Pharma News

Mallinckrodt plc, a leading global specialty pharmaceutical company, announced that it has entered into a merger agreement with Stratatech Corporation, a privately held regenerative medicine company focused on the development of unique, proprietary skin substitute products. Developmental products include StrataGraft regenerative skin tissue and a technology platform for genetically enhanced skin tissues. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

SANUWAVE Health, Inc. announced that it has submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) a de novo petition requesting Agency review and classification of the dermaPACE System for treating Diabetic Foot Ulcers (DFU) as a Class II device. Through the course of two trials, 336 patients were randomized in double-blind, parallel group, sham controlled, multicenter, 24-week pivotal clinical trials that were designed to quantify the safety and effectiveness of the noninvasive procedures with the dermaPACE System (dermaPACE®).

Eli Lilly and Company announced that following a pre-planned interim analysis for MONARCH 2, an independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) provided the recommendation to continue the study without modification as the interim efficacy criteria were not met. The MONARCH 2, phase 3 trial compares abemaciclib plus fulvestrant versus placebo with fulvestrant in women with hormone-receptor-positive (HR+), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-) locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer.

Proteostasis Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing small molecule therapeutics to treat diseases caused by dysfunctional protein processing, announced that it has successfully completed a key preclinical milestone in its collaboration with Astellas Pharma Inc. (Astellas). The milestone, which triggered an undisclosed payment from Astellas, demonstrated that selective modulation of the Unfolded Protein Response (UPR) pathway in vitro is potentially an effective disease-modifying approach in the treatment of multiple diseases with few or no therapies currently available.

Shire plc, a leading global biotechnology company, announced the US launch of Vonvendi [von Willebrand factor (Recombinant)], the only recombinant treatment for adults living with von Willebrand disease (VWD).

Heron Therapeutics, Inc. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved SUSTOL® (granisetron) extended-release injection. SUSTOL is a serotonin-3 (5-HT3) receptor antagonist indicated in combination with other antiemetics in adults for the prevention of acute and delayed nausea and vomiting associated with initial and repeat courses of moderately emetogenic chemotherapy (MEC) or anthracycline and cyclophosphamide (AC) combination chemotherapy regimens.

Coherus BioSciences, Inc. announced submission of the biologics license application (BLA) for CHS-1701, a pegfilgrastim (Neulasta®) biosimilar candidate, to U.S. FDA under the 351(k) pathway.   

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Coherus BioSciences, Inc. reported topline results from an ongoing Phase 3 clinical study of CHS-1420, an adalimumab (Humira®) biosimilar candidate. This study met its primary endpoint demonstrating similarity between CHS-1420 and Humira with respect to percentage of subjects achieving 75% improvement in psoriasis area and severity index (PASI-75) at Week 12. 

Alkermes plc announced that it has submitted a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a two-month dosing interval of ARISTADA® (aripiprazole lauroxil) extended-release injectable suspension for the treatment of schizophrenia.