Shares of San Diego-based Capricor Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: CAPR) closed Dec. 3 at $29.96, up $23.60, or 371%, as investors cheered top-line data from the pivotal phase III Hope-3 trial testing cell therapy deramiocel in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Wall Street was sorting through two batches of news from Jasper Therapeutics Inc., which made public positive data from the phase Ib study called Etesian with KIT-targeting briquilimab in adults with allergic asthma, while making known the outcome of a probe into the phase Ib/II Beacon study with the same drug in chronic spontaneous urticaria.
The data from Inflarx NV that took Wall Street by surprise also served to heighten attention for the hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) and chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) spaces, where other news has been bubbling lately on the industry as well as scientific fronts.
Attention has turned to the regulatory path worldwide after Belite Bio Inc. unveiled positive top-line data from the phase III Dragon study with oral, daily tinlarebant in Stargardt disease type 1, the most common form of the rare affliction.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) rolled out negotiated costs of the second batch of drugs subject to such bargaining under the Inflation Reduction Act. Wall Street was not surprised to learn that the numbers amount to much greater cuts than the Biden administration managed for 2026. CMS said the adjusted maximum fair prices would have achieved 44% lower net spending had they been implemented in 2024 – 36% if forgiven discounts from the part D redesign of the Medicare prescription drug benefit are figured in. Fifteen drugs are listed.
Success in Japan may further bolster Protara Therapeutics Inc. in its push with TARA-002 in pediatric patients with macrocystic and mixed cystic lymphatic malformations (LMs), for which the New York-based firm disclosed interim results from an ongoing phase II trial.
Nervgen Pharma Corp. rolled out expanded findings from the Connect phase Ib/IIa study with NVG-291 in spinal cord injury patients showing that the 35-amino acid peptide derived from the intracellular wedge domain of phosphatase sigma provided durable functional gains that continued at week 16 and after.
Success in Japan may further bolster Protara Therapeutics Inc. in its push with TARA-002 in pediatric patients with macrocystic and mixed cystic lymphatic malformations (LMs), for which the New York-based firm disclosed interim results from an ongoing phase II trial.
Roche AG’s Genentech unit landed another clinical victory with giredestrant that provided a major stock boost for competitor Olema Pharmaceuticals Inc. Made public were positive phase III data from the Lidera study testing selective estrogen receptor degrader and complete estrogen receptor antagonist (CERAN) as an adjuvant endocrine treatment for people with ER-positive, HER2-negative, early stage breast cancer (BC).
About a month after rolling out positive phase I/II data with its candidate for metastatic, castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), Halda Therapeutics Inc. disclosed the plan by Johnson & Johnson (J&J), which is paying to take over the company for $3.05 billion in cash.
