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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RayThera will bring three preclinical assets into the Biogen fold, all with anti-inflammatory activity. The most mature of these assets is expected to enter Phase 1 development in Q3.
While agents like AbbVie’s Humira have transformed the treatment landscape, not all patients benefit equally from the drug. Better biomarker analysis and more investment in mechanistic trials can inform the development of more effective therapies with broader clinical value.
Jazz Pharmaceuticals is diversifying its oncology strategy, orchestrating a new antibody deal with AbCellera that offers $56 million upfront, plus $792 million in biobucks for each of the three initial programs.
After a regulatory odyssey that delayed a filing for what would be the first genetic medicine for Huntington’s disease, the FDA has agreed that three-year data from uniQure’s Phase 1/2 trial are sufficient to support an accelerated biologics license application.
Be Biopharma’s terminated trial is the latest setback in the hemophilia space, where companies like Pfizer and BioMarin have opted to pull their respective products from the market after weak traction.
Although Edgewise Therapeutics’ hypertrophic cardiomyopathy asset missed expectations, Truist Securities called the data “excellent,” leaning on a safety profile that could eliminate the need for risk evaluation and mitigation strategies.
Moderna appears to have aligned with the FDA ahead of an advisory committee meeting for its mRNA-based flu vaccine, which the regulator initially turned away in February; biotech IPOs are going gangbusters, including two new records raises in as many weeks; layoffs continue across biopharma; plus much more.
The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee will meet June 18 to discuss Moderna’s seasonal flu vaccine mRNA-1010 after the FDA initially refused to accept the application in February.
While falling short of statistical significance, Incyte and Mirum Pharmaceuticals’ ALK2 inhibitor showed a “clear benefit” in reducing abnormal bone formation in a Phase 2 study of fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva.
Alto Neuroscience is advancing a depression drug based on the dopamine agonist pramipexole, which an independent study has found to help boost feelings of pleasure in patients with mood disorders.