FarmaKology-Researchers identify osteoarthritis 'pain pathway'

Jan 27, 2022

Today's Company

HilleVax, Inc.

HilleVax is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel vaccines. Our initial program, HIL-214, is a virus-like particle (VLP) based vaccine candidate in development for the prevention of moderate-to-severe acute gastroenteritis caused by norovirus infection.

News

Biogen boosts Aduhelm confirmatory trial amid fight for wider Medicare coverage

Biogen Inc. and Eisai Co., Ltd. today announced additional details about the Phase 4 post-marketing confirmatory study, ENVISION, of ADUHELM® (aducanumab-avwa) 100 mg/mL injection for intravenous use in early Alzheimer’s disease, including details of the study’s goal for diverse enrollment and primary endpoint. Biogen aims to enroll 18 percent of U.S. participants in ENVISION from Black/African American and Latinx populations. This goal is reflective of Biogen’s ongoing commitment to increase diversity in clinical trials.

Human Trials for HIV Vaccine Created With mRNA Technology to Begin

IAVI, the nonprofit scientific research organization, and biotechnology company Moderna announced today that first doses have been administered in a clinical trial of experimental HIV vaccine antigens at George Washington University (GWU) School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, D.C. The Phase 1 trial, IAVI G002, is designed to test the hypothesis that sequential administration of priming and boosting HIV immunogens delivered by (mRNA) can induce specific classes of B-cell responses and guide their early maturation toward broadly neutralizing antibody (bnAb) development. The induction of bnAbs is widely considered to be a goal of HIV vaccination, and this is the first step in that process. The immunogens being tested in IAVI G002 were developed by scientific teams at IAVI and Scripps Research and will be delivered via Moderna's mRNA technology.

European Commission Approves Merck’s KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) as Adjuvant Therapy for Certain Patients With Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC) Following Surgery

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced that the European Commission has approved KEYTRUDA, Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy, as monotherapy for the adjuvant treatment of adults with renal cell carcinoma at increased risk of recurrence following nephrectomy, or following nephrectomy and resection of metastatic lesions. This approval is based on results from the Phase 3 KEYNOTE-564 trial, in which KEYTRUDA demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in disease-free survival , reducing the risk of disease recurrence or death by 32% (HR=0.68 [95% CI, 0.53-0.87]; p=0.0010) after a median follow-up of 23.9 months compared to placebo, in patients at increased risk of recurrence (defined in the clinical trial protocol as intermediate-high or high risk following nephrectomy and those with resected advanced disease).

Pfizer Receives CHMP Positive Opinion for Novel COVID-19 Oral Treatment

Pfizer Inc. announced today that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency issued a positive opinion recommending the conditional marketing authorization of Pfizer’s PAXLOVID™ (nirmatrelvir [PF-07321332] tablets and ritonavir tablets) for the treatment of COVID-19 in adults who do not require supplemental oxygen and who are at increased risk for progressing to severe COVID-19.