Top of the morning to you, and a fine one it is. Sunny skies and a crisp breeze are wafting over the Pharmalot campus, where the official mascots are roaming about in search of noshes and amusement. This marks a welcome change from the unusual high winds the day before. So we have decided to celebrate by firing up the coffee kettle to brew another cup of stimulation. Our choice today is an old stand-by: cinnamon hazelnut. As always, you are invited to join us. Now, though, the time has come to get cracking. So please enjoy the latest menu of tidbits assembled for your reading pleasure. We hope your day goes well and, of course, do stay in touch. We enjoy the feedback. …
Acadia Pharmaceuticals disclosed that its approved medicine called Nuplazid failed to improve the social and emotional symptoms of schizophrenia in a late-stage clinical trial, STAT tells us. The negative outcome of the Phase 3 study represents a setback in the company’s efforts to expand the use of Nuplazid into the treatment of schizophrenia. The medicine is currently approved to treat hallucinations and delusions associated with Parkinson’s disease psychosis. The company does not intend to conduct any further clinical trials with Nuplazid. The failure comes after a previous effort to develop Nuplazid for the treatment of major depressive disorder was also unsuccessful.
Pfizer reported that its drug, Adcetris, extended survival in patients with the most common type of lymphoma in a late-stage study, bolstering efforts to expand the use of the treatment gained through its $43 billion purchase of Seagen, Reuters notes. The company last year struck a deal to acquire Seagen and its targeted cancer therapies to reinforce its pipeline in the face of a steep fall in Covid-19 product sales and generic competition for some top-selling drugs. The results could pave the way for the eighth approval for the drug and beef up an oncology portfolio that already has more than 25 approved therapies.
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