Life Science Snapshot: Predicting Nerve Damage from Breast Cancer Treatment, Acutis’s Zoryve, AbbVie CSO Appointment and Pfizer, Evotec Deal
A look at today’s top life science stories
Predicting Nerve Damage from Breast Cancer Treatment
A common type of breast cancer drug, taxanes, often causes nerve damage. Researchers with Linköping University (Sweden) developed a tool to predict the nerve damage risk for individuals, which could help physicians modify treatment to avoid persistent side effects in people at the greatest risk. They analyzed side effects in patients treated for breast cancer with either docetaxel or paclitaxel (the two most common taxane drugs). The 337 patients, who had passed treatment two to six years earlier, were asked to describe the severity of the nerve damage (peripheral neuropathy). The most common were foot cramps; others included difficulty opening a jar, feet numbness, tingling in the feet and difficulty climbing stairs. They then sequenced the patients’ genes and developed models that link genetic characteristics to various side effects of the taxane treatment. These predictive models (there are two) were able to separate the patients into two clinically relevant groups: a high-risk group and one that was similar to that seen in the normal population.
FDA Approves Acutis’ Zoryve for Atopic Dermatitis
The U.S. FDA approved a label expansion of Arcutis Biotherapeutics’ Zoryve (roflumilast) Cream 0.15% for the treatment of atopic dermatitis in adults and children down to six years of age. The drug is a once-daily, steroid-free cream that offers rapid disease clearance and a significant reduction in itch. Atopic dermatitis is the most common form of eczema, affecting about 9.6 million children and 16.5 million adults in the U.S. The drug is a next-generation topical phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) inhibitor. It has been approved for seborrheic dermatitis and plaque psoriasis.
“Zoryve rapidly improves and controls disease, including itch, the most bothersome reported symptom,” stated Lawrence F. Eichenfield, MD, Professor of Dermatology and Pediatrics and Vice Chair of the Department of Dermatology at UC San Diego School of Medicine and INTEGUMENT study investigator. “In clinical trials, 9 in 10 patients saw some improvement at 4 weeks, with 69% of patients demonstrating a clinically meaningful improvement of at least an EASI-50.” EASI-50 is the Eczema Area and Severity Index, determining an improvement of 50% or greater.
AbbVie Appoints Roopal Thakkar, MD as EVP R&D and Chief Scientific Officer
AbbVie announced that Roopal Thakkar, MD, currently senior VP, Chief Medical Officer of Global Therapeutics, has been appointed to EVP, R&D and Chief Scientific Officer. In this position he will run the company’s global R&D organization of more than 14,000 people. The current SVP CSO, Thomas J. Hudson, MD, will retire from the company. Hudson joined the company in 2016. Thakkar joined Abbott/AbbVie in 2003 as part of the Physician Development Program, moving his way up through various positions.
“I am excited to assume these new responsibilities for the R&D organization at AbbVie,” Thakkar said in a statement. “Our pipeline of more than 90 drugs and device programs presents a significant opportunity to ensure AbbVie’s growth well into the next decade.”
Pfizer and Evotec Partner on Metabolic and Infectious Diseases
Evotech (Hamburg, Germany) and Pfizer (New York) announced a multi-year master research collaboration and option and license deal. Under the deal, the two companies will initially focus on early discovery development research for metabolic and infectious diseases, which will be performed at Evotec’s sites in France. Pfizer will pay for the research and Evotec will be eligible for possible milestones and royalties. At least one of the sites is at Campus Curie in Toulouse, which can handle high-throughput screening, in vitro and in vivo biology, proteomics and metabolomics.