Investors anxious to see data from Marinus Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s phase III Raise study testing intravenous ganaxolone in refractory status epilepticus (RSE) will have to wait a little longer, as the trial failed to meet the predefined criteria for stopping at the interim analysis, sending shares (NASDAQ:MRNS) down nearly 83%.
Enlivex Therapeutics Ltd. extolled the top-line “positive indication of effect and safety” from the phase II study of Allocetra in treating sepsis and sepsis shock, but the market took another view of the clinical trial. In an analysis of eligible adult patients from the cell therapy’s multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled, dose-finding study of 120 enrolled patients, the company also reported low mortality rates.
With the recent removal of its amyotrophic lateral sclerosis drug from the market, Amylyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. is looking to revive investor interest with interim data from its phase II Helios study testing the same drug, AMX-0035 (sodium phenylbutyrate plus taurursodiol), in Wolfram syndrome, a rare indication in which Amylyx could be leading the charge.
Stable disease in about half the patients tested wasn’t enough for Wall Street, and shares of Vincerx Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ:VINC) nosedived by $3.72, or 78%, to close April 9 at $1.06 on the disclosure of preliminary phase I data with small-molecule drug conjugate VIP-236 in metastatic solid tumors.
With two respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines approved by the U.S. FDA in 2023 and a third nearing its May PDUFA date, decades of research has finally provided infants and older adults protection from the disruptive and sometimes deadly virus. But what about people in the middle, particularly those with certain chronic medical conditions? New York-based Pfizer Inc. rolled out phase III data April 9 showing that its approved RSV vaccine, Abrysvo (RSVpreF), met primary endpoints in adults ages 18 to 59 who were at high risk of RSV.
“Hot and cold tumors may need different types of immunotherapy,” Jay Berzofsky told the audience as the American Association for Cancer Research’s (AACR) 2024 annual meeting kicked off this weekend. In an educational session on cancer vaccines, Berzofsky, who is head of the National Cancer Institute’s Molecular Immunogenetics and Vaccine Research section, explained that when immunotherapy fails in hot tumors, it fails despite the existence of an immune response, due to an immunosuppressive microenvironment.
The higher of two doses of Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s drug olezarsen for treating adults with familial chylomicronemia syndrome reduced fasting triglyceride levels by 44% from baseline at the six-month mark in a phase III study, but one case of pancreatitis in the trial paints a less attractive picture than top-line data the firm reported in September.
After reviewing data from its phase II trial of farnesoid X receptor agonist ASC-42 in primary biliary cholangitis, Ascletis Pharma Inc. said it was quitting development of the molecule in all indications.
Positive updated phase II data with CAN-2409 in pancreatic cancer led shares of Candel Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:CADL) to close April 4 at $6.40, up $4.72, or 281%, well above the firm’s previous 52-week high. At one point during the day, the stock had climbed to $7.65.
Top-line data from the phase II Kickstart study of Effector Therapeutics Inc.’s tomivosertib as a frontline treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer failed to produce data strong enough to continue development in the indication. The company has decided to halt the study, move ahead with a separate, investigator-sponsored study of tomivosertib in acute myeloid leukemia and focus on another drug in its pipeline for treating breast cancer. Effector’s stock (NASDAQ:EFTR) crumpled on the NCSLC news as shares plunged 82% on April 4 to close at $2.96 each. The closing value was the lowest the company has seen in the past 12 months.
RSS
