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Johnson Johnson Announces Positive Phase 3 Results for ICOTYDE in Psoriatic Arthritis Treatment

Johnson Johnson Announces Positive Phase 3 Results for ICOTYDE in Psoriatic Arthritis Treatment

Johnson & Johnson has announced positive results from a Phase 3 investigational study for its drug ICOTYDE (icotrokinra) in treating biologic-naive adults with active psoriatic arthritis (PsA). The late-breaking data, presented at the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Convergence 2026, showed that 58% of patients treated with ICOTYDE achieved an ACR20 response at Week 16, compared to 41% receiving a placebo. Furthermore, 29% achieved an ACR50 response. ICOTYDE is described as the first and only targeted oral peptide that precisely blocks the IL-23 receptor, a key driver of inflammation in psoriatic diseases. The study also reported significant improvements in skin involvement, with 57% of patients achieving clear or almost clear skin (Investigator's Global Assessment 0/1) and 37% achieving a Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) score of 90, compared to placebo groups. Safety findings were consistent with the established safety profile of ICOTYDE, with no new safety signals identified through Week ...
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Dr. Kevin Winthrop Highlights Environmental Impact on Infectious Diseases and Rheumatology at Global Summit

Dr. Kevin Winthrop Highlights Environmental Impact on Infectious Diseases and Rheumatology at Global Summit

Dr. Kevin Winthrop, Professor of Infectious Diseases, Ophthalmology, and Public Health at Oregon Health & Science University, delivered a keynote address at the Global Rheumatology Summit, part of ACR Convergence 2026. He discussed the evolving landscape of rheumatology in the context of environmental change, specifically focusing on how a warming climate influences infectious disease exposure. Dr. Winthrop highlighted mosquito-borne infections like chikungunya, Zika, and dengue, noting that changing mosquito habitats could lead to increased exposure in previously unaffected regions. He emphasized that chikungunya is particularly concerning for rheumatologists due to its potential to cause persistent inflammatory arthritis, with up to 48% of acute cases leading to arthritis up to six months post-infection, and 5% to 10% developing chronic arthritis, some evolving into rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The discussion also covered the expanding geographic distribution of disease-carrying ticks, contributing to the ...
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Anaheim Bio Secures €40 Million Series A Funding to Advance Arthritis Treatment ANA-1

Anaheim Bio Secures €40 Million Series A Funding to Advance Arthritis Treatment ANA-1

Anaheim Bio Secures €40 Million Series A Funding to Advance Arthritis Treatment ANA-1
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Trialtrove Platform Enhances Clinical Trial Intelligence with AI Integration

Trialtrove Platform Enhances Clinical Trial Intelligence with AI Integration

Trialtrove Platform Enhances Clinical Trial Intelligence with AI Integration
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National Institutes of Health Study Links Anti-Scl-70 Autoantibody Changes to Lung Function Decline in Systemic Sclerosis

National Institutes of Health Study Links Anti-Scl-70 Autoantibody Changes to Lung Function Decline in Systemic Sclerosis

A study led by Dr. Eric W. Robbins, Clinical Fellow at the Critical Care Medicine and Pulmonary Branch of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, has found a significant association between serial quantitative changes in anti-Scl-70 autoantibody levels and subsequent lung function decline in systemic sclerosis (SSc). The research, presented at ACR Convergence 2026, utilized a luciferase immunoprecipitation systems (LIPS) assay to evaluate patients from the multicenter CONQUER registry. The findings indicate that early increases in anti-Scl-70 levels consistently correlated with worsening pulmonary function. This suggests that tracking the trajectory of autoantibody levels over time can provide prognostic information beyond a single baseline measurement, offering a more dynamic understanding of disease progression in SSc patients. The study aims to identify patients at greater risk for future pulmonary worsening by using serial antibody measurements as a dynamic biomark...
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Caldera Therapeutics Reports Positive Phase 1a Data for CLD-423 and Expands Immunology Pipeline

Caldera Therapeutics Reports Positive Phase 1a Data for CLD-423 and Expands Immunology Pipeline

Caldera Therapeutics Reports Positive Phase 1a Data for CLD-423 and Expands Immunology Pipeline
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Precision BioSciences Announces Promising PBGENE-HBV Data for Chronic Hepatitis B Viral Cure

Precision BioSciences Announces Promising PBGENE-HBV Data for Chronic Hepatitis B Viral Cure

