Payoff for the November 2023 buyout of Immunogen Inc. came for Abbvie Inc. in the form of U.S. FDA clearance for the CD123-targeting antibody-drug conjugate Decnupaz (pivekimab sunirine) to treat adults with blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN), an ultra-rare, aggressive and quick-killing hematologic malignancy.
The “deep dive” April 8 by Ovid Therapeutics Inc. into potassium-chloride co-transporter 2 (KCC2) research included company officials and independent experts in the space, where a handful of drug developers are known to be working. New York-based Ovid owns a portfolio of potential first-in-class direct activators of KCC2, and the firm detailed pharmacodynamic results along with the translational and clinical development strategy.
Apogee Therapeutics Inc. loaded up on what could total as much as $1.3 billion in financial fuel from Blackstone Life Sciences funds that will be used to propel zumilokibart (zumi), which yielded positive phase II results in atopic dermatitis (AD). A phase III experiment with the anti-IL-13 antibody is planned for the second half of this year, pending talks with regulators.
Upbeat phase II news lately from Spyre Therapeutics Inc. in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) perked not only the company’s stock but also wider interest in the buzzing space, where developers big and small are trying to tackle such chronic bedevilments as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis (UC).
How the U.S. FDA might view the latest Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) phase III data with gene therapy RGX-202 became the question for Regenxbio Inc., shares of which (NASDAQ:RGNX) closed May 14 at $6.25, down 38%, or $3.80, after the results were made public.
Eli Lilly and Co.’s buyout of Ventyx Biosciences Inc. for $1.2 billion at the start of the year brought to the forefront NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inhibitors on which a handful of developers have been working, and research in the space continues to roll out, as with the paper published March 26 in Nature that delved into mechanisms that rev up the NLRP3 inflammasome.
Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc. CEO Raul Rodriguez said breast cancer therapy Veppanu (vepdegestrant) could become his firm’s “largest product with the current label,” and other opportunities with the drug are lined up behind, albeit “still a bit early.”
Climb Bio Inc. outlined May 5 an enticing data spill ahead this year with Fc-enhanced monoclonal antibody budoprutug (budo) in autoimmune diseases. Mizuho analyst Joseph Catanzaro appreciated in his report Wellesley Hills, Mass.-based Climb’s “conviction that CD19 represents a best-in-class pan-B-cell depletion target across antibody-mediated autoimmune diseases – a relative white space for conventional mAbs.”
Hopes piqued last November for detalimogene voraplasmid in bladder cancer took a hit from the latest word from the study, as did shares of Engene Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:ENGN), which closed May 7 at $1.72, down 80.6%, or $7.13.
Avalo Therapeutics Inc. may have designed in lead asset abdakibart, a drug for hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) that offers a novel mechanism of action, wide dosing interval, and more-than-satisfying outcomes on the Hidradenitis Suppurativa Clinical Response 75 endpoint, just what the doctor – and Wall Street – ordered.
