It’s the season for reevaluation as companies weed out programs that don’t offer much promise. At the head of the line is Sanofi SA’s once-potential myasthenia gravis blockbuster tolebrutinib. A partial clinical hold on the phase III study is part of the reasoning for stopping its development. But so is competition, the company said. Other companies eliminating development programs include Roche Holding AG, Gilead Sciences Inc., AB Science SA and Merck & Co. Inc. Read More
Starting out the year slow, biopharma financings are about 22% below where they were at the end of January last year, and they are well behind the first month of the previous two years as well, suggesting company executives may need to continue to prioritize costly programs as resources are depleted – at least for the near future. Read More
Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) has been surfacing more regularly in scientific journals lately, as drug developers – such names as Biohaven Inc., Roche Holding AG and Scholar Rock Inc. – continue to search for improved therapies directed at the condition, one that takes in a group of hereditary, motor neuron-destroying diseases. Read More
Could long non-coding RNAs be the key to developing organ-specific antifibrotic drugs that only mediate their effects in disease-related contexts? That’s the intriguing hypothesis that Haya Therapeutics SA has set out to explore, and its lead program, in heart failure caused by non-obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, is now in IND-enabling studies. A first clinical trial is pencilled in for late 2024 or early 2025. Read More
Turbine Ltd. began the new year with a partnership with Cancer Research Horizons, the innovation arm of Cancer Research UK, which will put its Simulatedcell computational biology platform to work on the vexed question of how best to position CDC7 inhibitors in cancer. Read More
After many years of research and development, drug-induced weight loss has matured into a viable therapeutic option. But do the drugs directly help people become healthier or is it the weight loss? There are longstanding concerns that the health effects of weight might be overrated. And new studies show fitness improves health outside of weight. So, can a person still be considered healthy despite being over a “normal” weight? How will future medical science consider what is called the obesity epidemic? In this edition of the BioWorld Insider podcast, BioWorld Science Managing Editor Anette Breindl, discusses her new analysis of multiple studies related to weight loss, metabolic health and fitness which in many ways goes against the mainstream health care state of mind about obesity. Read More
Biopharmas raising money in public or private financings, including: Avalo, Cellectis, Ensysce, Kiora, Paxmedica, Provention, Roivant, Structure, Tenax. Read More
Clinical updates, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications: Agomab, Amylyx, Anaveon, Anavex, Arrowhead, Artelo, Aulos, Biophytis, Clearside, Exscientia, First Wave, Inovio, Moonlake, Nrx, Oligomerix. Read More
Biopharma happenings, including deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Karuna, Goldfinch, Healion, Immunorizon, Magenta, Pherin, Purple, Tonix, Vistagen. Read More
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Amgen, Astrazeneca, Calliditas, GSK, Pfizer, Pharmather, Pliant, Y-mabs. Read More