Precision BioSciences Announces Promising PBGENE-HBV Data for Chronic Hepatitis B Viral Cure
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Anaheim Bio Launches with €40 Million Series A to Advance ANA-1 for CPPD Disease

Anaheim Bio Launches with €40 Million Series A to Advance ANA-1 for CPPD Disease

Anaheim Bio, a new preclinical-stage biotechnology company, has officially launched with an oversubscribed €40 million Series A financing round. The funding will be used to advance ANA-1, its lead small molecule therapeutic candidate, for the treatment of calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease (CPPD). ANA-1 is designed to directly address the underlying pathology of CPPD by lowering extracellular pyrophosphate (PPi), which is responsible for the crystal deposits that cause the inflammatory arthritis. CPPD primarily affects older adults, causing severe joint pain and swelling, and currently lacks an approved therapy that targets the crystal deposits themselves. Anaheim Bio, spun out of Alesta Therapeutics, is backed by Alesta's former investors, including Droia Ventures, Frazier Life Sciences, RTW Investments, Novartis Venture Fund, RV Invest, and Thuja Capital. The company anticipates ANA-1 will enter clinical trials in 2027, with the Series A financing providing runway into 2028.
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Mondego Bio Initiates First-in-Human Study of MB-388 for Cancer Immunotherapy Resistance

Mondego Bio Initiates First-in-Human Study of MB-388 for Cancer Immunotherapy Resistance

Mondego Bio Initiates First-in-Human Study of MB-388 for Cancer Immunotherapy Resistance
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UCLA Researchers Advance CRISPR Gene-Editing Therapy for Sickle Cell Disease Towards Clinical Trials

UCLA Researchers Advance CRISPR Gene-Editing Therapy for Sickle Cell Disease Towards Clinical Trials

A UCLA-led research team has made significant progress in developing an experimental CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing therapy for sickle cell disease, advancing it to a scale and quality suitable for clinical trials. Sickle cell disease is a genetic blood disorder caused by a single-point mutation in the beta-globin gene, leading to rigid, sickle-shaped red blood cells, blocked blood flow, anemia, and organ failure. The new therapy aims to directly correct this mutation in a patient's own blood-forming stem cells using CRISPR-Cas9 and a nonviral DNA template. In preclinical studies, the researchers established a reproducible manufacturing process capable of handling hundreds of millions of cells, a substantial increase from typical laboratory scales. They demonstrated that red blood cells differentiated from edited stem cells produced less sickle hemoglobin and increased levels of healthy adult and fetal hemoglobin in vitro. Furthermore, edited human cells transplanted into mice showed stable proportions of correc...
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Indapta Therapeutics Presents Positive Clinical Data for IDP-023 in Multiple Myeloma at SITC Annual Meeting

Indapta Therapeutics Presents Positive Clinical Data for IDP-023 in Multiple Myeloma at SITC Annual Meeting

Indapta Therapeutics, a privately held clinical-stage biotechnology company, announced an oral presentation of positive Phase 1 clinical data for its IDP-023 allogeneic g-NK cell therapy. The data, presented at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) 41st Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, showcased the therapy's efficacy and safety in combination with isatuximab for heavily pretreated patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM). Key findings include a 45% overall response rate and a 6.3-month median progression-free survival in daratumumab-refractory patients. Notably, one patient with ultra-high-risk disease and extensive prior treatments achieved a stringent complete response lasting over a year. The treatment was generally well-tolerated, with no dose-limiting toxicities or significant adverse events like cytokine release syndrome.
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Onchilles Pharma Reports Promising Early Clinical Data for N17350, a Personalized Cancer Vaccine Approach

Onchilles Pharma Reports Promising Early Clinical Data for N17350, a Personalized Cancer Vaccine Approach

Onchilles Pharma, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, has reported initial clinical findings from its Phase 1/2 trial (OP-NEU-101) of intratumoral N17350 in patients with advanced solid tumors. The data, presented at the 41st Annual Meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC), suggest that N17350 could effectively turn an injected tumor into a personalized cancer vaccine without requiring tumor sequencing or custom manufacturing. N17350 is an engineered therapeutic elastase derived from a cancer-killing enzyme found in human neutrophils. When injected into a tumor, it selectively kills cancer cells and releases the tumor's own antigens, thereby training the immune system to attack cancer elsewhere in the body. In the first dose cohort, three heavily pretreated patients showed no dose-limiting toxicities. Notably, a patient with Merkel cell carcinoma experienced the disappearance of five non-injected lesions after N17350 was injected into a single lesion, indicating systemic immune activat...