With the December PDUFA date already blown, Pfizer Inc. is headed into a day-and-a-half FDA advisory committee meeting this week to make the case for 2.5-mg tanezumab, a potential first-in-class treatment in the U.S., partnered with Eli Lilly and Co. Inc., for chronic pain due to moderate to severe osteoarthritis.
Anaptysbio Inc. is calling it quits for developing imsidolimab in treating moderate to severe palmoplantar pustulosis (PPP) after its phase II Poplar trial failed to hit its primary endpoint. However, the company said it would continue imsidolimab development for five other indications, including a phase III trial in treating generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP) that’s set to begin in mid-2021.
Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc. cut the biggest deal of the company’s life with its new collaboration with Eli Lilly and Co. that could be worth $960 million. The two will co-develop and commercialize Rigel’s R-552, a receptor-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase 1 (RIPK1) inhibitor, for all indications including autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
Slate Bio Inc., a startup developing an interleukin 2 fusion cytokine for the potential treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, has closed a $1.75 million seed financing led by Epidarex Capital. Financing for the company, a spinout of the University of Virginia, also came from the UVA Licensing & Ventures Group Seed Fund, Center for Innovative Technology's GAP Biolife Fund, VTC Seed Fund, Pharmadirections Inc., company management and others.
The Human Skin Cell Atlas, comprising transcriptomes of 528,253 single cells, shows that cellular processes involved in skin development in embryos are reactivated in inflammatory skin diseases. In addition to suggesting potential new drug targets for atopic dermatitis and psoriasis, the transcriptomes provide a new route to understanding other inflammatory diseases.
Forge Therapeutics Inc. spinout Blacksmith Medicines Inc. said Eli Lilly and Co. has committed up to $300 million in milestone payments to back its creation of five new immuno-oncology and inflammation-focused medicines targeting human metalloenzymes.
HONG KONG – Kira Pharmaceuticals is riding high after completing a $46 million fundraiser and appointing Frederick Beddingfield as CEO. “The $46 million comprises a series A of $18 million and a series B of $26 million, with investors Quan Capital, 6 Dimensions Capital, Qiming Venture Partners, and Sinopharm Capital participating in both rounds,” Beddingfield told BioWorld.
Researchers at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, the research arm of New York-based Northwell Health, illuminated the precise pathway from the brainstem to the spleen that controls inflammation in a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). Essentially, the work demonstrates how scientists could use the vagus nerve to hack the immune system, enabling them to turn down the excessive response that underlies autoimmune disease without the use of biologics or immunosuppressive drugs.
The opening plenary abstract session at the 2020 annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) began with the definition of a new disease, identified through a new approach, and possibly leading to a new way to think about rheumatic diseases.
New data from a global phase II trial of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals Ltd.'s monoclonal antibody, mavrilimumab, in the rare chronic inflammatory disease giant cell arteritis showed a 62% lower risk of flare in patients receiving the candidate vs. those given a placebo.
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