In a blow to CAR-T therapies, the FDA is investigating a “serious risk” of patients developing new cancers after treatment with these highly efficacious oncology drugs. The FDA unveiled the probe Tuesday. The agency said it has received reports of T-cell malignancies, including CAR-positive lymphoma, among patients who received BCMA- or CD19-directed CAR-T cell immunotherapies. Some patients involved have had to be hospitalized or died, according to the agency. The cases stem from clinical trials and postmarketing adverse event surveillance, the FDA said. The FDA has determined that the potential risk is applicable to all currently approved CAR-T therapies, as T-cell malignancies have occurred after patients received several different products. The FDA is now weighing potential regulatory action—even as the potential risk of developing secondary cancer is already included as a class warning on the labels of the CAR-T therapies. Currently marketed CD19 CAR-Ts include Yescarta and Tecartus from Gilead ...
After suffering setbacks in the clinic and in court over the last week, Bayer’s ability to overhaul its corporate structure is becoming more constricted, one group of analysts contends. Still, the German conglomerate is trying to keep its head up as it presses on with a strategic review under new CEO Bill Anderson. Bayer’s very bad week started with the failure of its potential blockbuster-in-waiting asundexian to top Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer’s Eliquis in a phase 3 trial. In light of the blood thinner’s inferior efficacy, Bayer elected to stop the study early while continuing to advance the asset in stroke. Bayer is counting on new drugs like asundexian to offset the upcoming loss of exclusivity on its Johnson & Johnson-partnered med Xarelto. Separately, a Missouri jury on Monday ordered Bayer to shell out $1.56 billion to four plaintiffs over claims the company’s Roundup weedkiller caused their cancer. Bayer ...
It appears Bristol Myers Squibb’s multiple myeloma cell therapy Abecma will not end the year on a happy note. The company’s effort to gain approval for the CAR-T in an earlier line of treatment—previously set for an FDA decision on Dec. 16—will have to be pushed back pending an advisory committee meeting. BMS revealed on Monday that the FDA’s Oncologic Drug Advisory Committee (ODAC) will meet to discuss data from the KarMMa-3 study. The United States regulator has not identified a date for the meeting, BMS said. BMS and its partner on the drug, 2seventy bio, said in the release that they expect the meeting has been called to review overall survival (OS) data, which is a secondary endpoint of the phase 3 study. The companies added that the meeting will not impact Abecma’s approval for multiple myeloma as a fifth-line treatment. This is another blow to the CAR-T medicine, ...
Roche has announced that an injectable form of its PD-L1 inhibitor Tecentriq (atezolizumab) has been recommended by the European Medicines Agency’s human medicines committee for multiple cancer types. The subcutaneous (SC) formulation of Tecentriq can cut treatment time by approximately 80%, the company said, with most injections taking between four to eight minutes compared with 30 to 60 minutes for an intravenous (IV) infusion. The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has specifically recommended that Tecentriq SC be authorised for use in all indications in which the drug’s IV form has previously been approved, including certain types of lung, liver, bladder and breast cancer. The committee’s decision will now be reviewed by the European Commission and, if approved, Tecentriq SC will be the first injectable PD-L1 cancer immunotherapy in the EU. Levi Garraway, Roche’s chief medical officer and head of global product development, said: “Tecentriq has helped to ...
Pictured: Cancer cell surrounded by cytokines/iStock, Marcin Klapczynski Alkermes on Wednesday announced that it has completed the spinoff of its oncology business to become a pure-play neuroscience company. Mural Oncology will begin trading on the Nasdaq starting Thursday, with Alkermes shareholders receiving a share of Mural for every 10 shares of Alkermes. Mural is launching with $275 million, which is expected to fund it through the fourth quarter of 2025, and an interleukin-2 cytokine as its most advanced asset. Nemvaleukin alfa is being studied as a monotherapy for advanced mucosal or cutaneous melanoma in Phase II and is in a Phase III study in combination with Keytruda for platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian cancer. The therapeutic is designed to avoid the hallmark toxicities of IL-2 immunotherapies. The studies are potentially registrational with readouts expected in early 2025. Additional assets include therapies targeting IL-18 and IL-12. Mural will nominate a development candidate for each program in ...
