U.S. President Donald Trump’s foreign-imports tariff policies did not hold up well at the Supreme Court, which ruled unconstitutional his edicts under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The sharply worded 6-3 opinion was authored by Chief Justice John Roberts.
Less than four months after company officials said they would explore options to find ways of maximizing shareholder value, Sensei Biotherapeutics Inc. disclosed the buyout of Faeth Therapeutics Inc. by way of a stock-for-stock deal – news that sent shares (NASDAQ:SNSE) to a closing price Feb. 18 of $26.25, up $17.12, or 187.5%.
Ocular Therapeutix Inc.’s wet age-macular degeneration candidate, Axpaxli, beat anti-VEGF therapy Eylea (aflibercept) from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. in the phase III head-to-head trial called Sol-1, but not by enough of a margin for Wall Street. Shares of the firm (NASDAQ:OCUL) closed Feb. 17 at $6.99, down $1.89, or 21%, as investors mulled the top-line findings.
After two decades of work with Translarna (ataluren) for nonsense mutation Duchenne muscular dystrophy, PTC Therapeutics Inc. withdrew its bid for approval of the compound upon hearing from the U.S. FDA. Regulators told Warren, N.J.-based PTC that the data package for Translarna is “unlikely to meet the agency's threshold of substantial evidence of effectiveness.”
Bridgebio Pharma Inc. kept the phase III wins coming, this time with positive top-line results from Propel 3, the global phase III pivotal study of oral infigratinib, designed to inhibit FGFR3 signaling in children with achondroplasia.
Upstream Bio Inc.’s favorable top-line results from the phase II Valiant trial testing verekitug in adults with severe asthma were not enough to charm Wall Street, and shares of the firm (NASDAQ:UPB) closed Feb. 11 at $14.69, down $13.12, or 47%.
Moderna Inc. blamed a switcheroo by the U.S. FDA for the refusal-to-file (RTF) letter on the seasonal influenza vaccine mRNA-1010. Shares of the firm (NASDAQ:MRNA) closed Feb. 11 at $40.51, down $1.49, having traded as low as $36.66 as investors learned of the RTF letter, which Moderna said is “inconsistent with feedback” the company was given by regulators during pre-phase III as well as pre-BLA-submission talks.
Wall Street pushback against relaxin player Tectonic Therapeutic Inc. was sharp, but a trial design that differs could save the drug from the fate of Astrazeneca plc’s long-acting relaxin-2 analogue, AZD-3427, which the pharma giant has “removed from phase II,” where it was being tested in a trial called Re-phire, because of less than ideal efficacy.
Iambic Therapeutics Inc.’s multiyear technology and discovery pact with Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. could help the San Diego-based firm advance its own pipeline in a big way.
Iambic Therapeutics Inc.’s multiyear technology and discovery pact with Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. could help the San Diego-based firm advance its own pipeline in a big way.