HONG KONG – Another promising candidate has emerged in the race to find a treatment for the COVID-19 coronavirus. San Diego-based Ansun Biopharma Inc. released positive results from a four-patient study of its DAS-181 candidate, which is being developed for the treatment of severe COVID-19 infection.
Clinical updates, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications: Aeterna Zentaris, American Brivision, Auris, Axsome, Bryn Pharma, Catalyst, Compugen, Cytodyn, Immunomedics, Incyte, Inovio, Janssen, Menlo, Millendo, Oxthera, Sun Biopharma, Windtree, Yiviva.
During its recent fourth-quarter and full-year earnings report, Foster City, Calif.-based Mirum Pharmaceuticals Inc. provided an update on the apical sodium dependent bile acid transporter (ASBT) inhibitor maralixibat for Alagille syndrome (ALGS), which will be the subject of a rolling NDA starting in the third quarter of 2020.
Clinical updates, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications: Axon, Denali, Neurocrine, Novan, Oryzon, Regeneron, Restorbio, Sanofi, Umecrine, Urogen, Voyager.
Indian scientists have discovered a previously unknown mechanism underlying life-threatening sepsis and proposed a new treatment strategy centered upon cell-free chromatin (cfCh), they reported in the March 4, 2020, edition of PLOS ONE. Notably, they showed that sepsis could be caused by cfCh released from dying host cells following microbial infection.
DUBLIN – Ose Immunotherapeutics SA finds itself in the difficult place of hitting the primary endpoint of the first part of a phase III trial of Tedopi, a therapeutic vaccine, in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) while having to terminate the study without completing the crucial second part.
Akero Therapeutics Inc. rolled out stellar non-COVID-19 (for a change) clinical news with long-acting fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) analogue AKR-001 in biopsy-confirmed nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), but even in liver disease the pandemic became part of the discussion.
HONG KONG – Phase II data of South Korea-based Qurient Co. Ltd.’s novel antibiotic candidate may offer hope that the first universal regimen to treat tuberculosis (TB) regardless of drug resistance status has been found.
During the conference call on earnings in March, CEO Dror Harats told investors that “the most important thing” about VBL Therapeutics Ltd.’s then-upcoming analysis of interim phase III data with gene therapy VB-111 (ofranergene obadenovec) is that it was “designed in a way that will enable us to tell the market if we are at least as good as what we've seen” in the phase II experiment.
Oncopeptides AB remains on track for an NDA filing in the second quarter for its peptide-drug conjugate, melflufen, in relapsed refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM).