Drug Development

A surprising deal from Vertex Pharmaceuticals adds to Big Pharma’s acquisitive streak as Crinetics folds into the cystic fibrosis drugmaker. Meanwhile, IPOs and venture capital raises trend upward, but mostly for derisked companies. Plus, FDA decisions slow only slightly as the hunt for a permanent leader drags on.
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Molecular glue degraders are gaining traction in the clinic as well as funding from Big Pharma, with their potential to treat previously “undruggable” cancers and immunological diseases. Here are five clinical programs worth keeping an eye on.
A recent FDA reversal sparked new hope for patients with Huntington’s disease. Flying under the radar, Skyhawk Therapeutics revealed 12-month functional data from a midstage trial of its own candidate showing improvements on a key disease measurement scale.
Recent approvals for Corcept Therapeutics and Merck have injected momentum into the space, where GSK, Allarity Therapeutics, OSE Immunotherapies and others are advancing their own candidates.
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The hold on BioNTech and MediLink’s antibody-drug conjugate candidate BNT326/YL202 has halted enrollment in a Phase I U.S. trial in patients with non-small cell lung cancer or breast cancer, following multiple deaths.
Takeda’s soticlestat, licensed from Ovid Therapeutics, did not significantly reduce seizures in patients with Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, respectively, according to two late-stage readouts on Monday.
Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Jørgensen has agreed to appear before the Senate health committee in a hearing on the prices of its blockbuster drugs Ozempic and Wegovy.
Johnson & Johnson’s FcRn inhibitor nipocalimab in a mid-stage study significantly improved disease activity across various organ systems in patients with the chronic autoimmune Sjögren’s disease.
A final analysis of Gilead Sciences’ now-discontinued Phase III ENHANCE study showed a worrying trend of increased death risk in myelodysplastic syndromes patients treated with magrolimab.
While GLP-1 drugs remain wildly popular and are a highly lucrative sector, data analytics firm GlobalData contends manufacturing and cost will remain overhangs on the obesity market.
Accurately diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease pathologies is becoming increasingly important, but the U.S. is facing imaging resource constraints.
The plethora of genes involved in obesity presents an intriguing opportunity for both gene silencing and ex vivo gene therapy approaches.
Moderna said Thursday it plans to talk to regulators about the next steps after showing its next-generation candidate is more efficacious in adults than the biotech’s existing Spikevax COVID-19 shot.
Results of a large Stanford Medicine study, published Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine, finds CAR-T therapies carry a low risk of secondary malignancies not related to the T cells.