Ophthalmic therapy and device developer Alcon SA, of Geneva, further strengthened its portfolio by buying Aerie Pharmaceuticals Inc. for about $770 million in equity. Aerie’s financial guidance for its glaucoma franchise puts net product revenue at $130 million to $140 million for all of 2022. Read More
Etherna Immunotherapies NV has raised €39 million (US$39 million) in new financing as it pivots to an mRNA-platform strategy. It has added a couple of heavy hitters to its board and its roster of investors, indicating that the move has already gained traction in the marketplace. Read More
The first randomized placebo-controlled trial assessing the effectiveness of the antiviral drug Tpoxx (tecovirimat) in treating monkeypox has begun in the U.K., with the first patients enrolled on Aug. 21. Read More
While other COVID-19 vaccine makers are developing bivalent boosters comprising the original SARS-CoV-2 strain and an omicron variant, Russia’s Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology is trekking a different course. Leaving behind the ancestral strain, Gamaleya’s next generation of the Sputnik V vaccine has been specifically adapted against delta and omicron variants of the coronavirus. Read More
Likely to garner attention at the upcoming European Society of Medical Oncology meeting are the MAGE-A4 and PRAME antigens which, although well-known and validated, have proved evasive for drug developers – a situation that may soon change. Read More
Alterity Therapeutics Ltd. has begun phase II trials with its lead candidate, ATH-434, in multiple system atrophy, a rare and highly debilitating Parkinsonian disorder. Read More
Additional deaths believed to be associated with one of Foghorn Therapeutics Inc.'s lead candidates led the U.S. FDA to put a full clinical hold on its phase I study in relapsed and/or refractory acute myelogenous leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome. Read More
Noninvasive electrical stimulation of the brain for 20 minutes per session over four days has been demonstrated to improve both working- and long-term memory for at least one month, in people ages 65 to 88. Read More
Clinical updates, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications: ABVC, Amniotics, Belite, Cue, Kronos, Novo, Resverlogix, Santhera, Tonix, Vaderis, Xortx. Read More
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Accutar, Adjutor, Ascletis, Bavarian Nordic, Dynamicure, Gilead, Minerva, Mundipharma, Novavax, Ocelot, Otsuka, Pfizer, Pharvaris, Takeda, Travere, Veru. Read More