The trial is evaluating an investigational cancer vaccine in combination with KeytrudaIO Biotech has announced that it has completed the enrolment of 380 patients in a phase 3 clinical trial of its investigational immune-modulating therapeutic cancer vaccine in advanced melanoma. The open-label, randomised clinical study being conducted in collaboration with Merck & Co – known as MSD outside the US and Canada – is comparing the candidate IO102-IO103 in combination with Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab) versus Keytruda alone in patients with previously untreated, unresectable or metastatic melanoma. The cancer vaccine in combination with a PD-1 inhibitor has already demonstrated “approximately double the effect than would have been expected with PD-1 inhibitor monotherapy in this patient population,” said Mai-Britt Zocca, president and chief executive officer of IO Biotech, with results from a phase 1/2 study showing that 80% of patients achieved a response and 50% achieved a complete response. Furthermore, ...
Cytovale, a San Francisco-based medical diagnostics company, raised $84 million in Series C funds to advance the commercialization of its diagnostic test for early sepsis detection. Using standard blood draws, the test provides results in under 10 minutes. It is meant to detect sepsis in patients who present to hospital emergency departments. Sepsis kills more than 11 million people worldwide each year and contributes to 20% of all global deaths. The disease is also a leading cause of death in U.S. hospitals, and a septic patient’s risk of death increases by 8% each hour they go undiagnosed and untreated. Cytovale, a San Francisco-based medical diagnostics company, is seeking to tackle this issue with its early sepsis detection test. On Wednesday, the startup announced that it has raised $84 million in Series C funds to bring the test to more hospitals. The financing round, which takes Cytovale’s total funding amount to more than $122 million, was led by Norwest ...
Orphelia Pharma is taking action to drive regulatory agencies like the European Commission to adapt pharmaceutical legislations that would facilitate the development of rare disease pediatric drugs, like the company’s Kizfizo (Ped-TMZ). Kizfizo, a temozolomide biosimilar, is the first oral liquid suspension of temozolomide designed to act as a monotherapy or as a Kizfizo/DNA topoisomerase inhibitor combination treatment for the treatment of relapsed or refractory (r/r) neuroblastoma. Originally indicated exclusively for the treatment of glioblastoma in adults in the US, temozolomide has been used off label to treat r/r neuroblastoma patients for years. The drug is approved for treating GBM in adults and children in Europe. Use of temozolomide in this manner, especially in children, has its drawbacks because children end up being underdosed, executive chairman Giles Alberici told Pharmaceutical Technology. “You often open the capsules and put that in your water. And this is something that should not be ...
Mirati Therapeutics’ KRAS inhibitor Krazati’s EU prospects weren’t looking good after an initial rejection from Europe’s drugs regulator. Now, the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA’s) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has come around on the drug after taking a second look. The CHMP first rebuffed the med back in July, finding that it didn’t meet certain requirements for a conditional marketing authorization, despite acknowledging its positive risk-benefit profile. Mirati, disagreeing, filed for a formal re-examination that ultimately resulted in the recent positive opinion. Now, European patients with KRAS G12C-mutated advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) will soon have a new treatment option in Mirati’s flagship drug. The company was already supplying the therapy to eligible patients in the EU based on “individual requests” from healthcare professionals, it said in July. This will be good news for Bristol Myers Squibb, which last month put $5.8 billion on the table ...
FDA restricts use of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) combination in the treatment of gastric cancer to patients with certain tumor types. The FDA has amended the currently approved indication for pembrolizumab (Keytruda) plus trastuzumab (Herceptin), fluoropyrimidine, and platinum-containing chemotherapy in the treatment of gastric cancer. The agency’s updated indication remains under accelerated approval regulations, but restricts the use of Keytruda to patients whose tumors express PD-L1 with a combined positive score (CPS) of one or more as determined by an FDA-approved test for the treatment of locally advanced unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma. The FDA also approved the Agilent PD-L1 immunohistochemistry 22C3 pharmDx companion diagnostic device to help identify patients with gastric or GEJ adenocarcinoma whose tumors express PD-L1. Keytruda is an anti-PD-1 therapy that has been found to increase the immune system’s ability to detect and fight tumor cells. The humanized monoclonal antibody inhibits the interaction ...
