Today, a brief rundown of news involving Immunovant and Wave Life Sciences, as well as updates from Pfizer, Takeda Pharmaceutical and the Supreme Court that you may have missed.
An Immunovant drug showed promise in a mid-stage study of people with “difficult-to-treat” rheumatoid arthritis, lifting shares of the company as well as its majority owner, Roivant Sciences. In an earnings release, Immunovant revealed Wednesday that IMVT-1402 was associated with “clinically meaningful” response rates after 16 weeks of treatment. Nearly three-quarters of drug recipients had at least a 20% improvement in symptoms, and more than a third had a 70% improvement. In patients who’d failed multiple other therapies, those numbers are “compelling” and give IMVT-1402 the “potential to become a blockbuster,” wrote Leerink Partners’ David Risinger. Further program updates are expected later this year. — Ben Fidler
Wave Life Sciences this week shared the latest update for its pioneering RNA editing drug for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, or AATD. The results, presented at a major medical meeting on Monday, showed that trial volunteers receiving a single dose or multiple doses produce “therapeutically relevant levels” of a protein their bodies can’t make. Those numbers — anywhere from about 13 to 14 micromolars in blood plasma concentration — surpass a threshold set by regulators and support the potential for monthly dosing. Wave is competing with base editing specialist Beam Therapeutics to bring a new kind of AATD treatment to market. It expects to receive feedback from the Food and Drug Administration regarding an accelerated approval pathway later this year. — Ben Fidler
Pfizer is advancing a 25-valent pneumococcal vaccine into late-stage testing after observing positive results in a Phase 2 trial in infants. The company said Wednesday that the shot produced “strong immune responses” against 25 different types of bacteria causing the disease and is expected to protect against up to 90% of the ones triggering illness in children under 5 years of age. No safety concerns were identified in the study either, Pfizer said. Pfizer began a late-stage study in infants in May. It's also building on its lucrative Prevnar vaccine franchise elsewhere via a candidate for adults that covers 35 serotypes. That shot will enter clinical development by the end of the year. — Delilah Alvarado
A federal jury has found Takeda Pharmaceutical liable in an antitrust case regarding a “pay-for-delay” deal it struck to defer generic competition for its constipation drug Amitiza. The suit arose from an agreement Takeda and former partner Sucampo Pharmaceuticals struck with Par Pharmaceutical in 2014, and that pushed back the launch of a generic competitor of Amitiza until 2021. A group of drug wholesalers and retailers sued, arguing that delay cost them “hundreds of millions of dollars in overcharges.” The jury has awarded them $885 million in damages in the verdict, a figure that would triple to over $2.5 billion under U.S. antitrust law once entered into judgment. Takeda intends to “vigorously pursue post-trial motions and appeal,” it said in a statement. — Ben Fidler
The Supreme Court declined to take up lawsuits from several drugmakers, including AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Novo Nordisk, targeting the Inflation Reduction Act. The court didn’t reveal the reasons for its decision in a summary of orders issued earlier this week. But the setback adds to what’s now a list of failed efforts to challenge the Biden-era legislation, which involves a series of drug pricing provisions that have been carried forward under the Trump administration. Drugmakers have argued those provisions are unconstitutional. — Ben Fidler
