X4 Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s recent stock-boosting phase Ib news with lead candidate mavorixafor fueled already-strong interest in finding an alternative therapy for neutropenia and deepened esteem for the drug’s long-known mechanism of action.
Paradigm Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. reported top-line data from its phase II trial of Zilosul (pentosan polysulfate/PPS) that suggest the non-opioid treatment for knee osteoarthritis is effective in navigating pain management but also has the potential to be disease modifying.
Calithera Biosciences Inc.’s in-licensing deal to take ownership of a pair of oncology assets from Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. may be on its way to paying off, perhaps especially with regard to the oral Syk/FLT3 inhibitor mivavotinib, formerly known as CB-659/TAK-659.
Trefoil Therapeutics Inc. has reported promising data from a phase II trial suggesting its engineered version of fibroblast growth factor 1, TTHX-1114, may speed and improve recovery of patients with Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy who are undergoing a surgical procedure called Descemet stripping only.
Analysts were upbeat about positive results from Eisai Co Ltd. and Biogen Inc.’s phase III confirmatory Clarity Alzheimer’s disease (AD) trial of lecanemab that met both primary and secondary endpoints, and most agreed that the data should be enough to gain FDA approval for mild cognitive impairment due to AD.
A serious adverse event (SAE) in one participant has led the U.S. FDA to place a partial clinical hold on Avidity Biosciences Inc.’s lead program. The action is centered on the phase I/II Marina study of AOC-1001, an antibody oligonucleotide conjugate for treating myotonic dystrophy type 1, the most common form of muscular dystrophy in adults.
The amount of clinical news in 2022 continues to lag last year, partly due to a decline in COVID-19-related data. Through the last week of September, there have been a total of 2,495 phase I, II and III clinical entries, compared with 3,027 during the first three quarters of 2021. This represents a drop in activity of 17.6%.
In recent years, ethicists have executed a 180-degree shift on including children in clinical trials testing drugs, biologics and medical devices, moving from the idea that it was unethical to include youngsters in trials to an understanding that such inclusion may be the best way of protecting them.
Valneva SE is approaching a crucial point with its troubled efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, having announced Sept. 26 it’s in talks with a potential partner for its next-generation jab. The company cautioned the negotiations could take several months and may not succeed. The company’s problems with its COVID-19 vaccine, which is based on an inactivated whole virus, have weighed on its shares (Paris:VLA), which collapsed from a 52-week high of more than €29 (US$28.29) in December 2021 to €5.74 at the close of trading Sept. 26.
Alkermes plc’s recent update on sales of the schizophrenia drug Lybalvi (also indicated for bipolar I disorder) along with positive phase III data from Karuna Therapeutics Inc. from tests of Karxt (xanomeline plus trospium) shone more light on the troublesome indication, where Cerevel Therapeutics Holdings Inc. is advancing emraclidine in what could be a registrational phase II study.