BioSpace News Archive

Patients treated with Altimmune’s investigational GLP-1/glucagon dual receptor agonist saw up to 15.6% weight loss, and nearly a third of those taking the highest dose lost at least 20% of their body weight.

The company is hoping the topline results for Veozah, which won FDA approval in May, will support health technology assessments for reimbursement negotiations in Europe.

This week, the FDA could approve the first CRISPR-edited therapy in the U.S., while two other companies await decisions on topical drugs.

Citing slow enrollment and low clinical rates, the late-stage “evidence trials” are being discontinued. AstraZeneca said there are no safety concerns and no impact on Lokelma’s current approved indication.

The company’s investigational c-Met protein directed antibody-drug conjugate showed a “compelling” overall response rate in patients with previously treated non-small cell lung cancer.

CEO Emma Walmsley projects that the British biopharma’s Arexvy sales will exceed £1 billion in its first year on the market, leaving Pfizer’s Abrysvo respiratory syncytial virus vaccine far behind in the race.

While Pfizer’s oral GLP-1 candidate met its primary endpoint in a Phase IIb obesity trial, twice-daily dosing of danuglipron resulted in high rates of adverse events including nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

From the skin to the lungs to the central nervous system, biotech companies are making progress toward delivering RNA therapeutics to multiple targets throughout the body. But challenges remain.

AbbVie’s $10.1 billion ImmunoGen buy and Altimmune’s Phase II win demonstrate that the antibody-drug conjugate market is red hot in cancer and GLP-1 drugs for weight loss are an absolute craze.

Mersana Therapeutics, Inc. announced that on December 1, 2023, the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors of Mersana granted an inducement award, consisting of a restricted stock unit award to acquire 12,205 shares of its common stock, to one new employee whose employment commenced in November 2023.