (T1D) door with Zynquista (sotagliflozin), proposed as an adjunct to insulin to improve glycemic control in people with T1D and mild to moderate chronic kidney disease.
With another failure of E-selectin antagonist uproleselan on the books, Glycomimetics Inc. signed an acquisition agreement with privately held, solid tumor-focused Crescent Biopharma Inc., and a syndicate of investors has put up $200 million to make the merger possible. The combined firm will operate under Crescent’s name after the deal closes in the second quarter of 2025, subject to shareholders’ go-ahead.
An old target that found new life at Monte Rosa Therapeutics Inc. has become the subject of a sizeable deal between the company and Novartis AG, as the pair set about developing molecular glue degraders (MGDs). Shares of Monte Rosa (NASDAQ:GLUE) closed Oct. 28 at $9.48, up $4.59, or 93.9%, on word of the Boston-based firm’s deal with Novartis to advance VAV1 MGDs, including MRT-6160, a prospect undergoing a phase I single ascending dose/multiple ascending dose study in healthy volunteers for immune-mediated conditions.
Despite an outcome that TD Cowen analyst Tyler Van Buren called ”fantastic,” shares of Tyra Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ:TYRA) closed Oct. 25 at $21.93, down $6.68, or 23%, as Wall Street digested new phase I/II data with FGFR3 inhibitor TYRA-300 in metastatic urothelial cancer from the Surf301 phase I/II study in progress.
Bayer AG has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Dewpoint Therapeutics Inc. for a heart disease program to treat dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) patients characterized by specific mutations.
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