Apogee Therapeutics Inc. plans to enter a crowded atopic dermatitis market with established drugs, such as Dupixent (dupilumab, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Sanofi SA) and Ebglyss (lebrikizumab-lbkz, Eli Lilly and Co.), which are sold by much larger competitors. But the company thinks it can compete with its anti-IL-13 antibody, APG-777, thanks to the drug’s 77 day half-life that may allow it to be dosed only two to four times a year in the maintenance phase, compared to 13 to 26 injections per year for the established competitors.
Cogent Biosciences Inc. is eyeing an NDA submission to the U.S. FDA by the end of this year in the wake of positive top-line results from the registration-directed second part of the Summit phase II trial testing bezuclastinib in non-advanced systemic mastocytosis (SM). The data show clinically meaningful and highly statistically significant improvements in SM across the primary and all key secondary endpoints, including patient-reported symptoms and objective measures of mast cell burden.
China’s National Medical Products Administration gave the green light to Simcere Pharmaceutical Group Ltd.’s Enzeshu (suvemcitug) for treating recurrent ovarian cancer, fallopian tube cancer, or primary peritoneal cancer in combination with paclitaxel, liposomal doxorubicin, or topotecan in adults who have received at least one systemic therapy after platinum resistance.
Jasper Therapeutics Inc.’s otherwise upbeat data with subcutaneous briquilimab was hamstrung by apparent trouble with one lot of drug used in the phase Ib/II Beacon study in chronic spontaneous urticaria. Shares of the Redwood Calif.-based firm (NASDAQ:JSPR) closed July 7 at $3.04, down $3.73, or 55%.
With no U.S. CDC director in place yet, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy recently adopted two vaccine recommendations from the April meeting of the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP), making them official CDC recommendations and ensuring coverage of the vaccines for the specified populations.