Partners Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. and Merck & Co. Inc. received a complete response letter (CRL) from the U.S. FDA for their first-in-class HER3-directed antibody-drug conjugate HER3-DXd (patritumab deruxtecan) to treat patients with locally advanced or metastatic EGFR-mutated non-small-cell lung cancer.
Yuhan Corp., of Seoul, South Korea, has inked a ₩150 billion (US$108.6 million) deal with Korean biotech Ubix Therapeutics Inc. to gain exclusive global rights to UBX-103, Ubix’s oral small-molecule androgen receptor degrader for prostate cancer. Yuhan also announced July 1 that it gained the U.S. FDA’s nod to start a phase I study of a Gaucher disease drug candidate called YH-35995.
In a ruling delivered June 28, the U.S. Supreme Court brought an end to four decades of a practice of judicial deference to federal government agencies in litigation under the Chevron doctrine, a practice that some argue has enabled regulatory mischief.
Kbio Inc. has obtained IND clearance from the FDA for EV68-228-N, a human monoclonal IgG1 against the capsid of enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) designed as an intravenous therapeutic for the treatment of acute flaccid myelitis.
Circle Pharma Inc. has submitted an IND application to the FDA for CID-078, a first-in-class cyclin A/B RxL inhibitor. Pending approval, the company plans to initiate a phase I trial in patients with advanced solid tumor malignancies.
SCG Cell Therapy Pte Ltd. has gained FDA clearance of its IND application to initiate a phase I/II trial of SCG-142, a novel next-generation human papillomavirus (HPV) E7-specific T-cell receptor-engineered T (TCR T)-cell therapy for patients with HPV-associated solid tumors.
Two days before the PDUFA date, the U.S. FDA handed down a complete response letter (CRL) for Rocket Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s Kresladi (marnetegragene autotemcel), delaying potential approval of the lentiviral-based gene therapy as the first therapeutic option for leukocyte adhesion deficiency type I, a rare, inherited immune disorder. But the Cranbury, N.J.-based company has suggested that delay won’t be long, as the CRL requests only “limited” chemistry manufacturing and controls (CMC) information – additional CMC data were also cited as the reason for the three-month review extension earlier this year.
In May 2024, BioWorld covered 298 updates across phase I-III clinical trials, surpassing March (261), February (236) and January (252), though falling short of April’s high of 323. Additionally, at the end of May BioWorld revised its reporting criteria for clinical trial updates, focusing mainly on data readouts and excluding trial initiations, enrollment changes and initial patient dosing, thereby impacting the update count relative to prior months.
Clarius Mobile Health Corp. received U.S. FDA clearance for the Clarius OB artificial intelligence biometric measurement tool, which is designed to improve access to accurate prenatal monitoring in low-resource regions. The system automatically estimates fetal age, weight and growth intervals critical to assessing fetal health and early identification of potential issues and multiple pregnancies.