TYK2 heats up with Ventyx eyeing mid-stage trials; NexImmune cites competition in pipeline cull

16 Aug 2022
endpts.com
CollaborateCell Therapy
Ventyx said it will begin testing its TYK2 inhibitorTYK2 inhibitor in multiple mid-stage clinical trials before the clock strikes 2023. The news comes just weeks before Bristol Myers Squibb is slated to find out whether it will be the first to secure a TYK2 drug approval, for its moderate to severe psoriasis asset deucravacitinib. With positive results from a healthy volunteer study, the California biotech will soon test VTX958 in patients with psoriasis, Crohn’s disease and psoriatic arthritis. Ulcerative colitis and lupus could also be explored. The oral allosteric inhibitor was “well-tolerated” across all single-ascending and multiple-ascending dose cohorts in a 96-adult Phase I trial, the biotech said. “We believe that our ability to achieve TYK2 target coverage throughout the day at levels typically associated with biologic therapies, may position VTX958 for success in disease indications that are expected to require higher therapeutic doses, such as Crohn’s disease,” CMO and president William Sandborn said in a statement. The TYK2 space also includes a biotech spun out from Pfizer in collaboration with the Vant web of companies, in a venture called Priovant Therapeutics. A Maryland biotech is pausing a Phase I clinical trial because of “recent product approvals” and competition in biopharma. NexImmune said it has put up a yellow light on NEXI-002, the biotech’s clinical study of a patient-derived T cell therapy that was being tested in patients with relapsed refractory multiple myeloma who had been on multiple prior lines of treatment. The biotech isn’t fully shelving the trial, as NexImmune could consider “shifting enrollment to earlier disease” down the road. The company said immune response and “signs of clinical activity” have emerged in the trial. More data from patients already on the study treatment are expected before the year’s end. In the past year and a half, a couple of multiple myeloma treatments have come to market, with approvals for Bristol Myers Squibb’s Abecma and J&J and Legend Biotech’s Carvykti , which has experienced supply challenges . Private equity firm EQT wants to sweep up the shares of Karo Pharma that it doesn’t already own. The PE firm wants more control of the Swedish healthcare company’s future and is willing to pay 60 Swedish Krona, nearly $6, per share, for the approximately 13.6% it doesn’t already own. The deal, done through EQT’s Karo Intressenter operation, will put Karo’s valuation close to 16.4 billion SEK, or about $1.58 billion. EQT partner Erika Henriksson said in a statement that Karo’s road ahead is better suited on the private path, laying out unspecified plans for M&A and a strategy of expanding into new geographies. Karo can accept the offer starting Thursday and has until Sept. 15 to make a decision.
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