Erythema Infectiosum

WVE-007 (INHBE GalNAc-siRNA for obesity) is on track to initiate a clinical trial in 1Q 2025; new preclinical data for WVE-007 demonstrate opportunities for monotherapy, for synergistic use with GLP-1s, and for maintenance to avoid rebound weight gain following cessation of GLP-1s Recent proof-of-mechanism data for WVE-006 unlocked Wave’s best-in-class RNA editing capabilities; three new wholly owned RNA editing programs targeting PNPLA3, LDLR and APOB are first-in-class approaches to address significant unmet needs in cardiometabolic diseases Wave plans to have five GalNAc-RNA editing or GalNAc-siRNA programs in the clinic by 2026 Wave’s clinically validated platform continues to lead on the improvement of intracellular delivery using novel chemistry, including PN backbone chemistry modifications CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 30, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (Nasdaq: WVE), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on unlocking the broad potential of RNA medicines to transform human health, today announced updates across its growing pipeline, which were also discussed during the company’s virtual analyst and investor Research Day (link to webcast). Updates included new preclinical data for Wave’s GalNAc-small interfering RNA (siRNA) approach for obesity, WVE-007, which is on track to initiate a clinical trial in the first quarter of 2025. Wave also introduced new, wholly owned GalNAc-RNA editing programs and demonstrated its leadership in oligonucleotide chemistry innovation. “This year, we showed through multiple positive clinical datasets that our leading RNA medicines platform is opening up new possibilities for the treatment of human disease. Next to the clinic will be our WVE-007 program, which reimagines obesity treatment with a mechanism that directly impacts fat cells – particularly visceral fat – and which could be used as monotherapy, add-on to GLP-1s, or for maintenance post-GLP-1 cessation,” said Paul Bolno, MD, MBA, President and Chief Executive Officer at Wave Life Sciences. “Additionally, we are excited to introduce three new programs for mRNA correction and upregulation to treat cardiometabolic diseases with significant unmet needs. These programs have substantial, well-defined patient populations, strong support from human genetics, efficient paths to proof-of-concept in the clinic, and offer the opportunity to meaningfully change health outcomes for millions of people. This truly is an exciting time for Wave and for patients as we unlock new biology and build our high-value and innovative pipeline.” Key Highlights from Today’s Virtual Research Day WVE-007: INHBE GalNAc-siRNA and potential best-in-class obesity therapeutic approaching the clinic WVE-007 is Wave’s GalNAc-siRNA that targets INHBE as a novel approach to treat obesity. The approach is based on human genetics, where individuals who have a protective loss-of-function mutation in the INHBE gene have a healthier cardiometabolic profile, including less unhealthy visceral fat, lower triglycerides, and lower risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.Silencing of INHBE in vivo directly impacts adipocytes (fat cells) and induces lipolysis (fat burning), which is different from GLP-1s’ centrally acting mechanism that involves the digestive system and central nervous system to decrease appetite.New preclinical data in diet induced obese (DIO) mice demonstrate the potential of WVE-007 to be used across the treatment continuum, including as monotherapy, as an add-on to GLP-1s, and for maintenance to prevent weight regain and weight cycling after discontinuing GLP-1s.Wave is on track to initiate a Phase 1 clinical trial for WVE-007 in adults living with overweight or obesity in the first quarter of 2025. The trial is planned to assess safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and Activin E lowering (a biomarker for target engagement), as well as body composition. New GalNAc-RNA editing programs designed to optimally address high-impact cardiometabolic diseases Building on Wave’s recent achievement of the first-ever therapeutic RNA editing with WVE-006 in alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, the company today announced three new, wholly owned RNA editing programs that are on track for candidate selection in 2025. Like WVE-006, these programs leverage GalNAc conjugation and have efficient clinical paths to proof-of-concept. These new programs include: PNPLA3 (mRNA correction): Homozygous PNPLA3-I148M patients are at high risk for a variety of liver diseases and there are more than 9 million impacted individuals in the US and Europe. Wave’s RNA editing approach aims to achieve at least 50% correction to restore the heterozygous phenotype with low risk of liver disease, similar to the approach with WVE-006.LDLR (mRNA upregulation) and APOB (mRNA correction): High unmet needs remain among familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) patients, with approximately half of patients not reaching goal LDL-c levels with available therapies. Wave’s AIMers to upregulate LDLR and correct APOB have potential to be first-in-class treatment approaches for best-in-class effects to reach target LDL-c levels in Heterozygous FH (HeFH) patients. Combined, LDLR and APOB AIMers would address ~1 million HeFH patients in the US and Europe. LDLR upregulation also offers significant expansion opportunities in patients with statin intolerance or prior cardiovascular events (~30 million patients in the US and Europe). Chemistry innovation enhancing intracellular delivery Today, Wave shared data demonstrating how its proprietary chemistry results in marked improvements in five key areas of intracellular delivery: 1) cellular uptake; 2) endosomal release; 3) cellular residency; 4) nuclear uptake; and 5) target engagement.Wave shared how it is using PN variants and modifications to physicochemical properties to achieve best-in-class siRNA silencing and RNA editing in a variety of extrahepatic tissues.Wave also highlighted novel chemistry used in its AIMers, including proprietary N-3-uridine chemistry (N3U), which substantially enhances RNA editing efficiency. This novel chemistry was the subject of a recent Nucleic Acids Research publication. An archived webcast of the event can be accessed by visiting “Investor Events” on the investor relations section of the Wave Life Sciences website: https://ir.wavelifesciences.com/events-publications/events. About Wave Life SciencesWave Life Sciences (Nasdaq: WVE) is a biotechnology company focused on unlocking the broad potential of RNA medicines to transform human health. Wave’s RNA medicines platform, PRISM®, combines multiple modalities, chemistry innovation and deep insights in human genetics to deliver scientific breakthroughs that treat both rare and prevalent disorders. Its toolkit of RNA-targeting modalities includes editing, splicing, RNA interference and antisense silencing, providing Wave with unmatched capabilities for designing and sustainably delivering candidates that optimally address disease biology. Wave’s diversified pipeline includes clinical programs in Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency and Huntington’s disease, as well as a preclinical program in obesity. Driven by the calling to “Reimagine Possible”, Wave is leading the charge toward a world in which human potential is no longer hindered by the burden of disease. Wave is headquartered in Cambridge, MA. For more information on Wave’s science, pipeline and people, please visit www.wavelifesciences.com and follow Wave on X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn. Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements concerning our goals, beliefs, expectations, strategies, objectives and plans, and other statements that are not necessarily based on historical facts, including statements regarding the following, among others: the anticipated initiation, site activation, patient recruitment, patient enrollment, dosing, generation and reporting of data and completion of our clinical trials, including interactions with regulators and any potential registration based on these data, and the timing and announcement of such events; regulatory submissions and timing for regulatory feedback; the protocol, design and endpoints of our clinical trials; the future performance and results of our programs in clinical trials; our expectations with respect to how our clinical data successes to date may predict success for our future therapeutic candidates, future clinical data readouts and further validate of our platform; ongoing and future preclinical activities and programs; the potential of our preclinical data to predict the behavior of our compounds in humans; our identification and expected timing of future product candidates and their therapeutic potential; the anticipated benefits of our therapeutic candidates and pipeline compared to our competitors; patient population estimates related to our therapeutic candidates and the potential addressable market that our therapeutics may address; our ability to design compounds using various modalities and the anticipated benefits of that approach; the breadth and versatility of our PRISM drug discovery and development platform; the expected benefits of our stereopure oligonucleotides compared with stereorandom oligonucleotides; the potential benefits of our RNA editing