A combination therapy directed at patients with advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer, failed to show a clinically meaningful overall response rate in a Phase 2 clinical trial, the developer Transgene SA announced on 12 December. Transgene has stopped further development of the compound TG4010, which is a cancer vaccine based on a modified Vaccinia virus.
The antibody-drug conjugate belantamab mafodotin has generated an overall response rate of 31% in a pivotal Phase 2 study of patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, GlaxoSmithKline Plc announced on 17 December. The UK company has made a regulatory submission for the drug with the US Food and Drug Administration.
The EU is to invest €10 million in a project to expand the use of structural biology in drug discovery and other disciplines. The project is being coordinated by Anastassis Perrakis from the Netherlands Cancer Institute and the Oncode Institute and will involve partners from other countries.
Novartis is to discontinue development of the small molecule drug fevipiprant as a treatment for asthma following the failure of two Phase 3 studies to show a reduction in the rate of moderate-to-severe exacerbation compared with placebo. A pooled analysis of the LUSTER-1 and LUSTER-2 studies did not meet the clinical threshold of efficacy for either of the two doses of the drug over a period of 52 weeks.
“The totality of these results do not support further development of fevipiprant in asthma,” the company said in a statement on 16 December.
Promethera Biosciences SA has raised an additional €7.5 million for its Series D financing round bringing total proceeds up to €39.7 million. The financing was led by new investors Sony Innovation Fund by IGV and Pegasus Tech Ventures. It will be used to further advance the company’s clinical programmes in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and acute-on-chronic liver failure as well as to support the company’s growth in Asia.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a new drug for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) on the basis of data showing that the medicine increased the production of the dystrophin protein in patients – a surrogate for improved motor function. The drug, Vyondys 53, was developed by Sarepta Therapeutics Inc, whose first DMD drug Exondys 51 was approved by the FDA in 2016, also on the basis of a surrogate endpoint.
Sanofi SA’s decision to acquire the US synthetic biology company Synthorx Inc gives the French multinational new tools for expanding its oncology portfolio. Sanofi announced the takeover on 9 December, just a day before its new chief executive, Paul Hudson, briefed investors on the company’s R&D strategy going forward. This will focus on rare diseases, immunology and oncology, while discontinuing research in diabetes and cardiovascular medicine.
Forendo Pharma Ltd, whose lead product is being developed for endometriosis, has signed an exclusive licensing deal with Novartis to use the same technology platform to discover new drugs for chronic liver diseases. The deal, announced on 11 December, is a further validation of the company’s technology for inhibiting a family of enzymes called HSD17B (17-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydregonase) which play a role in multiple diseases.
Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH is to enlist the help of a UK company specialising in artificial intelligence (AI) to identify new indications for rare neurological diseases. The partnership, with Healx Ltd of the UK, involves exploiting assets that are already in BI’s portfolio. The financial terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed.
Edinburgh, UK-based Epidarex Capital is to put more money behind company creation in the life science industry with the launch of a dedicated incubator, Epidarex Exeed Ltd. Epidarex Exeed will de-risk promising scientific assets and provide management support to prepare prospective companies for launch and Series A financing. Seed funding for the young companies will be provided by Epidarex Capital.