Novo Holdings led Asceneuron’s $100 million Series C financing. The Merck Serono spinout’s lead program is an oral small molecule designed to prevent aggregation of tau protein in neurodegenerative disorders.
Takeda Pharmaceutical has secured an option on an Alzheimer’s disease immunotherapy from AC Immune that is on track to report its first Phase 2 data later this quarter. Exercising the option would make Takeda responsible for Phase 3 testing of the therapy, putting AC Immune in line for up to $2.1 billion in milestone payments.
As technology advances, AI-powered tools will increasingly reduce the administrative burdens on healthcare providers.
Novocure said its “Tumor Treating Fields” met the main goal of a pivotal study enrolling non-small cell lung cancer patients with brain metastases. However, results for the electricty-based treatment fell short of statistical significance on several secondary endpoints.
Roche’s Carmot Therapeutics acquisition brings three clinical-stage assets that the companies say could be best-in-class drugs for metabolic disorders. In addition to standalone use, Roche sees the Carmot molecules as part of potential combinations with its own drug candidates.
Novartis drug candidate atrasentan met the main goal of a pivotal study in the chronic kidney disease IgA nepropathy. It’s one of two drugs added via the multi-billion dollar acquisition of Chinook Therapeutics; together with a homegrown therapeutic candidate, they give Novartis three different approaches to treat the rare disorder.
While Octapharma drug Balfaxar met the goal of its pivotal clinical trial, more deaths and blood clot problems were reported in the study drug arm versus the comparator group. The FDA is requiring a post-marketing study to further assess the drug’s risks.
The progress in artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping patient care, across various dimensions, from facilitating faster discharge to curating treatment plans and suggesting lifestyle changes.
Novartis’s acquisition of DTx Pharma brings a lead program for a rare disease with no FDA-approved therapies. But the deal could also help the pharma giant bring new RNA therapies to new places in the body, a top Novartis executive explained.
Ironwood Pharmaceuticals is paying $1 billion to acquire VectivBio, a biotech whose lead program could become a blockbuster treatment for a gastrointestinal disorder. Preliminary Phase 3 data are expected by the end of 2023.
Roche is acquiring global rights to a Zion Pharma Limited drug candidate with potential applications treating breast cancer that has metastasized to the brain. The small molecule, currently in Phase 1 testing, is designed to penetrate the blood-brain barrier.
Roche’s Polivy is now approved as an earlier line of treatment for patients who have diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Accelerated approval of the drug in 2019 had made the drug a third treatment option for patients with advanced cases of this type of blood cancer.
The future looks bright for the integrated specialty pharmacy model – for health systems, providers, and most importantly, for patients.
Three months after Alentis Therapeutics’ lead program posted positive Phase 1 data, the biotech has raised cash to advance that program to mid-stage testing in fibrosis. The Series C financing will also support a cancer drug candidate ready to start human testing.
AstraZeneca dominates the market for drugs that treat rare blood disorder paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria. Roche drug crovalimab met the two main goals of its pivotal test, and if approved, would offer a dosing edge compared to AstraZeneca’s two blockbuster PNH medicines.
Novocure’s electrical field-producing medical device, in combination with standard drug therapies, improved overall survival in a pivotal study that enrolled patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. The medtech company now plans to seek regulatory approvals.
A Ferring Pharmaceuticals gene therapy is now FDA approved for treating bladder cancer that does not respond to an immunotherapy used to treat the cancer in its early stages. The Ferring gene therapy, Adstiladrin, turns bladder wall cells into tiny factories churning out a cancer-fighting therapeutic protein.
Novartis drug Scemblix is the first in a new class of drugs known as STAMP inhibitors. European Commission approval of the small molecule provides a new treatment option for chronic myeloid leukemia that is resistant to earlier treatments, as well as those cases in which patients cannot tolerate the other therapies for this blood cancer.