Pharma News

Novartis announced results from its phase III open-label, randomized, active-controlled, multi-center ASCEND-4 study, which found that patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive (ALK+) advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with first-line Zykadia (ceritinib) had a median progression-free survival (PFS) of 16.6 months (95% confidence interval [CI]: 12.6, 27.2), compared to 8.1 months (95% CI: 5.8, 11.1) in patients treated with standard first-line chemotherapy with maintenance. This equated to a 45% reduction in the risk of disease progression (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.55, P<0.001).

Neovacs, a leader in active immunotherapies for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted “Fast Track” status to IFN-alpha Kinoid in Lupus, the most advanced therapeutic vaccine issued from Neovacs R&D.

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Kitov Pharmaceuticals Holdings Ltd. Announced that its lead drug candidate KIT-302 met the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) standards for establishing six months stability.

Theravance Biopharma, Inc. announced that GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) and Innoviva, Inc. (Innoviva) have filed a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) in the European Union for the Closed Triple (the combination of fluticasone furoate, umeclidinium, and vilanterol in a single ELLIPTA® inhaler) for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). 

AstraZeneca  presented data from the AURA3 trial that data is supportive of Tagrisso (osimertinib) potentially becoming the new standard of care for 2nd-line treatment of patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) T790M mutation-positive locally-advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The first randomised Phase III data showed that Tagrisso 2nd-line therapy improved progression-free survival (PFS) by 5.7 months compared with standard platinum-based doublet chemotherapy (Hazard Ratio [HR]=0.3). The results were presented at the 17th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) in Vienna, Austria, hosted by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, and published simultaneously online in The New England Journal of Medicine.

NeuroDerm Ltd. , a clinical stage pharmaceutical Company developing drugs for central nervous system (CNS) disorders,  announced the completion of a pilot study (trial 101) in healthy subjects comparing the pharmacokinetics (PK) of ND0701, the Company’s proprietary continuous, subcutaneously delivered apomorphine liquid formulation, and commercial apomorphine (APOGO®). Study results demonstrate that ND0701 produced PK results that were comparable to those produced by the referenced drug.  Based on these results, the Company plans to pursue a PK similarity regulatory development route in the EU for ND0701, will initiate a follow-up comparison PK study in the first half of 2017 and meet with European regulatory authorities in the second half of 2017 to discuss its development strategy.  The Company is evaluating in parallel the development of ND0701 for the U.S. market.

NeuroDerm Ltd. , a clinical stage pharmaceutical company developing drugs for central nervous system (CNS) disorders, announced that following its End-of-Phase 2 meeting with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in late October, the Company intends to pursue a comparative bioavailability regulatory path for the Company's lead product candidate ND0612 based on comparative pharmacokinetic (PK) data in place of data from Phase 3 clinical efficacy trials.

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Roche announced data from the positive, pivotal phase III GALLIUM study that compared Gazyva/Gazyvaro (obinutuzumab) plus chemotherapy followed by Gazyva/Gazyvaro alone head-to-head against MabThera/Rituxan (rituximab) plus chemotherapy followed by MabThera/Rituxan alone for people with previously untreated follicular lymphoma. At a pre-planned interim analysis in May 2016, an independent data monitoring committee determined that the study met its primary endpoint early. The results showed Gazyva/Gazyvaro-based treatment reduced the risk of disease worsening or death (progression-free survival; PFS, as assessed by investigator) by 34 percent compared to MabThera/Rituxan-based treatment (HR=0.66; 95% CI 0.51-0.85, p=0.0012). Median PFS was not yet reached. Adverse events with either Gazyva/Gazyvaro or MabThera/Rituxan were consistent with those seen in previous studies.