Fountain is using an unbiased data-driven approach to identify compounds that reverse the biological process of aging, and in contrast to the traditional disease hypothesis-driven approach, the company is agnostic to indication.

The FDA cleared an investigational new drug application for CYAD-211, a chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy for the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, according to a press release from the agent’s manufacturer.

Neurodegenerative and other central nervous system disorders are some of the hardest to develop treatments for due to our limited understanding of the brain. But Cerevance developed a new technology capable of profiling neuronal and glial cell populations at depths not previously possible, which is allowing the clinical-stage pharmaceutical company to identify potential drug targets in specific cell types critical to circuits disrupted by disease. By selectively targeting those cell types, the company hopes to develop more effective and safer therapeutics for CNS diseases. PM360 spoke with CEO Brad Margus about the company’s journey and its potential impact on the future of drug development.

Dr. Jordan Dubow, Chief Medical Officer, Avadel Pharmaceuticals, intent on improving drug delivery technology, is focusing on narcolepsy, a disease that causes severe excessive sleepiness and in many cases cataplexy.  While there seems to be a genetic predisposition for narcolepsy, like many neurological diseases, this rare disease is difficult to diagnose with medicines that treat daytime sleepiness and cataplexy episodes presenting significant limitations.  Avadel’s once-nightly FT218 is an extended release long acting version of sodium oxybate that treats both features of the disease and allows patients to get a full night sleep without need for middle of the night dosing.

At the end of April, Immunomedics (Morris Plains, N.J), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) for hard-to-treat cancers, received FDA accelerated approval for its first ADC, Trodelvy (sacituzumab govitecan-hziy). Although COVID-19 was by then in full swing, the company nonetheless pushed ahead with its launch strategy. Thanks to preparations it had begun making in the early days of the encroaching pandemic, it was able to launch Trodelvy within days of the FDA approva