Drug Development
The mid-stage disappointment in Alzheimer’s disease delivers another blow to Neuphoria Therapeutics, which in November last year was forced to launch a strategic business review after a Phase 3 trial in social anxiety disorder failed.
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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.
The FDA plans to hold an advisory committee meeting to discuss Capricor Therapeutics’ application for deramiocel, which the agency rejected last July. The news surprised CEO Linda Marbán, who told BioSpace the FDA has not communicated any issues of concern with the company’s resubmitted application.
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Presentations at the 2026 meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology not only demonstrate the therapeutic potential of next-generation skin drugs but also shed light on how they might fare on the market.
Despite hitting its primary endpoint, Viridian’s thyroid eye disease antibody failed to ease eye bulging to the degree that analysts had been hoping for, and the biotech’s stock price fell by one-third.
Merck is eyeing a quick review for its lipid-lowering drug candidate enlicitide, which in December was awarded a Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher.
While tonlamarsen missed one of two co-primary endpoints, Kardigan says the drug has shown a clinically meaningful effect on blood pressure, supporting advancement into Phase 2b.
William Blair hailed a positive readout in cutaneous lupus erythematosus as a turning point for Biogen, while RBC Capital analysts called the results “another derisking step” for the company’s immunology and inflammation pipeline.
The lack of a dose-response effect could be due to the high number of dropouts in the higher-dose Winrevair arm and the relatively small study population, a discussant for Merck explained.
Accumulating scientific evidence and industry interest from Eli Lilly, Altimmune and startup Baseline Therapeutics is driving further research on the therapeutic potential of GLP-1 receptor agonists in treating substance use disorders.
At the AD/PD annual meeting, Eisai presented real-world data suggesting Leqembi’s long-term safety and efficacy in people homozygous for APOE4, who were identified in trials as being at higher risk of brain bleeds while on the treatment. Alzheon, meanwhile, added further detail to trial results of its candidate in patients with the same genetic profile.
While participants on a lower dose of Wave Life Sciences’ RNA therapy lost 5.3% total fat at the six-month mark, those receiving the higher dose saw a less than 1% drop at three months.
Beam is now in the strongest position of all companies advancing a genetic therapy for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, according to analysts at William Blair.