What Everyone Wants to Hear from ASCO The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting is ongoing. What the oncologists, the analysts, the researchers and investors and other interested observers are anxious to hear this year is mostly about the improvements in the immune-oncology approaches. The Oncologists Want to Hear About: Up-to-date information from clinical trials on immunotherapies in order to practice the safest and …

Praluent's Approval Is a Big Deal The approval of the Regeneron / Sanofi supplemental biological license application (sBLA) aimed at updating Praluent’s (alirocumab) prescribing information is, indeed, a big deal. Proven life-saving benefits are confirmed. Comprising reducing the overall risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), i.e., heart attack, ischemic stroke, death from coronary heart disease and unstable angina requiring hospitalization, would change the lives of …

News We Loved to Hear  The First and Only Approval of a Specific Product for Postpartum Depression ZULRESSOTM The FDA granted approval of Sage Therapeutics’ (SAGE) ZULRESSOTM (brexanolone) injection. A product for the treatment of the condition known as postpartum depression (PPD). This makes Zulresso the first and only medicine specifically approved by the FDA to treat PPD; the most common medical complication of childbirth. The product …

The Week in Review #32 POSITIVE NEWS PROTEOSTASIS THERAPEUTICS Cystic Fibrosis Two days ago, a clinical-­stage small firm called Proteostasis Therapeutics (PTI) announced positive preliminary results from ongoing Phase 1 cystic fibrosis studies. The trial involved the firm’s proprietary combination therapy doublet, PTI-­808 + PTI-­801...

In two pivotal Phase 3 placebo-controlled trials Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’ (REGN) and Sanofi’s (SNY) drug, Dupixent® (dupilumab), demonstrated a significant reduction in nasal polyp size, nasal congestion’s severity and the need for systemic corticosteroids and/or surgery. Both trials were evaluating Dupixent® (dupilumab) in adults with inadequately-controlled chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP). They both met met all their primary and secondary endpoints. Dupixent is a monoclonal antibody designed to …

What Do We Make of the Following Good News? HERON THERAPEUTICS Will HTX-011 Help in the War Against Opioids?  Heron Therapeutics (HRTX), a commercial-stage biotechnology company announced positive results from its completed Phase 3 studies of the investigational agent HTX-011 in people undergoing bunionectomy and hernia repair. HTX-011 is described as the first and only long-acting local anesthetic to demonstrate in Phase 3 studies significantly reduced pain …

Regeneron’s (REGN) pipeline products have still a lot of good news to announce. The latest is about its product Dupixant (dupilumab) which has already been FDA approved for atopic dermatitis. Now, there are reasons to believe that this drug could be also approved as an add-on maintenance for people with moderate to severe Asthma. The news has come from both Regeneron and its partner Sanofi (SNY), stating that …

Prohost Letter #405 Synthetic Biology (3) We have already decided upon becoming shareholders the day synthetic biology firm called Synthetic Genomics turns public. We reiterate that firms specialized in synthetic biology are numerous private and publicly traded. Some are promising, others are walking in place and a few have plummeted. With the general underperformance of synthetic biology stocks, many shareholders abandoned ship. Investors felt that …

Today we have good news and bad news. The good news is coming from Regeneron (REGN)through two sources: The first is the European Medicines Agency accepting Regeneron’s and Sanofi’s (SNY) Filing for the approval of Dupixent (dupilumab) for moderate to severe atopic dermatitis. A probable second source could be the bad news about the failure of Ophthotech’s (OPHT) drug Fovista® combo with Lucentis in demonstrating superiority …

Regeneron (REGN) and Sanofi informed that the FDA has issued a Complete Response Letter (CRL) regarding the Biologics License Application (BLA) for sarilumab. The drug  is an investigational interleukin-6 receptor (IL-6R) antibody for adult patients with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Nothing in the CRL contents insinuates that sarilumab is not safe, or not effective, or that the clinical trial data were not …

News about investigational drugs, which are expected to make big differences in the lives of people with chronic diseases and deadly diseases does not always materialize. Predicting drugs becoming breakthroughs has proven extremely difficult in the early phases of drugs’ development. Some products keep doing well, going from the preclinical testing into several phases of trials then all of a sudden they unexpectedly fail. They …

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 …

Medivation is a Target for Acquisition The Question is: Who Will Acquire Medivation? Sanofi has made a bid to acquire Medivation for $9.3 billion (£6.37B). Sanofi is expected to pay $52.50 per share in cash for Medivation. Why Medivation? Sanofi's chief executive Olivier Brandicourt said, "Thanks to Medivation's excellent prostate cancer treatments, we believe that a merger with Medivation would benefit patients and, at the same time, create value …

Prohost Letter #394 Part 1 Gilead - Some people sold Gilead’s (GILD) stock on Wednesday, March 23 after news announced on Tuesday that a jury decided that Gilead has infringed on two HCV molecules patents that Ionis (IONS), formerly Isis, and Merck had secured from their research. Ionis CEO said in a press release that his firm and Merck used their expertise during their collaboration in …

Prohost Letter #378 Part 2 2015 ASCO ANNUAL MEETING What a Big Revolution in Oncology! The ASCO meeting projected the huge advancement in the understanding, diagnosing and treating cancer. What looked as if a sudden explosion has brought in the big change, the change was, in fact a slow, deep-rooted evolution, built up over a long period of trial and error with the failures constituting …