The week in pharma: action, reaction and insight – week to January 26, 2024

By Barbara Obstoj-Cardwell. Editor

New clinical trial data last week saw the shares of USA-based Gilead Sciences fall significantly as the company released disappointing Phase III results on its Trodelvy for lung cancer. Meanwhile, Ionis Pharma announced positive Phase III data on its donidalorsen for the treatment of hereditary angioedema (HAE). On the regulatory front, Legend Biotech announced in a Stock Exchange filing that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is planning to convene an advisory committee meeting to review its cell therapy Carvykti, which is being developed with Johnson & Johnson. Also of note, Dutch firm LAVA Therapeutics attracted positive investor support, with its shares rising 43%, following the news of a research collaboration with US pharma giant Merck & Co to trial its prostate cancer candidate LAVA-1207 in combination with Keytruda.

EVOKE-01 miss disappointing, but differentiation versus competitor evident