capability, including our AIMers, compared to others; the benefits of RNA medicines generally; the potential for certain of our programs to be best-in-class or first-in-class; the potential benefits that our “edit-verse” may provide us, including identifying new RNA editing targets; our ability to translate genetic insights into high impact medicines; the status and progress of our programs relative to potential competitors; the progress and potential benefits of our collaborations; ;and the anticipated duration of our cash runway and our ability to fund future operations. The words “may,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “project,” “potential,” “continue,” “target” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Any forward-looking statements in this press release are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of these risks, uncertainties and important factors, including, without limitation, the risks and uncertainties described in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in Wave’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as amended, and in other filings Wave makes with the SEC from time to time. Wave undertakes no obligation to update the information contained in this press release to reflect subsequently occurring events or circumstances. Investor Contact:Kate Rausch+1 617-949-4827krausch@wavelifesci.com Media Contact:Alicia Suter+1 617-949-4817asuter@wavelifesci.com

iStock, NUniverse On its third-quarter earnings call Tuesday, Sage highlighted the launch of its Biogen-partnered postpartum depression drug Zurzuvae but said it will stop pursuing approval for major depressive disorder, which the FDA previously denied. Amid a season of setbacks, Sage Therapeutics reported strong third-quarter growth for its recently approved postpartum depression drug Zurzuvae, while announcing that it will no longer develop the therapy in major depressive disorder. In its Q3 earnings report released Tuesday afternoon, the company also noted a highly anticipated mid-stage readout in Huntington’s disease. Specifically, Sage reported $11 million in third-quarter revenue for Zurzuvae—50% of the net revenue reported by partner Biogen—representing 49% growth from the second quarter of 2024. The biotech’s cash position was slightly less favorable on September 30, 2024, than it was four months prior, with $569 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities compared to $647 million on June 30. Sage was down 6.6% in premarket trading Wednesday, following the Q3 reveal. Sage and Biogen won approval for Zurzuvae in August 2023 as the first pill for postpartum depression (PPD), but the milestone was somewhat overshadowed by the FDA’s rejection of the drug in major depressive disorder (MDD) —a much larger market. On an investor call Tuesday, Sage CEO Barry Greene said Biogen and Sage would not pursue development of Zurzuvae in MDD in the U.S. “based on the significant new investment and time we expect would be needed to conduct the additional studies.” Greene added that Sage is “prioritizing our resources and supporting the PPD patient community.” Sage also announced it would discontinue Zulresso, an older PPD drug, as part of a strategic shift to more fully focus on the commercialization of Zurzuvae. Zulresso will be commercially available until Dec. 31, 2024. Sage executives on the call also highlighted an upcoming Phase II readout for dalzanemdor in Huntington’s disease patients with cognitive impairment. The readout follows a string of recent failures, as Sage reported earlier this month that dalzanemdor missed the primary endpoint in the Phase II LIGHTWAVE study in Alzheimer’s disease on the heels of another Phase II failure in Parkinson’s disease in April 2024. A Sage representative previously told BioSpace that Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s have differences in their underlying pathophysiology and symptomatology that can influence study outcomes. Sage Chief Medical Officer Laura Gault added that the Huntington’s disease patient population is “genetically defined” and younger than those seen in some of dalzanemdor’s previous studies. “That means this population is more homogeneous, has fewer medical comorbidities, and as a consequence, it’s easier to detect a signal in this population.” Sage executives also addressed the recently announced strategic reorganization , in which it will part with over 165 employees. Greene said Tuesday that the decision was intended to strengthen the company’s balance sheet, focus on the Zurzuvae launch and Huntington’s readout, and explore opportunities across its early-stage pipeline. “We believe that this restructuring will right-size Sage for future success,” Greene said.

