Macrogenics Inc. CEO Scott Koenig said his firm is “on the right pathway” with vobramitamab duocarmazine (vobra duo), previously known as MGC-018, in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Wall Street proved less than thrilled, and shares of the Rockville, Md.-based firm (NASDAQ:MGNX) closed May 10 at $3.31, down $11.36, or 77%, after Macrogenics disclosed phase II results from the Tamarack study with vobra duo.
Intriguing data in pancreatic cancer didn’t do much to help shares of South San Francisco-based Cytomx Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:CTMX), which closed May 9 at $2.04, down $2.15, or 51%, as the company made known initial findings from the ongoing CX-904 phase Ia dose-escalation study, showing a favorable safety profile and confirmed anticancer activity.
About a year ago, when Seres Therapeutics Inc. won U.S. FDA approval of oral microbiome therapy Vowst (live fecal microbiota spores), the drug – meant to prevent recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection – was hailed as first in the space, and launch plans sounded ambitious. In July 2021, Seres inked a deal with Nestlé Health Science SA, of Lutry, Switzerland, to jointly commercialize Vowst in the U.S. and potentially Canada. But shares of Cambridge, Mass.-based Seres (NASDAQ:MCRB) closed May 8 at 75 cents, down 36 cents, or 32%, after the firm provided an update on sales, roughly flat quarter over quarter.
The bifunctional antibody approach continues to pay off for Zenas Biopharma Inc., which banked an upsized $200 million series C preferred stock financing led by SR One along with NEA, Norwest Venture Partners and Delos Capital. Enavate Sciences and Longitude Capital participated significantly as well.
Not long after Ocular Therapeutix Inc. unveiled positive phase I data in non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy with Axpaxli (axitinib intravitreal implant), Eyepoint Pharmaceuticals Inc. offered less-sunny phase II data from the Pavia trial testing Duravyu (vorolanib intravitreal insert), previously known as EYP-1901, in the same indication.
Shares of Aeon Biopharma Inc. (NYSE:AEON) closed May 3 down $1.66, or 49%, finishing at $1.70 on word that the planned interim analysis of phase II data with ABP-450 (prabotulinumtoxinA) for preventing chronic migraine showed that the compound did not meet the primary endpoint. The Irvine, Calif.-based firm said it has “immediately commenced cash preservation measures and will review all strategic options.”
Novartis AG is bolstering its radioligand arsenal with the takeout of Mariana Oncology Inc. for $1 billion up front and as much as $750 million in potential milestone payments. Watertown, Mass.-based Mariana has developed peptide-based radiopharmaceuticals targeting solid tumors. The company’s lead program, MC-339, is a radioligand approach to small-cell lung cancer, due to enter the clinic later this year.
X4 Pharmaceuticals Inc. is raring to go with marketing after the firm scored U.S. FDA approval of Xolremdi (mavorixafor) capsules for patients 12 years and older with warts, hypogammaglobulinemia, infections and myelokathexis, or WHIM syndrome, to increase the number of circulating mature neutrophils and lymphocytes.
Acrivon Therapeutics Inc.’s $130 million financing disclosed April 9 hiked confidence in then-pending data with ACR-368 (prexasertib), the selective small-molecule inhibitor that targets checkpoint kinase 1 (CHK1) and CHK2. Undergoing tests in a potentially registrational phase II trial across multiple tumor types, ACR-368 also raised the stakes for Boundless Bio Inc., which is developing CHK1 inhibitor BBI-355.
Gilead Sciences Inc. is aiming to capitalize on the early August 2022 buyout of privately held U.K. biotech Mirobio Ltd. with the advancement of PD-1 agonist GS-0151 into phase Ib trials for rheumatoid arthritis, a decision that Leerink analyst David Risinger hailed as positive for others at work with the intriguing mechanism. Paying $405 million for Oxford-based Mirobio, Gilead took ownership of the firm’s checkpoint agonists to treat autoimmune diseases.
