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Disc Medicine’s leadership tried to express optimism that its rare disease therapy bitopertin can be approved based on a Phase 3 trial set to begin shortly. However, analysts are worried that the protocol was developed with former FDA leaders.
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The FDA’s refusal to review Moderna’s mRNA-based flu vaccine is “part of a disturbing pattern” of moving regulatory goalposts, according to Clay Alspach, executive director of the Alliance for mRNA Medicines. Meanwhile, streamlined communications with regulators in other countries pave the way for rapid uptake of novel modalities.
The current state of political affairs in the U.S. does not bode well for the direction of that turn. The country is at real risk of losing its long-held lead in biotech innovation.
FDA
The FDA’s refusal to review Moderna’s mRNA-based flu vaccine is part of a larger communications crisis unfolding at the agency over the past nine months that has also ensnarled Sarepta, Capricor, uniQure and many more.
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The FDA issued a rare Refusal-to-File letter to Moderna over its mRNA-based influenza vaccine application, in an unusual move that sent the biotech’s shares tumbling.
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While Merck lost out to Pfizer earlier this year in snapping up Seagen, this week the company closed a deal worth a potential $22 billion with Daiichi Sankyo—further evidence of the industry’s insatiable appetite for ADC technology.
Tarlatamab achieved a 40% objective response rate in small cell lung cancer patients with advanced disease who had failed two or more prior lines of treatment, the company announced Friday.
The two-part formulation of subcutaneous nivolumab combined with Halozyme’s proprietary recombinant human hyaluronidase achieved two primary endpoints while also showing a noninferior overall response rate.
The non-alcoholic steatohepatitis space is still a “big mystery,” analysts tell BioSpace, but its connection to weight loss could provide an additional opportunity for contenders.
Despite increasing antitrust scrutiny across the biopharma industry, the European Commission on Thursday said it found no competitive issues with Pfizer’s buyout of the antibody-drug conjugate company.
Seeking to deepen its immuno-oncology business, Merck has closed a deal potentially worth $22 billion across three of Daiichi Sankyo’s DXd antibody-drug conjugates for various solid tumor indications.
Sail Biomedicines combines Laronde’s circular eRNA platform with Senda’s nanoparticle delivery technology in the pursuit of a new class of programmable medicines across therapeutic areas.
The trial, which is the first late-stage study of an in vivo CRISPR treatment in the U.S., will start by the end of 2023. Intellia’s NTLA-2001 is a treatment candidate for transthyretin amyloidosis cardiomyopathy.
The contracting COVID-19 market has led to lower third-quarter sales for the Swiss drugmaker, which made the decision to eliminate four clinical programs following underwhelming readouts.
FDA
Following a delay and an initial rejection, UCB’s IL-17A/IL-17F blocker bimekizumab was approved for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, which will now be marketed with the brand name Bimzelx.