Blackstone Life Sciences startup Uniquity Bio emerged from stealth with an in-licensed drug candidate that could treat a wide range of immunology and inflammation indications. The antibody’s target puts it in competition with drugs from AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Sanofi.Immunology and inflammation continues to be one of the hottest areas for research, and investment firm Blackstone is joining in with the launch of Uniquity Bio, a new startup whose lead asset from Merck addresses a clinically validated target that puts it in direct competition with some big pharmaceutical companies. Uniquity is backed by up to $300 million in financing from Blackstone Life Sciences, the firm’s biotechnology investment division. The in-licensed Merck drug, solrikitug, is ready to begin Phase 2 development in its lead indications, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. The Uniquity pipeline includes a third undisclosed gastrointestinal indication. Solrikitug is a monoclonal antibody designed to block thymic stromal lymphoprotein ...
The autoimmune disease, which affects 1.5 million people in the US, causes the body’s immune system to attack its own tissues Researchers from Johns Hopkins Medicine have revealed that certain combinations of antiviral proteins are responsible for symptoms and affect treatment outcomes for patients with lupus. Published in Cell Reports Medicine, researchers suggest that the findings could lead to changes in how clinicians treat patients with the condition. Affecting up to 1.5 million people in the US, lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease that causes the body’s immune system to attack its own tissues. In clinical trials for lupus treatments designed to suppress interferon I, researchers observed that patients’ conditions failed to improve, despite genetic testing showing high interferon I levels prior to treatment. The team predicted that two other interferon groups, interferon II and interferon III, could be the reason for poor treatment responses in lupus patients. Looking at ...
Shanghai, China, May 15, 2024 – Shanghai Henlius Biotech, Inc. (2696.HK) announced that the first patient has been dosed in the phase 3 stage of the international multi-centre clinical trial (ASTRUM-015) of the company’s self-developed anti-PD-1 mAb HANSIZHUANG (serplulimab) in combination with bevacizumab and chemotherapy in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). The leading principal investigator is Professor Rui-Hua Xu from Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center and State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China. Currently, for mCRC patients, immunotherapies have been proven to bring hope to patients with mismatch repair deficiency (dMMR)/microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) but have not yet shown meaningful positive outcomes in those with proficient mismatch repair (pMMR)/ microsatellite stable (MSS), and there is no immunotherapy approved globally for the first-line treatment of mCRC. HANSIZHUANG is expected to become the world’s first anti-PD-1 mAb for the first-line treatment of mCRC. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most ...
Until now, researchers and clinicians have lacked diagnostic tools to easily differentiate between past infections with different flaviviruses—a family of mostly mosquito- and tick-borne viruses that include Zika and dengue. This challenge has hindered clinical-epidemiologic studies, viral diagnostics, and vaccine development. Antibodies for Zika virus, a mosquito-borne virus that spread to the Americas in 2015 and continues to cause sporadic outbreaks, can often be mistaken for dengue virus antibodies in many diagnostic tests. This confusion makes it difficult to determine if a person who tests positive had dengue, Zika, or both. For reproductive-age women, it is particularly crucial to know if they have had Zika and likely have immunity since infection during pregnancy can lead to birth defects. Knowing their immunity status can guide their efforts to avoid mosquito bites in endemic areas during pregnancy. Now, a newly discovered Zika virus-specific synthetic molecule can distinguish Zika-immune patient samples from those ...
Recently, Hengrui Pharmaceuticals’ subsidiary Guangdong Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. received the Notice of Approval for Clinical Trial of Drugs approved by the State Drug Administration, approving SHR-2173 Injection, a Class 1 new drug, to carry out clinical trials for IgA nephropathy. At present, there is no similar drug to SHR-2173 on the market or in the clinical development stage at home and abroad. IgA nephropathy is a group of autoimmune glomerulonephritis characterized by IgA deposition in the glomerular mesangial area. Typical clinical manifestations can be seen in microscopic hematuria, and patients have a history of mucosal (e.g., upper respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract) infections, which is the most common primary glomerulopathies worldwide, and also a major cause of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and renal failure. In China, IgA nephropathy accounts for 45% of primary glomerular diseases in China. There are geographical differences in the incidence of the disease, and the peak ...
Chiatai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd. is conducting a nationwide Phase I clinical trial to evaluate the tolerability and pharmacokinetics of TQB2223 Injection in combination with Paanoprilumab in subjects with advanced malignant tumors. The study has been approved by the State Drug Administration (Notification No. 2023LP00274) and passed the center’s ethics, and is now recruiting nationwide. Trial drug profile TQB2223 injection is a lymphocyte activation gene-3 monoclonal antibody (LAG-3), registered as therapeutic biological product class 1. LAG-3, as an immune checkpoint, is expressed in activated T cells, NK cells, B cells and plasmacytoid dendritic cells, etc., and can negatively regulate T cells, which plays an important role in the maintenance of homeostasis of the body’s immune system and the promotion of tumor immune escape. LAG-3 monoclonal antibody can block the LAG-3 ligand on the cell surface, enhance the secretion of cytokines and exert anti-tumor immunity. Pavelizumab is a PD-1 monoclonal ...
RAPT Therapeutics has announced plans to terminate two Phase II trials for its lead candidate, zelnecirnon (RPT193), three months after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) placed a clinical hold on them. In February, the US regulatory agency placed a clinical hold on the Phase IIa (NCT05935332) and Phase IIb trials (NCT05399368) that evaluated zelnecirnon in atopic dermatitis and moderate to severe asthma, respectively. The hold was placed after a patient in the atopic dermatitis trial suffered liver failure possibly caused by zelnecirnon. Following the trial termination news, RAPT’s stock was down by 41.7% at market close on 9 May, compared to market close on the previous day. Since the clinical hold was announced on 20 February, the company’s stock has dropped by over 82% compared to its peak before the news. RAPT ended Q1 with $141.6m in cash reserves and a net loss of $30.5m. Rapt’s market cap ...
Sanofi has signed a $1.2bn licensing agreement with Novavax to co-commercialise its stand-alone adjuvanted Covid-19 vaccine. Starting in 2025, the drugmaker will co-commercialise the vaccine worldwide, except for in countries such as India, South Korea, and Japan where Novavax already has existing partnerships in place. As per the “co-exclusive” agreement, Sanofi will also support certain R&D, regulatory, and commercial expenses. The American vaccine company has faced tough times in the post-Covid-19 landscape, going as far as to issue a “going concern” warning in 2023 about its ability to continue operating. At the time, Novavax said it was subject to “significant uncertainty” concerning future sales and funding from the US Government. Following the deal with Sanofi, the removal of this warning was noted in Novavax’s first quarter 2024 financial results and operational highlights released today. Novavax CEO John Jacobs told CNBC that the agreement with Sanofi would allow it to lift ...
The subtype accounts for 20% of all T-cell leukaemias, a rare form of blood cancer which produces too many abnormal T-cells OneChain Immunotherapeutics (OCI), a biotechnology company that specialises in developing CAR T cell therapies for oncological diseases, has announced that the CARxALL clinical trial has dosed its first cortical T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (coT-ALL) patient with OC-1, a CAR T therapy. Being conducted at Hospital Clínic and Hospital Sant Joan de Déu in Barcelona, the trial is open to both paediatric and adult patients worldwide. T-cell leukaemia is a rare form of blood cancer that occurs when the bone marrow produces too many abnormal T-cells, a type of white blood cell that protects the body from infections. The subtype, coT-ALL, accounts for 20% of T-cell leukaemias and is characterised by a poor prognosis in patients who do not respond to existing therapies. CAR T therapies are a form of ...
Alzheimer’s disease is well known for its slow development over many years, which typically leads to treatment interventions only after the disease has advanced to stages where it may be nearly impossible to slow down its progression. The results of a groundbreaking study, recently published in the journal Nature Communications, have offered new hope for not only earlier diagnosis but also for potentially slowing the course of Alzheimer’s disease. A team of researchers from Aarhus University (Aarhus, Denmark) has identified a specific receptor found on immune cells that can bind and neutralize harmful “beta proteins”, which are closely linked with the development of Alzheimer’s disease. The study underscores the significant role that the peripheral immune system may play in defending the body against Alzheimer’s by preventing the build-up of these harmful proteins in the brain. This discovery paves the way for detecting the disease-related changes much earlier than current methodologies ...
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