It’s a step forward and a step back at Pfizer Inc. Even as Pfizer and its partner Biontech SE finished filing an emergency use authorization application with the U.S. FDA seeking to field an updated booster dose of their omicron COVID vaccine, the regulator has made a request of its own, for more data on the company's oral antiviral, Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir + ritonavir), for treating COVID-19. An Aug. 5, 2022, letter from the FDA stipulates post-EUA requirements for Paxlovid, including that Pfizer conduct a trial in patients with a relapse of COVID symptoms, longhand for a “rebound,” after an initial Paxlovid treatment course. Read More
After nearly four decades as director of the U.S. NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), 81-year-old Anthony Fauci will be stepping down in December. He also announced Aug. 22 that he will be handing over the reins as chief of the NIAID Laboratory of Immunoregulation and as chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden. Read More
Kyowa Kirin Co. Ltd.’s decision, disclosed July 26, to quit development of the adenosine A2a receptor antagonist KW-6356 for Parkinson’s disease (PD) didn’t do much to flatten interest in the target, still under investigation by other firms in cancer. Read More
Shares of Pharvaris NV (NASDAQ:PHVS) fell 34% Aug. 22 to close at $12.15 after the company reported the U.S. FDA placed a clinical hold on PHA-121, its oral bradykinin B2-receptor antagonist for hereditary angioedema (HAE), citing a review of nonclinical data. PHA-121, which goes after the same target as well-established injectable HAE drug Firazyr (icatibant, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.), is the active ingredient in Pharvaris’ two lead programs: PHVS-416, a softgel capsule formulation, and PHVS-719, an extended-release tablet formulation. Read More
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s Inmazeb and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP’s Ebanga earned a ringing endorsement from the World Health Organization (WHO) in its first ever guideline on Ebola therapies. In releasing the guideline Aug. 19, WHO officials celebrated the fact that Ebola is no longer “a near certain killer” – provided treatment starts as soon as possible following diagnosis. Read More
In the six years since the U.S. FDA issued its final guidance on charging for drugs used under an investigational new drug (IND) application for clinical trials or expanded access, the agency has received several questions about how it is implementing regulations on the matters. To answer those questions, the FDA released a revised draft guidance that, when finalized, will replace the guidance issued in 2016. Read More
Clinical updates, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications: Agios, Dermaliq, Jiangsu Recbio, Siranomics. Read More
Biopharma happenings, including deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Aarvik, Almac Discovery, Antisense, Avenge, Emerald, Emtora, Innoviva, La Jolla, Larkspur, Lytic Solutions, Moderna, Nighthawk, Nrx, Panther, Relief, Skye, Vaderis, Verve and Zyversa. Read More
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Aeglea, Axsome, Celltrion, Krystal, Kyowa Kirin, Menarini, Stemline, Valneva, Verona, Virfor. Read More
