Britain’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), a key gatekeeper on the path to the U.K. market, is backing away from five COVID-19 treatments. No longer recommended in a draft guidance were Ronapreve (casirivimab + imdevimab) from Roche Holding AG, Xevudy (sotrovimab) from GSK plc, and Evusheld (tixagevimab + cilgavimab) from Astrazeneca plc. NICE also recommended discontinuing use of Lagevrio (molnupiravir) from Merck and Co. Inc. and Veklury (remdesivir) from Gilead Sciences Inc.
Therapy delivery and the physicians who administer them are keys in CG Oncology Inc.’s drive to develop bladder cancer treatments. The company, which just closed an oversubscribed $120 million series E financing to continue on the development path, has its lead oncolytic immunotherapy, CG-0070, intravesically delivered via a catheter, in the clinic.
Two phase III failures with Roche Holding AG subsidiary Genentech Inc.’s gantenerumab in staving off mild cognitive impairment tied to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) revealed the level of amyloid-beta removal was lower than the company expected. The protein amyloid beta accumulates in the brains of AD patients and its removal is suspected to be an eventual boon to AD patients. But there are still plenty of doubts. Top-line results from Genentech’s phase III Graduate I and II studies show gantenerumab, a fully human monoclonal IgG1 antibody, missed the primary endpoints of slowing clinical decline in those with mild cognitive impairment due to AD and mild AD dementia.
Abeona Therapeutics Inc. is on the road to filing a BLA with the U.S. FDA after posting positive top-line phase III data in wound healing and also to the bank with a new $35 million private placement financing. The data for EB-101, an autologous cell therapy, came from a pivotal study of treating recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, an ultra-rare connective tissue disorder. Results showed the study met its two co-primary endpoints in wound healing and for reducing pains in large, chronic wounds caused by the disorder.
Pfizer Inc.’s bivalent prefusion vaccine for protecting newborns from severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) hit one of its two primary endpoints in its phase III study, which was good enough for the company to stop enrollment and plan to submit a BLA to the U.S. FDA by year-end. PF-06928316 is one of six RSV vaccines in active phase III development globally, which includes an Astrazeneca plc-Sanofi SA collaboration plus one from GSK plc. Pfizer’s is the only one developed for infants by way of maternal immunization and for older adults.
Nearly six months after ditching its phase II/III COVID-19 vaccination study to chase a booster strategy, Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. is now ditching the heterologous booster.
Nearly six months after ditching its phase II/III COVID-19 vaccination study to chase a booster strategy, Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. is now ditching the heterologous booster. The decision to stop internally funding INO-4800 as a booster was made after sifting through data on global demand for COVID-19 vaccines, the condition of the market and Inovio’s own portfolio.
With its acquisition of Subintro Ltd., Rigimmune Inc. put a building block in place to further its development of stem-loop RNA therapeutics that selectively activate the innate immune sensor RIG-I. Subintro specializes in development and delivery of antiviral therapeutics for respiratory diseases caused by RNA viruses, including influenza, rhinovirus and SARS-CoV-2. Subintro’s technology allows the company to consider topical and nasal delivery.
The changes continue at GSK plc as the pharma giant stepped away from its NY-ESO cell therapy program in moves that touch two collaborators. The company is terminating its three-year partnership with Lyell Immunopharma Inc. to develop candidates targeting NY-ESO-1, including the second‑generation product candidates, Lyell’s genetic and epigenetic reprogramming technologies (LYL-132 and LYL-331), and some other second-generation approaches GSK was considering.
After more than two decades of working together, Genmab A/S has entered a new licensing agreement with Scancell Holdings plc to gain the exclusive rights to develop and commercialize an anti-glycan monoclonal antibody. All potential disease areas except cell therapy applications are on the table in the deal. Genmab will make an up-front payment of an undisclosed amount to Scancell as well as covering milestone payments of up to $208 million for each candidate that’s developed and commercialized. The amount is capped at $624 million to Scancell if Genmab manages to develop and commercialize products across all modalities the companies have defined. Scancell could also receive single-digit royalties on the net sales of products.
