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Wave Life Sciences has entered into a research, license and option agreement with Pfizer to investigate developing nucleic acid therapies aimed at silencing the underlying causes of debilitating metabolic diseases. “The collaboration will focus on genetically defined targets and bring together Wave’s proprietary stereopure drug development platform, across antisense and RNAi modalities, along with GalNAc and Pfizer’s hepatic targeting technology for enhanced delivery to the liver,” the companies say.
Azevan Pharmaceuticals says enrollment has been completed in a Phase 2 clinical study of its SRX246, an oral first-in-class vasopressin 1a receptor antagonist, in adults with DSM-5 Intermittent Explosive Disorder. The company says that targeting this receptor, which is widely distributed throughout the brain, is a new mechanism of action for treating the disorder. It expects to report trial results in the second quarter.
Olympus Corporation of the Americas has signed a new distribution agreement with Norgine B.V. and its subsidiary Arc Medical Design by which Olympus becomes the exclusive distributor of Endocuff Vision in the U.S. and Canada. The company says the single-use device has been cleared by FDA to improve visualization for certain endoscopic procedures such as colonoscopies. It is placed on the distal tip of a colonoscope and its unique hinged arms fall flat against the shaft of the scope so that forward advancement is not hindered and during withdrawal, the arms flare out to stabilize the tip, reducing slippage and gently stretching the mucosal surface to allow the physician thorough inspection of the anatomy during the search for polyps, it says.
Pfenex Inc. reported positive top-line bioequivalence data for PF708, a peptide product that the company is developing as a therapeutic equivalent to Forteo through the 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway. CEO Bertrand C. Liang stated that based on feedback from FDA and the positive data, it expects to “satisfy the 505(b)(2) filing requirements with an additional immunogenicity/pharmacokinetic study in subjects with osteoporosis.”
Clinical trial data published online today in Nature Medicine magazine showed that Sanaria’s PfSPZ (Plasmodium falciparum sporozoite) vaccine provided protection against infection with malaria parasites for at least 14 months in subjects who were exposed to Plasmodium falciparum parasites. The trial was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health with additional support from Sanaria, according to the company.