An investigational dendritic cell vaccine from Northwest Biotherapeutics Inc., administered with standard of care, extended both median overall survival (OS) and "the ‘long tail' of the survival curve" vs. matched external controls in newly diagnosed and recurrent glioblastoma multiforme brain cancer patients, according to results published Nov. 17 in JAMA Oncology.
As Wall Street waits to find out later this year whether Stoke Therapeutics Inc.’s positive results with a low, single dose of STK-001 for Dravet syndrome pans out in more extensive research, a number of players large and small are investigating candidates for the rare but dismal form of epilepsy.
A lackluster efficacy signal has prompted Editas Medicine Inc. to pause enrollment in a phase I/II trial of its CRISPR/Cas9-based gene editing therapy, EDIT-101, which is in development for patients with a particular form of Leber congenital amaurosis type 10.
Astellas Pharma Inc.’s zolbetuximab, a monoclonal antibody targeting Claudin 18.2, met the primary endpoint of progression-free survival in the phase III Spotlight trial in CLDN18.2-positive, HER2-negative, locally advanced unresectable or metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma, according to top-line data.
Reistone Biopharma Co. Ltd. said both doses of the JAK1 inhibitor ivarmacitinib, tested against moderate to severe atopic dermatitis (AD) in a multinational phase III trial, met the study’s co-primary endpoints, delivering significant improvements on a common measure of disease severity vs. placebo. It’s the first National Class A new drug for AD that is designed and developed in China, according to the company.
Que Oncology Inc.’s Q-122 significantly reduced the frequency and severity of moderate and severe vasomotor symptoms, or hot flashes, in women taking endocrine therapy for breast cancer, and phase II results showed associated improvement in quality of life, compared with placebo.
Two phase III failures with Roche Holding AG subsidiary Genentech Inc.’s gantenerumab in staving off mild cognitive impairment tied to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) revealed the level of amyloid-beta removal was lower than the company expected. The protein amyloid beta accumulates in the brains of AD patients and its removal is suspected to be an eventual boon to AD patients. But there are still plenty of doubts. Top-line results from Genentech’s phase III Graduate I and II studies show gantenerumab, a fully human monoclonal IgG1 antibody, missed the primary endpoints of slowing clinical decline in those with mild cognitive impairment due to AD and mild AD dementia.
Immutep Ltd.’s lead immunotherapy candidate eftilagimod (IMP-321, efti) met the primary endpoint in its phase II trial evaluating the combination of efti and Merck & Co. Inc.’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab) as first-line treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), reporting final data that show an overall response rate of 40.4%.
GSK plc said it will restrict the second-line maintenance indication for ovarian cancer drug Zejula (niraparib) to only patients with deleterious or suspected germline BRCA mutations, at the request of the FDA, in a sign that U.S. regulators aren’t going to relax scrutiny on PARP inhibitors any time soon.
With labeling discussions begun for TG Therapeutics Inc.’s ublituximab to treat relapsing multiple sclerosis, Wall Street was optimistic about the PDUFA date of Dec. 28 assigned to the glycoengineered CD20 monoclonal antibody. Shares of New York-based TG (NASDAQ:TGTX) closed Nov. 11 at $9.34, up 91 cents, or 10.8%, having risen more than 52% over the previous five days. With late-cycle review talks with the U.S. FDA done, ublituximab seemed well on its way.
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