Cell and Gene Therapy
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The FDA previously placed two clinical studies on hold, including the Phase III trial in which the liver toxicity occurred. Intellia is working with experts to create a risk management program for nex-z.
Pfizer and Novo Nordisk continue to fight for ownership of obesity startup Metsera; CDER Director George Tidmarsh leaves his position amid an ongoing probe into his “personal conduct”; FDA reverses course on approval requirements for uniQure’s Huntington’s gene therapy; Sarepta’s exon-skipping Duchenne muscular dystrophy drugs fail confirmatory study.
The potential approval of Vertex’s IgAN therapy povetacicept in 2026 comes amid launch headwinds for the company’s non-opioid pain medicine Journavx and gene therapy Casgevy.
With a 100% response rate in a Phase II study, KYV-101 sets a new efficacy bar in generalized myasthenia gravis, according to analysts at William Blair.
The clinical hold comes days after Intellia voluntarily paused enrollment and dosing in the same two studies.
As third-quarter earnings continue to roll out, Novartis makes headlines with the second biggest acquisition of the year; Novartis’ CEO also downplayed the impact of Big Pharma pricing deals with the Trump administration; Regeneron continued the trend of dropping cell therapy assets; BioSpace takes a look at how the FDA is functioning mid-shutdown.
Intellia earlier this year reported a similar grade 4 liver enzyme elevation associated with the gene therapy nexiguran ziclumeran, though analysts at BMO Capital Markets at the time brushed it off as a “non-concern.”
The takeover of its competitor, announced Sunday, could also bring some attention to Dyne Therapeutics, which has a similar RNA-based pipeline in rare muscle diseases.
The cornerstone of the deal is Ixo-vec, an intravitreal gene therapy currently in Phase III development for wet age-related macular degeneration. Eli Lilly made another foray into genetic medicine in June, picking up Verve Therapeutics for up to $1.3 billion.
The discontinued CAR T therapy bbT369 came to Regeneron when the pharma bought all of 2seventy bio’s pipeline assets for $5 million upfront in January 2024.