Veru Inc. announced results from an in vitro study evaluating the effects of sabizabulin against a prototypical poxvirus, vaccinia virus, which demonstrated that sabizabulin prevented both the release of poxvirus from infected cells and the spread of poxvirus to healthy cells.
A move by Chimerix Inc. to strengthen its balance sheet by $225 million through the sale of smallpox drug Tembexa (brincidofovir) to biodefense specialist Emergent Biosolutions Inc. and extend its cash runway into 2026, should have proved a big win. Instead, shares (NASDAQ:CMRX) plunged nearly 61% May 16 on worry that Chimerix might be handing off a likely profitable program to fund a riskier oncology pipeline, a concern heightened by recent U.S. FDA feedback indicating lead oncology program ONC-201 might not be eligible for accelerated approval as previously expected.
Following years of testing against a lengthy roster of viral foes, Chimerix Inc.'s Tembexa (brincidofovir) has finally won FDA approval as a medical countermeasure against smallpox.
Chimerix Inc., which already has COVID-19 and smallpox therapeutics in clinical trials, has acquired privately held Oncoceutics Inc., bringing ONC-201, a small-molecule dopamine receptor D2 antagonist and caseinolytic protease agonist for treating recurrent gliomas harboring the H3 K27M mutation, into the fold.
A pair of good-news items from Chimerix Inc. pushed the Durham, N.C.-based company’s stock (NASDAQ:CMRX) to $2.15, closing up 64 cents, or 42%, higher as backers reacted to near-term NDA plans for smallpox countermeasure brincidofovir (BCV) and the start of a phase II/III trial with dociparstat sodium (DSTAT) in COVID-19 patients with acute lung injury (ALI).