The picture keeps getting brighter for Argenx SE which, having targeted $750 million in a financing after positive phase II data, priced a global public offering of $1.1 billion, one of history’s larger rounds. Amsterdam-based Argenx capitalized on positive top-line data from the phase II Adhere study with Vyvgart Hytrulo (efgartigimod alfa plus hyaluronidase-qvfc) in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy.
Argenx SE’s top-line results from the phase II Adhere study with Vyvgart Hytrulo (efgartigimod alfa plus hyaluronidase-qvfc) in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) sparked buzz about other developers in the space with similar mechanisms of action to Vyvgart Hytrulo, such as Immunovant Inc.
Dealmaking proved alive and well, with Sangamo Biosciences Inc. disclosing a tie-up worth as much as $1.19 billion with a subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Co., while Mirum Pharmaceuticals Inc. pledged to acquire for $445 million the bile-acid product portfolio owned by Travere Therapeutics Inc.
Dose-limiting toxicities in a phase I/II study led Theseus Pharmaceuticals Inc. to quit work with lead compound THE-630, a pan-variant KIT Inhibitor for gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), but the company plans to nominate another such candidate in the same indication during the first half of 2024. Meanwhile, the firm is prioritizing THE-349, a fourth-generation EGFR inhibitor for non-small-cell lung cancer, due for an IND application in the fourth quarter of this year.
Although shares of TG Therapeutics Inc. took a hit on word of positive phase III data in multiple sclerosis (MS) from competitor Genentech, a unit of Roche Holding AG, the results may not end up affecting much the market showdown between the CD20 players.
As investors continue to weigh VRDN-001’s chances against Tepezza (teprotumumab, Horizon Pharmaceuticals plc) in thyroid eye disease, Viridian Therapeutics Inc. popped the lid off positive preliminary data from the ongoing phase I/II trial with the intravenous full antagonist antibody to the insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor.
The trophoblast cell surface antigen 2 (TROP2) class chalked mix news by way of Astrazeneca plc and Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. as the pair disclosed phase III data from the closely watched Tropion-Lung 1 trial with datopotamab deruxtecan (dato-dxd) against non-small-cell lung cancer.
The black box warning appended to the label of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) drug Leqembi (lecanemab) took some on Wall Street mildly aback but failed to surprise others, as analysts mulled what the full approval, granted July 6 by the U.S. FDA, might mean for other developers in the space.
Finding ways to turn “cold” tumors “hot” remains an ambition pursued by drug developers with differing approaches – combination regimens hold particular appeal – and one up-and-comer in the effort that has gained the notice of Wall Street lately is Carisma Therapeutics Inc. Philadelphia-based Carisma is advancing CT-0508, an autologous HER2-targeted CAR-macrophage therapy in phase I, used alongside Keytruda (pembrolizumab), the PD-1 receptor binder from Merck & Co. Inc.
The black box warning appended to the label of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) drug Leqembi (lecanemab) took some on Wall Street mildly aback but failed to surprise others, as analysts mulled what the full approval, granted July 6 by the U.S. FDA, might mean for other developers in the space.
