To understand the focus of startup Insamo Inc., one need look no further than its name, which co-founder and CEO Timothy Craven described as “portmanteau of ‘internally satisfied molecules,’” highlighting its efforts to create orally administered and membrane-permeable cyclic peptides across a range of disease areas.
With the number of people with dementia in Australia expected to nearly double by 2054, the federal government is funding a new AU$50 million (US$32.76 million) biomedical and med-tech incubator program to develop new therapies, medical devices and digital health technologies to address dementia and cognitive decline.
Kazia Therapeutics Ltd. stopped its two-part paxalisib plus radiotherapy phase I trial early based on positive safety and promising clinical responses in patients with phosphoinositide 3-kinase pathway mutation brain metastases from solid tumors. The company plans to meet with the U.S. FDA to discuss a pivotal registrational trial.
CSL Ltd. will review the data further to see if there is a path forward for CSL-112 (human apolipoprotein A-I) after the phase III AEGIS-II trial failed to meet the primary efficacy endpoint in reducing the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in patients following an acute heart attack.
Sciwind Biosciences Co. Ltd.’s oral ecnoglutide (XW-004) produced strong weight loss results after short-term treatments, up to a 6.8% body weight decrease in obese and overweight participants after once-daily dosing for six weeks, according to data from the first four cohorts of the phase I trial.
The biopharma industry lauded the first steps the Australian government has taken to widen access for drugs and devices via reforms to the current health technology assessment process that has remained unchanged for 30 years.
The U.S. FDA has granted Mesoblast Ltd.’s allogeneic cell therapy Revascor (rexlemestrocel-L) rare pediatric disease designation following submission of results from a clinical trial in children with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a potentially life-threatening congenital heart condition.
Axelia Oncology Pty Ltd. was spun out of Ena Respiratory Pty. Ltd., which developed a series of synthetic Toll-like receptor (TLR) 2/6 agonists for nasal delivery to treat respiratory infections, including influenza and SARS-CoV-2. Although the pegylated TLR 2/6 agonist, INNA-051, was initially focused on antiviral activity, the company discovered that it also worked in oncology models, and Axelia was spun out to focus on oncology, CEO Phil Kearney told BioWorld.
Starpharma Holdings Ltd.’s DEP docetaxel phase II trial met its primary endpoints, demonstrating antitumor activity in multiple advanced, metastatic cancers, including pancreatic, gastro-esophageal, non-small-cell lung cancer and cholangiocarcinoma.