A vaccine designed to protect children in poorer nations against infection from the Dengue virus has been shown to be effective in a Phase 3 trial which was carried out over two years in five countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH has received €22 million from its venture capital investors – the final tranche in a Series D round that will enable it to complete a Phase 3 trial of a cancer vaccine for renal cell carcinoma, a type of kidney cancer.
A Phase 3 trial of a new combination therapy for advanced melanoma has reached its primary endpoint of progression-free survival, the Roche Group announced. The trial was investigating Zelboraf and the experimental drug cobimetinib versus Zelboraf alone.
Desmoteplase, one of the few new therapies under development for patients suffering from stroke, has failed to show efficacy in the first of two Phase 3 clinical trials. The developer, H. Lundbeck A/S, said it will seek advice on the way forward.
A monoclonal antibody being developed by GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Genmab A/S for the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) has failed to meet its primary endpoint of progression-free survival in a small subset of patients with the disease.
Eisai Co Ltd said that real-world data for its epilepsy drug Fycompa (perampanel) show that the treatment is “generally effective and well tolerated” in a variety of patient populations including those with highly refractory epilepsy and comorbidities.
A Phase 3 study of the checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab in patients with advanced melanoma has been stopped early because of evidence that the antibody treatment was achieving superior overall survival compared with the control arm which was chemotherapy.
A nanoparticle designed to treat soft tissue sarcoma has passed its first hurdle with the successful conclusion of a Phase 1 study in patients with the disease. The developer, Nanobiotix SA, plans to position the product alongside radiotherapy as a treatment for patients with locally advanced sarcoma for whom few treatment options exist.
A Phase 3 trial of the antibody therapeutic Cyramza (ramucirumab) has failed to reach its primary endpoint of overall survival in patients with liver cancer. The trial was comparing Cyramza plus best supportive care to placebo plus best supportive care as a second-line therapy.
Novartis has reported that patients with polycythemia vera, a type of blood cancer, showed an improvement in their condition compared with the best available therapy following treatment with the JAK inhibitor Jakavi (ruxolitinib).