Merck has announced a licensing agreement with LaNova Medicines, a Shanghai-based firm, to acquire a novel cancer drug. The deal involves an upfront payment of $588 million, with potential milestone payments reaching up to $2.7 billion. This strategic move aims to strengthen Merck's position in the oncology market.
Tune Therapeutics to Launch HBV Epigenetic Trial
Tune Therapeutics is preparing to commence human trials for its gene-editing-like therapy targeting hepatitis B virus (HBV). The startup has received regulatory clearance for the study, which will be conducted in New Zealand. This follows Precision Biosciences' announcement in October that it would initiate the first-ever trial of a gene editing treatment for HBV in Moldova.
Chronic HBV infection affects over 300 million people globally, and the virus has proven difficult to eradicate due to its ability to form stable DNA loops in liver cells or integrate into human DNA. Tune Therapeutics employs an epigenetic editing approach, using enzymes to suppress or activate genes without breaking the DNA strands. This differs from Precision Biosciences' method, which involves cutting out a sliver of DNA from the liver using a DNA-cutting enzyme.
Amgen Defends Obesity Drug Amid Bone Concerns
Amgen is addressing concerns raised about its obesity drug candidate, MariTide, after a research note highlighted potential safety issues related to bone mineral density loss. The concerns stemmed from data found in hidden tabs of a file attached to a publication of early trial results. Amgen's head of development defended the drug at an investor conference, stating that the data tables referenced were not finalized and had not undergone standard review. The company has requested a correction from the journal to include the finalized data.
According to Amgen, overlapping margins of error between treatment and placebo groups indicated no significant association between MariTide and bone density changes. While some have hypothesized that MariTide may pose a risk to bone density due to its mechanism of blocking receptors of the GIP hormone, Amgen's analysis of genetic data did not find a link between genetic variants associated with reduced GIP receptor activity and bone density reduction or bone diseases.
