Investors reading into the U.S. FDA’s decision to skip an advisory committee meeting to discuss the NDA for Applied Therapeutics Inc.’s govorestat, seeking approval as the first therapy for treating classic galactosemia, clearly saw reasons for optimism, as shares of Applied (NASDAQ:APLT) jumped 69% to close Sept. 18 at $7.85.
Rakovina Therapeutics Inc. and Variational AI Inc. have entered into a research collaboration to identify and develop novel small-molecule therapies against DNA damage response (DDR) targets for the treatment of cancer.
Researchers from Circle Pharma Inc. have presented preclinical data for CID-078, a novel orally bioavailable cyclin A/B Rxl macrocycle being developed for the treatment of patients with lung cancer. CID-078 was developed as a macrocycle that binds to the hydrophobic patch of cyclins A and B and blocks RxL-dependent interactions of proteins, such as that of E2F1 with cyclin A-CDK2 and Myt1 with cyclin B-CDK1.
Scattered investor qualms about Nuvalent Inc.’s largely upbeat data during the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) meeting in Barcelona didn’t stop the firm from pricing an upsized $500 million public offering. The Cambridge, Mass.-based firm is selling 5 million shares of class A common stock at $100 each. The offering is expected to close on Sept. 18, with underwriters holding a 30-day option to purchase up to 750,000 more shares.
Immuneering Corp. CEO Benjamin Zeskind said he is “pleased with enrollment across the full trial” that’s ongoing with IMM-1-104 in cancer, and 30 subjects are due per arm in five arms that the phase IIa experiment includes.
Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc. lost its uphill battle to convince the U.S. FDA’s Gastrointestinal Drugs Advisory Committee that the risks of its second-line primary biliary cholangitis drug outweigh the benefits. The committee overwhelmingly said the data in the follow-up studies of treating the rare disease with Ocaliva (obeticholic acid), which has accelerated approval from the FDA, was insufficient.
After missing the primary and secondary endpoints in its phase III study of losmapimod in treating the rare disease facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FHSD), Fulcrum Therapeutics Inc. is yanking the program’s plug. The selective p38α/β mitogen activated protein kinase inhibitor had a lot of money behind it. It was originally in-licensed from GSK plc and then, in May, Sanofi SA signed on to help Fulcrum develop and commercialize losmapimod for FHSD worldwide, excluding the U.S., in a deal worth $1.06 billion.
Silo Pharma Inc. has completed a pre-IND meeting with the FDA regarding the company’s development plan for SPC-15, an intranasal prophylactic treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and stress-induced anxiety disorder.
Stealth Biotherapeutics Inc. has been awarded the Kyle Bryant Translational Research Award from the Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA) to evaluate mitochondria-targeted molecule SBT-589 in Friedreich’s ataxia (FA).