While Merck & Co. 's infant respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) antibody clesrovimab is nearing approval, sanofi also won approval last year for its RSV prevention drug beyforts in partnership with astrazeneca. This news undoubtedly brings new hope to the global healthcare industry, especially in the field of RSV vaccines. "We would very much welcome having more participants on board because it increases the scale of the competition," Thomas Triomphe, Sanofi's executive vice president for vaccines, said of the upcoming RSV competition during an analyst call on Friday. He stressed that more players mean more innovation and better healthcare solutions, which is good for the industry as a whole and for patients. Triomphe noted that Merck still has more data on clesrovimab after announcing phase 2b/3 clinical results last week. In the meantime, Sanofi remains "very confident" in the Beyfortus numbers it has released so far, he said. He mentioned that the protection data provided by Beyfortus in six months is very encouraging, as the effect has not diminished. "After six months, we were still seeing 83 percent hospitalization efficacy," he said, adding that he believed "the duration of protection from Beyfortus was significantly more favorable compared to clesrovimab." This data suggests that Beyfortus has a significant advantage in preventing RSV infection. In Merck's infant RSV study, clesrovimab successfully reduced RSV-related hospitalizations and RSV-related lower respiratory tract infection hospitalizations by 84 percent and 91 percent, respectively, over five months compared to placebo. This result is impressive and shows the great potential of clesrovimab in preventing RSV infection. At the trial's primary endpoint, clesrovimab reduced the incidence of RSV-related medical lower respiratory tract infections by 60 percent compared to placebo. This data provides further evidence of the effectiveness of clesrovimab in preventing RSV infection. Sanofi Chief Financial Officer franois-xavier Roger noted in a conference call on Friday that the inherent uncertainty of cross-trial comparisons suggested that existing Beyfortus data showed a reduction of about 75 percent in the incidence of lower respiratory tract infections with clesrovimab compared to 60 percent with Clesrovimab. This data further reinforces Beyfortus' advantage in preventing RSV infection. And, whether or not Merck brings clesrovimab into the 2025-2026 RSV season as planned, "2025 will be a year of growth for Beyfortus," the CFO stressed. He is confident that Beyfortus' sales will grow significantly as it gradually gains market share. Since it was approved last July, Beyfortus has gradually built up its sales profile. In the third quarter of 2024, sales of this preventive antibody reached 645 million euros ($699), an increase of 382% compared to the same period in 2023. Overall, sales of the drug have reached 845 million euros since the beginning of the year, which is close to the best-selling threshold. Sanofi said at the time that Beyfortus quickly fell into a supply crunch shortly after going public last year due to "higher than expected demand." To counter this, Sanofi and its partner Astrazeneca have moved quickly to ensure there is no repeat of the supply crunch in 2024. Recently they added a new filling line and shipped antibody doses ahead of the 2024 RSV season. "There are 20 markets and we don't see any capacity constraints," Triumph said on Sanofi's conference call. "We will increase supply next year and the year after to make sure there are no supply constraints." This initiative demonstrates Sanofi's confidence in the future of Beyfortus and its commitment to meeting the needs of the global market. The comments by Sanofi executives came as the French pharmaceutical company reported a 15.7 per cent rise in third-quarter sales. This growth was mainly driven by the excellent performance of its immunology product Dupixent, which brought in sales of nearly 3.5 billion euros (about $3.8 billion), an increase of about 24 percent over the third quarter of 2023. Sanofi confirmed DuPont's full-year sales target of about 13 billion euros. Elsewhere, newly launched drugs rose 67.1 percent to 727 million euros ($787), led by hemophilia drug Altuviiio, Pompeii disease treatment Nexviazyme and Rezurock for graft-versus-host disease. The strong performance of these new drugs further strengthens Sanofi's position in the field of innovative medicines. Meanwhile, Sanofi's consumer health division, Opella, saw revenue rise 7.9 percent. This growth shows that Sanofi is also making significant progress in consumer health. Earlier this week, Sanofi confirmed it had entered exclusive talks with U.S. private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice to sell a controlling 50 percent stake in its consumer healthcare business, which is valued at around 16 billion euros. This move will further strengthen Sanofi's financial strength and provide additional financial support for its future expansion.