Company News

A Phase 3 trial investigating a potential new treatment for atrial fibrillation has been stopped early because of inferior efficacy, Bayer AG announced on 19 November. The trial OCEANIC-AF, was investigating asundexian, a, small molecule drug being studied in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) at risk of stroke. It was seen as a potential alternative to traditional anticoagulants for the treatment of AF, an irregular and often very rapid heart rhythm.

MorphoSys AG reported positive results on 20 November from a Phase 3 study of the BET inhibitor pelabresib as a treatment for myelofibrosis – a key development for the company’s evolving portfolio. Pelabresib is a small molecule drug designed to promote anti-tumour activity by inhibiting the function of bromodomain and extra-terminal domain (BET) proteins to decrease the expression of abnormally expressed genes in cancer. If approved, it would be the company’s second wholly-owned product on the market.

Netherlands-based VectorY Therapeutics has raised €129 million in a Series A financing round to support the clinical development of a product for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) based on vectorised antibodies. Co-led by EQT Life Sciences and the Forbion Growth Opportunities Fund, the money will be used to develop VTx-002 and other programmes for neurodegenerative diseases.

AstraZeneca Plc has acquired rights to an experimental drug for obesity in a significant expansion of its pipeline of cardiometabolic medicines. The agreement, with Eccogene Inc of China, was announced on 9 November concurrent with the release of the company’s third-quarter results. These showed a 5% increase in revenue to $11.5 billion. The revenue increase, which includes product sales, and collaboration and alliance revenue, was 6% at constant exchange rates. Excluding revenue from products developed for the Covid-19 pandemic, the revenue increase was a double-digit figure.

The first vaccine for the prevention of disease caused by the chikungunya virus was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration on 9 November – the result of years of research and development by the French company Valneva SE. The vaccine, Ixchiq, was given an accelerated approval on evidence of its ability to arrest the spread of chikungunya virus disease, an emerging global health threat.

Switzerland-based MetrioPharm AG has received a rare paediatric disease designation from the US Food and Drug Administration for its candidate therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The drug, MP1032, is a small molecule immune modulator that targets dysregulated mitochondrial metabolism in macrophages. In a preclinical study it was able to increase muscle strength comparable to the corticosteroid prednisolone, but without the corticosteroid’s serious side effects.

An Austrian start-up company, HeartBeat.bio AG, has raised €4.5 million in pre-Series A financing to develop an organoid screening platform for the discovery of new drugs for heart disease. Organoids are miniature, simplified versions of human organs that are used in medical research and development. The investor syndicate included i&i Biotech Fund, Invest AG, aws Gründungsfonds II, and Tensor Ventures. The financing will support the company’s needs until 2025 when a full Series A round is expected to be launched.

Sanofi SA is to divest its consumer healthcare business unit in order to concentrate its development and commercialisation resources on innovative, proprietary medicines. This follows a similar decision by GSK Plc which also spun out its consumer products business into a separate, listed business in 2022. Sanofi announced the decision on 27 October, saying that the undertaking would most likely involve a capital markets transaction and could take place as early as the fourth quarter of 2024.

The Roche Group expects sales to decline this year following a steep drop in demand for diagnostic tests for Covid-19. Excluding this factor, sales of both the pharmaceuticals and diagnostics base businesses are projected to increase. Roche said it plans to increase its dividend in Swiss francs.

Novartis gave its first financial forecast, post the spin-out of Sandoz, with the release of third quarter earnings on 24 October. The quarterly figures showed a 12% increase in net sales to $11.78 billion from a year earlier, and a large rise in spending on research and development. The Switzerland-based company is forecasting an increase in net sales for the year of a high single digit figure and an increase in non IFRS operating income of a mid to high teens figure.