Aiming to offer an advantage over Dupixent (dupilumab, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.), dermatology-focused Galderma Holding SA won clearance from the U.S. FDA for Nemluvio (nemolizumab) as a prefilled pen providing a subcutaneous injection to treat adults with prurigo nodularis (PN).
Speculation about potentially wider meaning among developers of psychedelic drugs was reignited after the complete response letter (CRL) from the U.S. FDA to Lykos Therapeutics Inc. for midomafetaminecapsules, which the company wants to use in combination with psychological intervention to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). CEO Amy Emerson called the FDA move “deeply disappointing,” adding that San Jose, Calif.-based Lykos plans to request a meeting with the FDA to ask for reconsideration.
Novartis AG CEO Vas Narasimhan during the company’s July 18 second-quarter earnings call said his firm was “still in the midst of completing” the buyout disclosed in February of Morphosys AG, of Munich, for €2.7 billion (then US$2.9 billion), which brought worldwide rights to pelabresib, the small-molecule BET inhibitor for myelofibrosis.
Just ahead of the Aug. 13 PDUFA date, Citius Pharmaceuticals Inc. won the U.S. FDA’s go-ahead for Lymphir (denileukin diftitox-cxdl), a new immunotherapy for relapsed/refractory (r/r) cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) after at least one prior systemic therapy. The drug is Cranford, N.J.-based Citius’ first approved therapy and the only CTCL treatment that targets the interleukin-2 receptor found on malignant T cells and regulatory T cells. It’s also the first green light given by the FDA for r/r CTCL since 2018.
Sangamo Therapeutics Inc. put pen to paper on a would-be $1.9 billion-plus deal with Genentech, a unit of Roche AG, to develop intravenously administered genomic drugs for neurodegenerative conditions.
Closely watched-for phase I data from Elevation Oncology Inc. in the Claudin 18.2 space sent shares of the Boston-based firm (NASDAQ:ELEV) down 63%, or $1.35, to close Aug. 6 at 78 cents. Elevation provided initial data from the dose-escalation portion of the ongoing experiment with antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) EO-3021 in patients with advanced, unresectable or metastatic solid tumors likely to express Claudin 18.2, including gastric, gastroesophageal junction (GEJ), pancreatic or esophageal cancers.
In the wake of Sage Therapeutics Inc.’s recent phase II fizzle with SAGE-324 in essential tremor, Wall Street is waiting for better news in the indication, which has racked up failures across several developers. Among those finding favor lately is Praxis Precision Medicines Inc. with Nav-targeting ulixacaltamide, also known as PRAX-628, which Oppenheimer analyst Francois Brisebois said “warrants particular attention.”
As the Sept. 21 PDUFA date looms for arimoclomol from Zevra Therapeutics Inc. in Niemann-Pick type C (NPC), the U.S. FDA’s newly formed Genetic Metabolic Diseases Advisory Committee (GeMDAC) decided in favor of the drug.
Investors wanted more from ALX Oncology Holdings Inc.’s phase II study testing evorpacept (evo) combination therapy in gastric tumors, and the stock (NASDAQ:ALXO) tumbled 36% or $1.77 to close Aug. 1 at $3.04.
Pepgen Inc. fell slightly short of its phase II dystrophin goal with PGN-EDO51 for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) whose mutations are amenable to an exon 51-skipping approach, but Wall Street reacted in a big way, sending the Boston-based firm’s stock (NASDAQ:PEPG) down 33%, or $5.55, to close July 31 at $11.43.
