Scribe Therapeutics Inc. has obtained clearance from Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to initiate a first-in-human study of STX-1150 for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia, a major driver of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). The phase I study will enroll adults with elevated LDL-C at increased cardiovascular risk at sites in Australia and New Zealand.
Hangzhou Qihan Biotech Co. Ltd. has obtained IND clearance from the FDA for QT-019C, a universal allogeneic CAR T-cell therapy for autoimmune diseases. QT-019C cell injection is an off-the-shelf allogeneic CAR T-cell therapy engineered from healthy donor leukapheresis products to stably express two distinct CARs targeting CD19 and BCMA.
As of May 21, the U.S. SEC’s “no-deny” settlement policy is dead. For the past 50 years, the agency has required settling defendants to sign an agreement stating that they neither admit nor deny the SEC’s allegations. And beyond that, the standard settlement prohibits, under threat of court action, the defendants from ever denying the allegations publicly. According to an SEC notice to be published in the May 21 Federal Register, the agency has reconsidered the issue and is now rescinding the no-deny rule.
The short story of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s May 19 opinion in Recor Medical Inc. v. Medtronic Ireland is that the lower court got it wrong when it ruled Medtronic lacked the required standing to bring an infringement countersuit against Recor because it had granted an exclusive license for products covered by the two asserted patents. The case was reversed and remanded.
The evolution of cancer diagnostics continues with the FDA’s May 20 approval of Guardant Health Inc.’s Guardant360 Liquid cDx. The new blood-based comprehensive genomic test assesses a 100-times wider genomic footprint than the previously approved Guardant360 cDx to deliver comprehensive tumor profiling results, according to the company. It noted that the seven companion diagnostic indications already approved for the older test will transfer to the new one.
Matter Bio has submitted its first IND application to the FDA for Lm-LLO-TT, the company’s lead therapeutic candidate, seeking to initiate a first-in-human phase I/IIa trial in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).
Mekanistic Therapeutics Inc. has obtained IND clearance from the FDA for MTX-531, the company’s lead oncology candidate. A phase I study will be conducted in patients with advanced solid tumors characterized by dysregulated EGFR and/or PI3K signaling, including head and neck and endometrial cancers. Dosing is expected to begin in the third quarter.
In a move aimed at incentivizing companies to go and stay public, the U.S. SEC proposed two rulemakings May 19 as a foundation to the agency’s Make IPOs Great Again agenda.
Of all the issues that could be on the table at the talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and China President Xi Jinping, the life sciences sector is the “sweet spot” for collaboration between the two countries in a way that would benefit the world, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said in a Brookings Institution webinar in advance of the two-day summit that starts May 14.
Eli Lilly and Co. lost its bid to have the U.S. Supreme Court strike down the whistleblower provisions in the False Claims Act (FCA) as unconstitutional.