Candel Therapeutics has announced positive results from a mid-stage trial of its viral immunotherapy candidate in non-metastatic pancreatic cancer. The ongoing phase 2 trial has been evaluating the candidate CAN-2409 plus valacyclovir together with standard of care (SoC) chemo-radiation followed by resection in patients with borderline resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Interim results demonstrated an estimated survival rate of 71.4% at months 24 and 36 months in patients who received the CAN-2409 regimen prior to surgery, compared to 16.7% in those receiving SoC chemo-radiation alone. Five out of seven patients who received CAN-2409 were still alive at the time of the data cut-off, with two patients surviving more than 45 months from enrolment, while only one patient randomised to control SoC chemotherapy remained alive at the data cut-off. A “consistent and robust activation of immune response” was also observed after dosing with CAN-2409, the company said, and that the candidate ...
In a bid to further restructure operations, Sangamo plans to close its facility in Brisbane, California early in 2024, which will see 162 employees facing another round of layoffs. During the transition, the company will move its headquarters to its facility in Richmond, California, effective January 1, 2024. Sangamo will direct any freed resources towards advancing adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsid delivery technologies and its neurology epigenetic regulation portfolio via its investigational Nav1.7 and Prion disease therapies, said Sangamo CEO Sandy Macrae. Additionally, the company has decided to defer new investments for its Phase III Fabry and CAR-Treg studies and is instead actively seeking collaboration and investment partners for both programs. Sangamo is the latest to be swept in the wave of layoffs, following companies like NexImmune and Kinnate Biopharma, which sacked 53% and 70% of their respective workforces in September to redirect cash towards priority projects. In a conference call ...
Pfizer’s Litfulo (ritlecitinib) has been approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to treat severe alopecia areata in patients aged 12 years and older. Affecting approximately 147 million people globally, alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease characterised by patchy or complete hair loss on the scalp, face or body. The condition can develop at any age and nearly 20% of patients are diagnosed before the age of 18. Litfulo, which is a one-daily oral kinase inhibitor, works by blocking the activity of enzymes in the body involved in inflammation at the hair follicle. This reduces the inflammation, leading to hair regrowth in patients with alopecia areata. The MHRA’s decision on the drug was supported by positive results from the phase 2b/3 ALLEGRO trial, which evaluated Litfulo in patients aged 12 years and older with 50% or more scalp hair loss, including those with total scalp and body ...
A group of 31 biotechnology, biopharma and life sciences companies and educational institutions have launched the first global organisation dedicated to advancing mRNA medicines. The Alliance for mRNA Medicines (AMM), which issued its first announcement at the International mRNA Health Conference in Germany, is now the only scientific and policy organisation singularly focused on global mRNA innovation. It also serves as an advocate for policies before legislative and regulatory bodies in North America, Europe and Asia to support innovation, define regulatory standards and enhance patient access to mRNA medicines. The AMM states that its mission is to “propel the future of mRNA medicine, improve patients’ lives, and advance scientific knowledge by convening and empowering mRNA industry leaders, innovators, scientists and other key stakeholders”. Founding members of the organisation include BioNTech, CSL, CureVac, Ginkgo Bioworks, Ethris, Johns Hopkins University, Mayo Clinic, Replicate Bioscience and Verve Therapeutics. “This is a pivotal moment ...
Novavax has announced that its updated COVID-19 vaccine, Nuvaxovid XBB.1.5, has been approved by the European Commission (EC) for active immunisation in individuals aged 12 and older. The decision follows a positive opinion for approval by the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP). Developed to target the Omicron XBB sublineage, the updated vaccine prepares the body’s defences against COVID-19 and contains a version of the spike protein of the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant, as well as Matrix-M adjuvant to strengthen immune response. The approval was based on non-clinical data which showed that the vaccine induced functional immune responses against the COVID-19 variants XBB.1.5, XBB.1.16 and XBB.2.3. Additionally, the updated vaccine induced neutralising antibody responses to newly emerging subvariants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, BA.2.86, EG.5.1, FL.1.5.1 and XBB.1.16.6, as well as strong CD4+ polyfunctional cellular (T-cell) responses against EG.5.1 and XBB.1.16.6. Based on previous recommendations by ...
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