Efficacy data for Pfizer Inc.’s respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine proved convincing for members of the U.S. FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, which voted 14-0 May 18 in favor of Abrysvo’s effectiveness when administered during the second or third trimester of pregnancy to protect infants from birth to 6 months, with the adcom endorsing safety data in a 10-4 vote.
Barely a month and a half after its radioconjugate approach landed a potential $1.7 billion deal with Novartis AG, Bicycle Therapeutics plc drew another big radiopharma player to the table, signing a collaboration agreement with Bayer AG to use Bicycle’s peptide technology to discover and develop radiotherapies against cancer targets. Terms are similar to the Novartis deal, with Bayer paying $45 million up front and Bicycle eligible for development and commercial milestones totaling up to $1.7 billion, and underline the growing interest in the radiopharma space.
Notching another deal in its efforts to extend the global reach of toripalimab, Junshi Biosciences Co. Ltd. granted Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. rights to develop and commercialize the PD-1 inhibitor in a regional licensing agreement that could be worth as much as $728.3 million.
Notching another deal in its efforts to extend the global reach of toripalimab, Junshi Biosciences Co. Ltd. granted Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. rights to develop and commercialize the PD-1 inhibitor in a regional licensing agreement that could be worth as much as $728.3 million.
In January, a Wall Street analyst predicted the U.S. FDA’s rejection of Eli Lilly and Co.’s application seeking accelerated approval of amyloid beta-targeting Alzheimer’s candidate, donanemab, would be a “mere footnote” in the drug’s development, a forecast confirmed in the wake of positive top-line phase III data showing donanemab significantly slowed cognitive and functional decline in people with early symptomatic disease.
It’s not often that getting an NDA rejected by the U.S. FDA is cause for a company’s stock to rise. But in the case of Ascendis Pharma A/S, the agency’s anticipated complete response letter (CRL) for Transcon PTH (palopegteriparatide) offered some much-needed clarity and a potentially optimistic time frame for an NDA resubmission seeking approval of the once-daily hormone replacement therapy for hypoparathyroidism, news that sent the company’s shares (NASDAQ:ASND) up 24%, or $16.78, to close May 1 at $86.74.
The data are early and from only seven evaluable patients, but results from In8bio Inc.’s phase I study of gamma-delta T-cell therapy INB-100 in leukemia patients who have undergone haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplant, presented at the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation meeting, were compelling enough to drive the company’s shares (NASDAQ:INAB) up 183% April 24.
Pipeline Therapeutics Inc., which received U.S. FDA approval to move into a phase Ib/IIa study of PIPE-307 in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) last year, will be advancing the oral, small-molecule muscarinic M1 receptor antagonist in collaboration with Janssen Pharmaceutica NV in an agreement that could be worth more than $1 billion.
Acute thrombosis, including heart attack and stroke, is a leading cause of mortality worldwide. Yet only a small fraction of patients can be treated with current therapeutic or surgical interventions. Enter Basking Biosciences Inc., a 2019 startup aimed at developing a short-acting, fast-onset thrombolytic drug alongside a reversal agent for treating acute ischemic stroke.
A few weeks after Gossamer Bio Inc. said it was pausing enrollment in a phase Ib/II study of CNS-penetrant BTK inhibitor GB-5121 in relapsed/refractory CNS lymphoma, citing the drug’s risk/benefit profile observed to date and a prioritization of resources, the company is dropping the drug’s development entirely.
