LONDON – A new U.K. study indicates the Pfizer Inc./Biontech SE COVID-19 vaccine is less effective against the India variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that was designated as of global concern by the World Health Organization (WHO) on May 10.
Sanofi SA is hoping an oral successor to Astrazeneca plc’s Faslodex (fulvestrant) could be a significant moneyspinner as it seeks to re-establish itself as a major player in oncology – and is pushing ahead with clinical trials to get it to market ahead of rivals. The Paris-based pharma has announced it is to start a new phase III trial of its second-generation oral selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD) drug, amcenestrant, targeting high-risk patients with early breast cancer who need adjuvant drugs to suppress formation of secondary tumors after surgery.
Clinical updates, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications: 4D, Acadia, Advaccine, Albireo, Alzheon, Beyondspring, Galapagos, Gilead, Mirum, Point, Precision, Valbiotis, Valneva, Vincerx, Virios, Zynerba.
The American Society for Clinical Oncology’s (ASCO) virtual annual meeting began June 3 with the release of late-breaking abstracts, including LBA-1 on “Olympia: A phase 3, multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of adjuvant?olaparib?after (neo)adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with germline BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations and high risk HER2-negative primary breast cancer.”
Novartis AG’s CAR T therapy, Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel), is heading for a third indication after the Basel, Switzerland-based pharma announced supportive results from a pivotal phase II trial, lining it up to compete with Gilead Sciences Inc.’s rival, Yescarta.
DUBLIN – Ronopterin (VAS-203) failed to meet the primary endpoint of a phase III trial in traumatic brain injury (TBI), but developer Vasopharm GmbH is nevertheless convinced that it has an active drug on its hands. It has also received backing from the study’s data monitoring committee, which has provided, Vasopharm said, a “positive benefit-risk assessment” on the basis of the efficacy signals detected and the drug’s known safety profile.
Novartis AG is closing in on a label expansion for its blockbuster inflammatory disease drug, Cosentyx (secukinumab), after announcing supportive phase III results in children with two subtypes of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).
Protalix Biotherapeutics Inc. saw shares dip after releasing initial top-line data from an interim analysis of the phase III Balance clinical trial of pegunigalsidase alfa (PRX-102) to treat Fabry disease. The 24-month, randomized, double-blind, active control study is evaluating the safety and efficacy of 1 mg/kg of PRX-102 dosed every two weeks compared to agalsidase beta (Fabrazyme). Two of the study’s 78 patients dropped out because of treatment emergent adverse events and one left because of a related adverse event.
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