Qyuns Therapeutics Co. Ltd.’s monoclonal antibody targeting IL-17A, QX-002N, met both primary and secondary endpoints in a phase III trial in ankylosing spondylitis.

As Wall Street looks ahead to phase III data due soon with Mineralys Therapeutics Inc.’s lorundrostat for uncontrolled or resistant hypertension, analysts are also weighing the odds of the firm in phase II with the same compound for obstructive sleep apnea.

In Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s phase I/II Chord study of 12 children with genetic hearing loss, 10 out of 11 have shown improvements after being treated with a gene therapy. “What is really remarkable about this type of therapeutic approach is that the first people who are going to see the impact are not actually the physicians – it’s the families,” Jonathon Whitton, vice president and Regeneron’s auditory global program head, told BioWorld.

Kyorin Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. struck two licensing deals recently, including one with Hyfe Inc. Feb. 25 to develop the world’s potential first prescription digital therapeutic for chronic cough in Japan.

The BioWorld Infectious Disease Index (BIDI) faced challenges throughout the year but narrowed its losses, ending down 6.28% after hitting a low of -25.12% in late April. By October, the index was down 12.07% and had declined 8.86% for the year as of Nov. 22. However, in January, the BIDI rebounded slightly, gaining 1.85%.

Citing recent executive orders that suggest additional cuts to the federal workforce may be in the offing, U.S. Sens. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., wrote to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy urging him to end “indiscriminate cuts that will cause lasting harm to FDA’s public health mission” and to protect the agency’s statutory obligations.