Ascletis Pharma Inc.’s once-daily oral fatty acid synthase inhibitor, denifanstat, demonstrated statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements compared to placebo, meeting all primary and secondary endpoints in a phase III trial for moderate to severe acne vulgaris.
Regenxbio Inc.’s gene therapy in treating Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) produced positive initial phase I/II results from its first five patients. However, the company’s stock (NASDAQ:RGNX) shuddered on June 5 as shares closed at $8.36 each, a drop of 17% on the day.
Far from eliminating the need for weight-loss procedures, glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists could drive more people to seek them out. At least that’s what Fractyl Health Inc. and Bariendo Inc. hope, and they have strong evidence to support their case with a recent meta-analysis showing that individuals discontinuing the popular weight loss medications regain all their weight and more within two years.
The U.S. FDA gave Sarepta Therapeutics Inc.’s rAAVrh74 viral vector, used in an investigational gene therapy for the treatment of limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, a step up, making it one of the first platforms to receive the agency’s platform technology designation.
Moderna Inc. once again emerged the winner in a court skirmish over claims that its COVID-19 vaccine infringed two Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. patents. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a precedential opinion May 4, agreeing with a federal district court in Delaware that Moderna didn’t infringe the patents. For both courts, the decision was based on a single issue of claim construction.
It’s a good week to be working on drugs targeting STAT6. Kymera Therapeutics Inc.’s, KT-621, the first oral STAT6 degrader candidate to enter the clinic, surpassed expectations with impressive safety, pharmacokinetic and biomarker data from a phase I trial, while potential fast-followers from Nurix Therapeutics Inc. and Recludix Pharma Inc. advanced via respective partnerships with Sanofi SA.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. is adding to its obesity pipeline by in-licensing Hansoh Biomedical Co. Ltd.’s phase III dual glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1)/gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) receptor agonist, HS-20094, for up to $2 billion.
With a 42% placebo-adjusted reduction in proteinuria at week 36, Vera Therapeutics Inc. met its primary endpoint in the Origin phase III trial with BAFF and APRIL dual inhibitor atacicept in treating immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) in adults.
New dose-escalation data from Verastem Oncology’s phase I/II cancer study in China prompted the company to say it was encouraged by the efficacy results. However, investors felt otherwise, as the stock lost about 20% of its value the day the initial results were released.
The Trump administration released its budget proposal for fiscal year 2026, which would chop roughly 40% from the NIH budget over the current fiscal year — a proposal that might not find much support on Capitol Hill.