July 3 Clinical Quick Takes: GSK starts Phase III otilimab RA program; plus Unum, Xofluza and more

Otilimab triggers milestone for MorphoSys

MorphoSys AG (Xetra:MOR; NASDAQ:MOR) will receive a milestone payment of €22 million ($27.7 million) after partner GlaxoSmithKline plc (LSE:GSK; NYSE:GSK) started the Phase III ContRAst program of otilimab to treat moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis patients who have inadequately responded to disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARD) or targeted therapies. The program, which comprises three trials and a long-term extension study, will include head-to-head comparisons of otilimab against pan-JAK inhibitor Xeljanz tofacitinib and Kevzara sarilumab, a mAb against IL-6. GSK CSO and President of R&D Hal Barron has said the company expects the human HuCAL antibody against GM-CSF (formerly MOR103/GSK3196165) to be a long-term growth driver in 2021-26 (see “GSK’s Near-Term R&D Prospects Include an ADC as it Pivots to Immunology”)...