covid-19
AstraZeneca antibody reduced Covid-19 risk in immunocompromised
From STAT's Jason Mast: AstraZeneca said that a new long-acting antibody reduced immunocompromised patients' risks of contracting symptomatic Covid-19 infections in a large Phase 3 prevention trial.
That could mean a new option for vulnerable individuals — such as certain cancer patients and transplant recipients — who have been awaiting drugs that can provide additional protection since Evusheld, AstraZeneca's previous antibody, was yanked from the market in the face of new variants in early 2023. One new option was already authorized last month.
Still, it's not clear whether the new antibody, sipavibart, will actually reach market. SARS-CoV-2 has evolved since the company began developing the drug and sipavibart is not thought to effectively neutralize variants with a mutation called FL456, which many circulating variants now carry.
The trial had two primary endpoints: Reduction in disease from any variant, and reduction in disease from variants without a FL456 mutation. AstraZeneca said sipavibart met both those endpoints. It has not yet said how sipavibart fares against variants with FL456 mutations. Regulators will likely be keen to know.
Podcast
Live! From STAT Breakthrough Summit West
On this week's "Readout LOUD," we're live in San Francisco at STAT's Breakthrough Summit West. AI is a big theme this year, everywhere, so on that note, we chat with our AI correspondent — and recent Pulitzer finalist — Casey Ross, who sat down on stage to discuss AI-centered drug discovery with both NVIDIA and Google-backed Isomorphic Labs.
We also discuss this week's biotech news, including yet more obesity drug data, this time from Roche, and the closing of Novartis' acquisition of MorphoSys.
Listen here.
ALS
Biogen, Ionis genetic medicine fails in ALS trial
An attempt by Ionis and Biogen to treat non-genetic forms of ALS with an experimental gene-targeting medicine has failed. The companies tested a drug, BIIB105, in a 99-patient trial, but it failed to show improvement in patients — so they are discontinuing further studies.
Only about 10% to 20% of ALS cases are genetic, but some promising preclinical research suggested that silencing the ATXN2 gene might hep any patient who develops ALS, STAT's Jason Mast writes. And while the drug did indeed lower ATXN2 levels in the spinal fluid, it didn't seem to slow the death of patient neurons.
Ionis still has a treatment for FUS-driven ALS, a genetic form of the disease, in Phase 3 study. The NIH is funding efforts to make custom drugs for the extremely rare genetic drivers of ALS.
Read more.
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