France-based Abivax SA has disclosed evidence that obefazimod, its small molecule drug candidate for inflammatory bowel disease and the subsets Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, has shown evidence of anti-fibrotic activity. This has been illustrated in both preclinical human fibroblast and in vivo animal models of the disease. The data were presented at the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organization’s 21st Annual Congress in Stockholm on 21 February.
A vaccine developed by GSK Plc and approved for the prevention of lower respiratory tract disease caused by the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) appears to have a wider benefit, according to a retrospective study of patients who have received the drug. The study results were presented at a conference in Italy on 17 February. The vaccine, Arexvy, protects against respiratory syncytial virus which causes infections in the lungs and respiratory tract. The virus is common but the effects are most serious for young children and older adults.
Follicular lymphoma is a type of slow-growing blood cancer affecting B lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell that plays a critical role in immunity. There are many types of lymphomas but follicular is distinctive because of its tendency to grow slowly, starting in the follicules of lymph nodes and then expanding outwards. There are multiple approaches for treating the disease including an early observational phase known as ‘watch and wait’ where physicians monitor patients to identify symptoms that could justify a pharmaceutical treatment.
A Scotland, UK microbiome company has reported positive Phase 2a results for an experimental therapy for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a functional gastrointestinal disorder. These disorders are related to problems with how the brain and gut work together to maintain gut equilibrium. EnteroBiotix is developing an oral microbiome therapeutic for patients with constipation or diarrhoea, two of the three IBS types. It also has a product in development for liver cirrhosis.
Novo Nordisk A/S has become the first developer of a weight loss drug to have its medicine approved by the US Food and Drug Administration as a pill. The decision, announced on 22 December, enables Wegovy (semaglutide) to be administered orally, in addition to its four earlier approvals as an injectable treatment. This puts the Danish company in a stronger position than before, relative to its competitor Eli Lilly and Co which only recently submitted an oral obesity treatment to the FDA for review.
Forbion of the Netherlands has co-led, along with Novartis Venture Fund, a $130 million Series B funding for a US company developing small molecule chaperones to correct the misfolding of proteins in cells – a cause of Alzheimer’s and other diseases. The developer, Protego Biopharma Inc of San Diego, US, is a clinical stage company whose lead product is poised to enter a trial in patients with primary amyloidosis, a disease affecting the heart and kidneys.
Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (Sobi) is to pay up to $1.5 billion to acquire Arthrosi Therapeutics Inc of San Diego, US, which has a Phase 3 product for gout, a type of inflammatory arthritis caused by a build-up of uric acid in the blood. Sobi already has a product for gout in registrational studies in the US. The acquisition will expand its presence in the field where disease prevalence is expected to rise by more than 70% from 2020 to 2050 due to population growth and ageing, according to The Lancet Rheumatology.
Artios Pharma Ltd, a UK clinical-stage company with products to kill cancer cells by blocking their ability to repair damaged DNA, has raised $115 million in an oversubscribed Series D financing. The round was co led by founding investor SV Health Investors and new investor RA Capital Management. The funds will be used to advance two small molecule drugs against large cancers. The first, alnodesertib, is an inhibitor of the ATR protein which is involved in DNA repair, and the second is ART6043, an inhibitor of the DNA repair enzyme DNA polymerase theta (Pol theta).
A trial for adults with major depressive disorder failed to significantly reduce the severity of the disorder compared with a placebo, according to the sponsor Neurocrine Biosciences Inc of San Diego, US. The Phase 2 study enrolled 73 adults with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder and an inadequate response to at least one antidepressant in their regular treatment paradigm. The product, NBI-1070770, is a negative allosteric modulator of a subunit of a receptor that plays a role in the working memory. Participants received the drug or a placebo for four weeks.
Germany-based biotech InflaRx NV, has published positive Phase 2a data for a new small molecule drug for the treatment of two skin diseases: hidradenitis suppurativa and chronic spontaneous urticaria. The drug, INF904, is an inhibitor of the C5a receptor which modulates the body’s inflammatory responses. In a basket study of patients with the two diseases, the drug achieved rapid disease control. In the case of hidradenitis suppurativa this involved decreases in measures of nervous system changes.