Evelo Biosciences’ vision of using microbes to engage the gut and modulate immune responses remains unrealized. With financing prospects dim and no one willing to take on its assets, Evelo is dissolving its business.
Johnson & Johnson’s oral psoriasis drug met the goals of a mid-stage clinical study, and the pharma giant now plans to advance the twice-daily pill to Phase 3 testing. J&J is one of several biopharmaceutical companies developing pill alternatives to biologic drugs that are injected or infused.
The future looks bright for the integrated specialty pharmacy model – for health systems, providers, and most importantly, for patients.
Biotech IPOs continues to be almost non-existent, but Acelyrin wants to see if the public markets have an appetite for its lead drug candidate. The small protein drug could match up favorably against blockbuster biologics and it has reached pivotal testing in three inflammatory disorders.
Motto is the latest startup built at Redesign Health. The startup is virtual care platform that is now available for Californians and Texans with autoimmune and chronic inflammatory conditions. It seeks to increase access to care by offering virtual appointments with rheumatologists, condition management services and lifestyle coaching on its telehealth platform.
Acelyrin has in-licensed izokibep, an antibody drug developed by Affibody that could offer advantages compared to currently available monoclonal antibodies. The drug addresses the same target as blockbuster immunology drugs marketed by Novartis and Eli Lilly.
Cancer drug developer Xilio Therapeutics and Ventyx Biosciences, a company with drug candidates in cancer and autoimmune diseases, are the latest life science companies to go public. They’ll use proceeds from their respective IPOs to continue clinical development of drugs being positioned as competitors to drugs from big pharmaceutical companies.
Closing cancer health equity gaps require medical breakthroughs made possible by new funding approaches.