Janssen, a Johnson & Johnson company, has announced positive results from a mid-stage study of its investigational FcRn inhibitor in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The phase 2a IRIS-RA trial has been evaluating nipocalimab in adults with moderate-to-severe RA who have tested positive for anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPAs) or rheumatoid factor (RF) and had an inadequate response or been intolerant to at least one anti-TNF therapy. Approximately 13 million people worldwide are affected by RA, a chronic inflammatory disease that causes joint pain, swelling and stiffness, and in some cases, permanent damage and deformity in structural joint elements such as cartilage and bone. The presence of autoantibodies is a distinctive feature of RA, with ACPAs and RF being two autoantibody systems commonly used as aids for diagnosing and classifying the disease. Results from IRIS-RA showed that nipocalimab reduced levels of circulating IgG antibodies, including ACPAs, indicating they may play a key role ...
By Kate Goodwin Bayer is looking to shake things up with some major company changes after reporting “not acceptable” cash flow for the third quarter on Wednesday. “We’re not happy with this year’s performance,” CEO Bill Anderson said in a statement accompanying third-quarter results that were down against the previous year, while emphasizing a need for redesigning the company to focus only on what’s essential for its mission of “health for all, hunger for none.” As part of a significant, unspecified reduction in its workforce, Bayer will remove “several layers” of management, according to Wednesday’s announcement. The goal is to shift the majority of decision-making from the managers to the people doing the work, Anderson said, adding that 12 layers of management between him and the company’s customers were “simply too much.” The company reported nearly 50 billion euros, or $53.3 billion, in revenue with what Anderson called “zero cash ...
Don Tracy, Associate Editor Company aims to receive approval on a Type II Variation application for Sirturo for patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) has announced the submission of a Type II Variation application to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for bedaquiline (Sirturo), indicated as part of a combination therapy for adults and pediatric patients over the age of five with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) due to multi-drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Back in August, a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) was also submitted to the FDA for the medication. According to data from the CDC, there was a report of approximately 8,300 cases of TB in 2022, up from 7,874 cases reported in 2021. The center also reports that TB cases in the United States are beginning to return to pre-pandemic levels, following a substantial decline in 2020, likely due to factors associated with ...
By Tristan Manalac Pictured: Entrance to the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, DC/iStock The Department of Health and Human Services in a supplemental court filing posted late last week has suggested that Johnson & Johnson’s blockbuster psoriasis therapy Stelara (ustekinumab) might soon be “deselected” from the Inflation Reduction Act’s Drug Price Negotiation Program. The development comes after the FDA last week approved Amgen’s Wezlana (ustekinumab-auub), an interchangeable biosimilar to Stelara. In May 2023, Amgen and J&J settled their patent dispute over the biosimilar challenge to Stelara, allowing the entry of Wezlana “no later than January 1, 2025.” Under the current negotiation guidelines, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services can reconsider a drug product for price negotiations when it is “subject to meaningful competition.” HHS referred to this provision in a separate October 2023 court filing, supporting its prior motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by various ...
Dive Brief Johnson & Johnson has linked its Qdot Micro radiofrequency (RF) catheter to improved quality of life in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AFib). The single-arm study found that, compared to baseline, scores on an AFib quality-of-life scale improved and use of antiarrhythmic drugs fell after people underwent treatment with the device. Qdot Micro, which received approval in the U.S. in 2022, is set to face competition from pulsed field ablation (PFA) devices. A Boston Scientific study suggests PFA and thermal ablation result in similar levels of improvement in quality of life. Dive Insight Qdot Micro is temperature-controlled, contact force-sensing, RF catheter. The temperature control feature supports the use of higher radiofrequency power in short bursts, an approach that J&J sees as a way to improve efficacy without compromising safety. J&J published 12-month data on the effectiveness of the device in its Q-FFICIENCY study earlier this year. The latest ...
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