Important news is the news that informs about successful achievements that make a difference in treating life-threatening diseases, chronic diseases and diseases with no available treatments. Sometime you might not have a personal interest in one, or another or even all the mentioned firms in the news. For investors in the biotech sector, however, it is good to know the successful treatments that might be …

News about approvals or insinuations about almost guaranteed future approvals of products that promise improving the management of chronic and life-threatening diseases are always welcomed with enthusiasm. Of course some approvals are more rewarding than others, which has to be assessed by investors. For the patients, however, any improvement, small or phenomenal is always considered good news. Let’s have a look at one of the …

The FDA approved INSIGHTEC firm’s Exablate Neuro system for the non-invasive treatment of essential tremor (ET) in patients who have not responded to medication. Using focused ultrasound waves Exablate Neuro precisely targets and ablates tissue deep within the brain with no incisions or implants. The treatment is done under Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) guidance for real time treatment monitoring. The patient experiences immediate tremor improvement …

JUNO   Juno Therapeutics (JUNO), the CAR T developing firm that aims at revolutionizing cancer treatment has gotten the news we anticipated, but significantly faster than we expected. Indeed, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has removed the clinical hold on the Phase 2 of the ROCKET clinical trial of its CAR T product JCAR015. The trial was conducted in adult patients with relapsed …

AMGEN Repatha is the human monoclonal antibody that blocks a protein called proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9), which binds to PCSK9 and inhibits circulating PCSK9 from binding to the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor (LDLR). The binding  prevents PCSK9-mediated LDLR degradation, permitting LDLR to recycle back to the liver cell surface. By inhibiting the binding of PCSK9 to LDLR, Repatha increases the number of LDLRs …

Juno Therapeutics (JUNO) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has placed a clinical hold on the Phase II clinical trial of JCAR015 in adult patients with relapsed or refractory B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (r/r ALL), known as the “ROCKET” trial. The clinical hold was initiated after patients’ death last week, which followed a recent addition of fludarabine to the pre-conditioning regimen. …

Good news is not always great news that makes a difference. In the drug industry, clinical trial results that demonstrate a drug has fulfilled the requirements of the trials, including the primary and secondary endpoints does not always guarantee that the drug will be successful if and when it hits the market. Experience and follow up on certain firms enables us to see the real …

PsiOxus Therapeutics’ adenovirus product in combination with Opdivo (nivo-lumab) for late-stage cancers.     Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) and PsiOxus Therapeutics (PsiOxus) announced an agreement to evaluate PsiOxus’ drug enadenotucirev, a systemically administered oncolytic adenovirus therapeutic, in combination with Bristol-Myers Squibb’s checkpoint inhibitor opdivo (nivolumab) for a range of tumor types in late-stage cancer patients. Enadenotucirev is designed to have immune stimulating effects while Opdivo is designed …

- Tesaro's (TSRO) drug niraparib significantly improved progression-free survival for patients with ovarian cancer in both cohorts of the phase 3 NOVA trial - The NOVA trial successfully achieved its primary endpoint of PFS in the germline BRCA mutant cohort   - The NOVA trial successfully achieved its primary endpoint of PFS in the germline and non-germline BRCA mutant cohort. PFS endpoint is also achieved in …

The Royal Divorce On Sunday, the next day after the announcement of the British referendum’s results, a turbulence in the stock markets was in the making by professionals who cited all kind of pessimistic likelihoods and negative projections that England divorce will cause havoc, devastating the stock markets for months, and maybe for years to come. On Monday, the markets were, indeed, devastated and the …

GRAFT VERSUS HOST DISEASE (GVHD) INCYTE (INCY) HAS SEVERAL GOOD NEWS. As a matter of fact, Incyte has exciting news coming from innumerable activities strategized by the firm’s dynamic management. The first good news came from the FDA, granting Breakthrough Therapy Designation for Jakafi® (ruxolitinib) for the treatment of patients with acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). There are currently no approved treatments for GVHD. Breakthrough Therapy …

Le CompaGnon Part 2 Wednesday June 22, 2016 From the  American Society of  Clinical  Oncology (ASCO)               Checkpoint inhibitors the CAR T Approach Adoptive cell therapy Oncolytic virus therapy Therapeutic vaccines Cytokines. Le CompaGnon Part 1 dealt with: - The two firms, MERK and BMY, who were the first to get approvals of their checkpoint inhibitors. These two . . . This content is for paid …

Innoviva (INVA) and GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) announced positive results from the pivotal Phase 3 FULFIL study of the Closed Triple combination of fluticasone furoate, umeclidinium, and vilanterol) for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The advancement in the treatment of COPD is obvious as the data demonstratedsuperiority for the Closed Triple combination as compared to the currently marketedSymbicort® Turbohaler® in improving lung function and …

Paratek Pharmaceuticals (PRTK) announced positive results from Phase 3 registration study comparing its once-daily, broad spectrum antibiotic, omadacycline, to linezolid in the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI). The firm’s press release stated that its antibiotic drug met the FDA-specified primary efficacy endpoint of early clinical response. The study has also met the European Medicines Agency (EMA)-specified co-primary efficacy endpoints for …

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals (ARIA) announced the initiation of a New Drug Application (NDA) submission for brigatinib, the firm’s investigational anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitor to the FDA. Earlier than expected, ARIAD is seeking U.S. marketing approval of brigatinib for patients with ALK+ non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who are resistant to crizotinib, which has received Breakthrough Therapy designation from the FDA for for this NSCLC condition …

CELATOR PHARMACEUTICALS Good News That Might Go to JAZZ Pharmaceuticals Celator Pharmaceuticals (CPXX): At the European Hematology Association (EHA) 21st Annual Congress, Celator  presented positive response rate results in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients with the FLT3 (FMS-like tyrosine kinase-3) mutation.   The results came from Phase 3 trial of VYXEOS™ (cytarabine: daunorubicin) Liposome for Injection in patients with high-risk (secondary) acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Data, …

SPARK Spark (NASDAQ: ONCE) is on its way to get an FDA approval of its first gene therapy for a rare genetic condition that causes blindness in children. The firm’s gene therapy product,SPK-RPE65 for inherited retinal dystrophies is designed to be given only once to produce the expected cure. In recent news, Spark is financing through a secondary public offering. The firm plans to use …

Le CompaGnon Part 1 TUESDAY June 14, 2016 The Eternal Market Games Unfortunately, the fabrication and misrepresentation of reality in media articles about member firms of the biotech sector succeeded in devastating promising companies having exceptional technologies and products. The damages went far beyond investors unwarranted losses. The damages were grave as to ruin of many firms. Indeed, many promising firms were forced to declare …

Agenus (AGEN) announced that a lead product candidate is selected under its license and research collaboration with Merck, which is known as MSD outside the United States and Canada. Merck has selected a lead antibody candidate and several backup antibodies, discovered by Agenus, to an undisclosed Merck checkpoint target. Agenus received a $2 million milestone payment from Merck. According to the terms of the agreement, …

Prohost Letter #396 CELEBRATING MEMORIAL DAY - Wish you celebrated the Memorial Day. Memorial Day’s purpose was remembering the people who died while serving in the country’s armed forces. The Memorial Day was initiated as Decoration Day after the Civil War in the year 1868 when the Grand Army of the Republic - an organization of Union Veterans in Illinois established it to decorate the graves …