Relacorilant

Today, a brief rundown of news from Novo Nordisk and Terns Pharmaceuticals, as well as updates from Corcept Therapeutics and BioMrieux that you may have missed.Early numbers from Novo Nordisks launch of an oral form of Wegovy continued to outpace expectations. According to analytics shared with Wall Street analysts, about 18,000 prescriptions were written for the week ending Jan. 16, a very strong figure following the roughly 3,000 issued the prior week, wrote Evercore ISIs Umer Raffat. As with the previous total, the number didnt include prescriptions through Novos online service and, notably at least so far, hasnt come at the expense of the injectable Wegovy, Raffat noted. Novo shares ticked up another 2% and have climbed about 20% over the last month. Ben FidlerTerns Pharmaceuticals has amended the licensing deal surrounding its closely watched leukemia drug. According to a regulatory filing made public Thursday, Terns acquired from Chinas Hansoh Pharmaceutical the ability to license the drug, known as TERN-701 and in testing for chronic myeloid leukemia, in territories where Hansoh doesn't have rights. Under the terms of a 2020 deal, Hansoh had to clear other partnering decisions. But for a $1 million upfront payment and a small royalty, Terns can now seek other collaborations “without consent“ from Hansoh, noted Mizuho Securities' Graig Suvannavejh. The move should “clear the way for a potential partnership,“ he added. TERN-701 is seen by some analysts as potentially disrupting the treatment landscape for CML. Ben FidlerCorcept Therapeutics said Thursday that an experimental treatment its developing helped extend survivalin a pivotal trial in ovarian cancer. A regimen involving the drug, relacorilant, and a kind of chemotherapy was associated with a 35% reduction in the risk of death compared to treatment with that chemotherapy alone.Corcept had previously revealed that the treatment met its other main goal in the study by meaningfully improving progression-free survival.The Food and Drug Administration in December rejected an application to approve relacorilant for a kind of hypertension. Its set to make a decision on the drugs use in ovarian cancer by July 11. Corcept shares climbed by double digits Thursday. Delilah AlvaradoFrench firm BioMrieux has acquired all of the rights it didn't own in Accellix, a company that provides quality control assistance and helps speed up the manufacturing of cell therapies. BioMrieux has been collaborating with Accellix since 2020 and, prior to the acquisition, owned 10% of its stock. On Thursday, it agreed to pay 35 million euros, or about $41 million, to buy the rest of the company. The deal puts BioMrieux “at the forefront of innovation and quality control for advanced therapies,“ which include cell and gene therapies, the company said in a statement. Ben Fidler '

Corcept Therapeutics’ share price rose 19% to $43.15 in premarket trading on the back of new relacorilant data.\n Corcept Therapeutics’ relacorilant has improved overall survival (OS) in a phase 3 ovarian cancer study, building on interim data published last year and giving the biotech momentum as it heads into an FDA approval ruling.The study assessed the effect of adding relacorilant, an oral selective glucocorticoid receptor antagonist, to chemotherapy in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. In March, Corcept reported that the combination improved progression-free survival. Interim data showed patients on the combination were living longer, with the 16-month median OS on relacorilant beating the 11.5 months on the control. Corcept confirmed Thursday that the OS advantage held up in the final analysis. In today\'s readout, a median OS of 16 months in the relacorilant arm played off against 11.9 months in the control arm. The difference, which amounted to a 35% reduction in the risk of death, was statistically significant. Having secured the OS win, Corcept can point to hits on both dual primary endpoints as it tries to win approval for relacorilant in the U.S. and the EU. The FDA is set to rule on the biotech’s filing by July 11.Alexander Olawaiye, M.D., a University of Pittsburgh physician and the trial’s principal investigator, said in a statement that relacorilant “is positioned to become a new standard-of-care treatment for patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.” Olawaiye based the prediction on the OS benefit, well-tolerated side effect profile and oral administration. Corcept’s share price rose 19% to $43.15 in premarket trading, going a little way to reverse the losses the stock suffered at the turn of the year. Investors halved the biotech’s share price after it revealed the FDA had rejected a filing for approval of relacorilant in Cushing’s syndrome. At the time, Truist Securities analysts said in a note to investors that their ovarian cancer outlook was unaffected by the setback.Cancer could become an increasingly important part of Corcept’s activities, with the biotech responding to the success of the phase 3 trial by advancing plans to study relacorilant in a range of tumor types. The company’s road map includes phase 2 studies in endometrial, cervical, pancreatic and prostate cancers. Corcept is also working to generate more data in ovarian cancer.