Netris Pharma SA has delivered positive phase Ib data showing its first-in-class netrin-1 inhibitor NP-137 alleviates resistance to chemotherapy in pancreatic cancer. This could represent an important advance in treating these tumors, which are notoriously resistant to chemotherapy.

Boston Scientific Corp.'s CEO Mike Mahoney said that the year is turning out to be “more challenging” than the company anticipated, prompting a cut to its organic sales growth guidance to 6.5% to 8%, from 10% to 11%. The company also lowered its adjusted earnings-per-share guidance to $3.34 to $3.41, from $3.43 to $3.49 previously. Analysts welcomed the lower guidance seeing it as somewhat of a relief and an opportunity to reset on the back of the company’s share price, which has fallen sharply over the last year.

When the U.S. CMS didn’t get takers for its voluntary Better Approaches to Lifestyle and Nutrition for Comprehensive Health (BALANCE) model to cover obesity drugs under Medicare Part D, the agency punted. It announced late April 21 that it will indefinitely delay the BALANCE model in Medicare but extend its temporary Medicare GLP-1 Bridge demonstration model through the end of 2027. (The Medicaid BALANCE model will still kick in this year in states that choose to participate in it.)

And the positive news continues to flow for Revolution Medicines Inc. On the heels of a successful phase III trial for RAS inhibitor daraxonrasib in previously treated patients with metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) – not to mention the firm pricing the largest follow-on offering in biopharma history – Revolution presented updated phase I/II data at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) meeting detailing impressive findings in first-line PDAC patients.

Optimism rose for what could be the first CAR T therapy in autoimmune disease as Kyverna Therapeutics Inc. made public a positive primary analysis from its registrational trial, KYSA-8, of mivocabtagene autoleucel (miv-cel, KYV-101) in stiff-person syndrome. Kyverna plans to submit a BLA to the U.S. FDA in the first half of this year.

Researchers in the U.K. have developed an AI-driven method of identifying viruses in wild animals with the potential to spillover into humans. The technique makes it possible to use the genome sequences of the spike proteins by which viruses enter host cells to assess the potential to infect humans without having to isolate an individual virus and tests its infectivity in the lab.