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).
A jury has returned a verdict of infringement against Apple Inc., as part of a series of patent disputes with Masimo Corp., producing a damages award of $634 million which is seen in some quarters as an indicator that Masimo has the momentum against Apple.
Medtronic plc posted solid fiscal year second-quarter results led by the cardiovascular business with 9.3% growth. The Affera Sphere-9 pulsed field ablation system tripled the company’s sales in the hot PFA segment and pushed the cardiac ablation solutions unit to 71% growth, a nice uptick from the nearly 50% seen in its Q1.
Aesculap Implant Systems LLC has seen its share of bad news recently, but the company seems to have cleared the legal deck with an agreement to pay $38.5 million per a Nov. 17 announcement by the U.S. attorney’s office for the district of Eastern Pennsylvania.
Over a span of five-and-a-half months this year, 3.5% of the more than 11,000 clinical trials funded by the U.S. NIH had their grants terminated, according to an article published in the Nov. 17 JAMA Internal Medicine. That’s 383 trials that lost funding.
The Medicare Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction (WISeR) proposal is designed to tamp down on waste, fraud and abuse in the Medicare program, but Jeff Wurzberg, a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright LLP, told BioWorld that the contractors developing these AI models have incentives to return non-covered determinations for services.
Exactech Inc., of Gainesville, Fla., decided it will not subject itself to a 10-year corporate integrity agreement with the Office of Inspector General, an understandable move given that the company no longer intends to do business in the U.S. under its old brand.
Withings SA received U.S. FDA clearance for Beamo, its health check-up tool designed to monitor heart and lung function. Described as the ‘thermometer of the future’, Beamo combines the sensors of an electrocardiogram, a stethoscope and a thermometer into a hand-held device to allow users to check their body temperature, cardiac and pulmonary health in less than a minute.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has moved to relax reporting requirements for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances used in a variety of applications, including medical devices.