Rare diseases

After being hit by safety issues and subpar results in another trial, BioMarin’s Phase 3 test of Voxzogo for a rare skeletal disorder called hypochondroplasia showed efficacy “solidly above” what the drug has shown for achondroplasia, which causes dwarfism.
While both Beam Therapeutics and Wave Life Sciences touted notable biomarker benefits for their respective alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency assets, analysts said that Beam might have the efficacy advantage as Wave’s drug hits an efficacy “ceiling.”
Analysts are extremely encouraged by Phase 2 trial results for Relay Therapeutics’ PI3KA inhibitor in treating vascular malformations (VM), prompting the biotech to eye a potential path to accelerated approval.
BioMarin’s investigational therapy failed to elicit clinical improvements in patients with ENPP1 deficiency, while also missing key secondary endpoints of rickets severity and growth.
The FDA has introduced models intended to accelerate rare disease drug development, but recent reversals of guidance from the agency speak to a lack of clarity in its implementation. AI can help focus this process.
Aardvark Therapeutics had previously voluntarily suspended studies of ARD-101—and a related asset called ARD-201—after detecting anomalous echocardiographic readings in healthy volunteers that could indicate reduced heart efficiency.
Shares of REGENXBIO declined 37% on a mixed data readout and other updates from the company’s first quarter earnings call Thursday.
Partner Therapeutics announced last week that the FDA had granted Bizengri a Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher to accelerate drug review.
FDA
The FDA turned away Ebvallo in January, taking issue with the design of the registrational trial. In a recent meeting, however, the agency agreed that the study could in fact support the cell therapy’s approval. The news comes a week after the departure of controversial biologics Director Vinay Prasad.
Catalyst Pharmaceuticals comes with a trio of approved drugs as Angelini Pharma expands its neuroscience offerings.
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