Eli Lilly and Company said new Phase 2 data for its antibody against psoriasis has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The antibody is currently in Phase 3 for psoriasis and under investigation for other indications, including RA.
Addex Pharmaceuticals Ltd has announced positive top-line data from a Phase 2a trial of an allosteric modulator for the treatment of levodopa-induced dyskinesia in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Full data will be disclosed at a meeting later in 2012.
Circassia Ltd of the UK has completed a Phase 2 study of its T-cell vaccine for ragweed allergy showing a significant reduction in symptoms, the company said. The company is backed by venture capital with Imperial Innovations holding 18.4%.
Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd of Switzerland said that its Phase 3 US trial for the investigational compound alitretinoin for severe chronic hand eczema achieved ‘clear’ or ‘almost clear’ hands for 40% of patients, thus meeting the trial’s primary endpoint.
InDex Pharmaceuticals AB, a privately-held Swedish immunotherapy company, is starting a Phase 3 trial of Kappaproct, which has performed well in earlier tests in treating steroid-resistant ulcerative colitis patients.
In seeking to increase R&D productivity, Big Pharma should consider outsourcing all of its discovery activity and focus instead on building capacity in translational medicine, Simon Moroney, the MorphoSys chief executive, told a meeting in London.
Venture-capital backed ArGEN-X BV of the Netherlands said that it has advanced a third therapeutic antibody candidate into preclinical development, in this instance an antibody targeting the c-Met signalling pathway which is implicated in many cancers.
Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc said that enrolment of patients into four studies of a new agent against Gram-negative bacteria, GSK052, has been stopped pending investigation of a microbiologial finding in a small number of patients.
Agennix AG of Germany has stopped further enrollment and treatment in a Phase 2/3 trial of talactoferrin, a genetically-engineered form of the human protein, lactoferrin, on safety grounds. The drug was being studied in sepsis.
A research consortium, led by investigators at St George’s, University of London, has reported discovering a new gene, the fourth in a series, to be associated with lymphoedema, a swelling that arises from an impaired lymphatic system.