Acorda Therapeutics Inc. has filed for bankruptcy and agreed to sell its assets, including rights to its three commercialized drugs, to German biopharma Merz Therapeutics GmbH for $185 million. Palo Alto, Calif.-based Eiger Biopharmaceuticals Inc. also filed for bankruptcy.
The possibility for expanding Bristol Myers Squibb Co.’s S1P modulator, Zeposia (ozanimod), into Crohn’s disease took a hit on disappointing data from the initial analysis of its Yellowstone study, the first of two phase III trials. Results showed the study failed to meet the primary endpoint, defined as clinical remission as measured by the Crohn’s Disease Activity Index at week 12.
Boundless Bio Inc. got a lukewarm welcome on Nasdaq after pricing its IPO of 6.25 million shares at the midpoint price of $16 per share, raking in about $100 million in gross proceeds to advance its pipeline of ecDNA-driven drugs targeting oncogene-amplified tumors.
Merck & Co. Inc. is looking to a fast launch for sotatercept, its newly U.S. FDA-approved pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) drug. The agency cleared the drug, branded Winrevair, under priority review on its March 26 PDUFA date, marking the first in a new class of therapies the company has touted for its potential for disease modification.
The EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) adopted a positive opinion recommending approval of Pfizer Inc.’s Emblaveo (aztreonam-avibactam), an antibiotic combination that would offer a new option to patients with serious bacterial infections caused by multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria.
In what co-founder and CEO Claudia Ulbrich called the “right decision with right partner at the right point in time,” Cardior Pharmaceuticals GmbH agreed to an acquisition by Novo Nordisk A/S in a deal worth up to €1.025 billion (US$1.1 billion) that puts a potentially disease-modifying heart failure candidate in the hands of a big pharma player in the midst of establishing its presence in cardiovascular disease.
The EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) adopted a positive opinion recommending approval of Pfizer Inc.’s Emblaveo (aztreonam-avibactam), an antibiotic combination that would offer a new option to patients with serious bacterial infections caused by multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria. If approved, Emblaveo would be among the first beta-lactam/beta-lactamase inhibitor combos cleared for use in Europe.
Two days after the U.S. FDA announced approval of gene therapy Lenmeldy (atidarsagene autotemcel), making it the first treatment option for rare disease metachromatic leukodystrophy, Orchard Therapeutics and parent firm Kyowa Kirin Co. Ltd. disclosed the wholesale acquisition price of $4.25 million for the one-time treatment, which edges out hemophilia B gene therapy Hemgenix (etranacogene dezaparvovec) to become the world’s most expensive drug.
As widely expected, Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s resmetirom picked up the first U.S. FDA approval for treating nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), an advanced form of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease that has been steadily increasing in global prevalence. Branded Rezdiffra, the liver-directed THR-beta agonist gained accelerated approval for use in conjunction with diet and exercise to treat adults with noncirrhotic NASH with moderate to advanced liver fibrosis, specifically stages F2 and F3.
Sosei Group Corp. is getting €25 million (US$27.3 million) up front in a global collaboration and option-to-license deal with Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH aimed at developing GPR52 agonists, a new target for schizophrenia designed to potentially address positive, negative and cognitive symptoms at the same time.
