An experimental drug for Alzheimer’s disease that has failed in successive trials to show efficacy, demonstrated for the first time that it can reduce amyloid beta plaques in the brain at a higher dose. Gantenerumab achieved an effect at dosing of up to 1200 mg.
AstraZeneca Plc said that final data from its Phase 3 MYSTIC trial which is testing a combination immunotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer, are now expected in the second half of the year, rather than in the first half.
Novartis has expanded an alliance with Science 37 Inc of the US to launch up to 10 clinical trials over the next three years that will be conducted at a participant’s home or a physician’s officer rather than at a formal clinical trial site. Science 37 is a mobile technology and clinical trial company.
Verona Pharma Plc has reported positive top-line data from a Phase 2a trial of its inhaled drug for patients with cystic fibrosis, a rare inherited disease that causes impaired lung function and premature death. The data showed an improvement in lung function that was statistically significant.
Novartis has announced a collaboration with Pear Therapeutics Inc to develop digital therapeutics for patients with schizophrenia and multiple sclerosis using mobile and desktop software. The new products would deliver clinically-proven treatments such as cognitive behavioural therapy.
After one volunteer died and four others were seriously injured during a clinical study in France in 2016, the European Medicines Agency revised its rules for first-in-human studies to tighten the requirements for the dosing of experimental drugs in humans. Introducing the changes in 2017, the agency said that clinical trial protocols are now more complex than ever before and sponsors will need to work harder to exercise oversight.
The checkpoint antibody avelumab has failed to meet its primary endpoint of improving overall survival in a Phase 3 trial of patients with PD-L1 expressing non-small lung cancer. The JAVELIN Lung 200 trial compared avelumab with docetaxel chemotherapy.
An experimental cancer therapy that combines the Roche checkpoint antibody Tecentriq (atezolizumab) and Avastin (bevacizumab) met its co-primary endpoint of progression-free survival in a Phase 3 trial of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.
A new agreement for fighting cancer by targeting the tumour microenvironment has been announced by the AstraZeneca Plc unit MedImmune and Innate Pharma SA of France. The goal is to overcome some of the limitations of the current checkpoint inhibitors.
The first patient to be treated with a wireless sub-retinal implant designed to correct for damage caused by dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) has responded to the therapy, according to the developer Pixium Vision SA of France.