A Phase 3 trial of a drug being developed by AstraZeneca Plc for patients with a specific mutation in lung cancer has failed to meet its primary endpoint of progression free survival, the company announced on 9 August. The drug, selumetinib, is a MEK 1/2 inhibitor.
Ablynx NV has reported positive efficacy results from a second Phase 2b study of its biologic vobarilizumab in patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, showing a strong decline in disease symptoms at 24 weeks of treatment.
The Food and Drug Administration has approved a field trial of a mosquito that has been genetically modified in order to reduce the population of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in the environment that carry the Zika virus.
France-based Nicox SA has secured €18 million in fresh capital to finance further studies of its investigational ophthalmology compounds, giving it a cash runway to pursue its ambition to be a player in the US market for eye-care products.
The Bristol-Myers Squibb Company’s checkpoint antibody Opdivo (nivolumab) hit a roadblock on 5 August when a Phase 3 study failed to meet its primary endpoint in patients with previously untreated non-small cell lung cancer.
After reviewing business in the first half year, Novo Nordisk A/S has reduced the upper range of its forecast for sales and operating profit for 2016. Sales for the full year are now expected to rise by 5% to 7%, compared with the company’s previous forecast of 5% to 9%.
Who would have thought it? An offering of 34 million shares of the Dutch contract manufacturing organisation Patheon NV raised a nominal $718.7 million at a price of $21 per share on the New York Stock Exchange in late July. Not only did institutional investors like the stock, they must have thought it was a fancy growth company – a super Crispr or perhaps an ultra CAR T Naamloze Vennootschap.
Reporting its first results since acquiring Baxalta Inc on 3 June, Shire Plc said that second quarter revenue rose by 56% to $2.43 billion while operating profit shrunk by 27% to $96.2 million, partly because of integration charges and higher amortisations.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc has deepened its commitment to the field of bioelectronic medicine with plans to set up a joint-venture company to develop implantable devices for chronic diseases. GSK will own 55% of the company Galvani Bioelectronics Ltd while Verily Life Sciences LLC will hold 45%.
MorphoSys AG said it expects an operating loss and sharply lower revenue this year but investment in research and development will increase in response to promising data from its early-stage antibody therapeutics.