ArGEN-X BV of the Netherlands has taken the unusual step of out-licensing its lead preclinical antibody compound to a Shanghai-based company which will take it into human studies in China and thereafter develop it.
Ablynx NV said that its antibody-fragment therapeutic, ALX-0061, has met the efficacy endpoint at week 12 in a Phase 1/2 trial of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The compound targets the interleukin-6 receptor.
Janssen Biotech Inc is in-licensing a Janus Kinase (JAK) inhibitor for rheumatoid arthritis from Astellas Pharma Inc – a second US pharma company to secure access in recent months to a new small molecule compound for this disease.
Ipsen SA’s haemophilia alliance with Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals Inc has come under strain following the US company’s failure to raise external financing. Ipsen announced on Wednesday that the ‘parties continue to explore various options.’
Merck Serono SA has announced the creation of a third spin-out company – this time focused on therapies for Alzheimer’s disease and tau protein-related pathologies. This follows its parent company’s decision to downsize and to close the Geneva office.
Ablynx is set to receive €6.5 million upfront under a new collaboration with Merck & Co to develop and commercialise candidate antibody therapeutics that target a voltage gated ion channel, with an option to develop an antibody against a second target.
Evotec AG and Bayer Pharma AG have entered into a five-year collaboration to develop three clinical candidates for endometriosis, a painful gynecological condition.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a new indication for Humira (adalimumab) to include the treatment of moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis in adults. It is the seventh US approval for the drug which is marketed by Abbott Laboratories.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Stivarga (regorafenib), a multi-kinase inhibitor, to treat patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. Developed by Bayer AG, the drug was approved under the agency’s priority review procedure.
UCB SA said that a Phase 2b study of its candidate antibody for rheumatoid arthritis, olokizumab, met its primary endpoint. But there was no improvement in efficacy when the drug was compared with tocilizumab (Actemra).