Sept. 3 Clinical Quick Takes: Phase II failure for Aridis, plus Kura, Idorsia, Concert, PegBio

Aridis discontinuing antibacterial mAb
Aridis Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDS) said AR-105 plus standard of care antibiotics missed the primary endpoint of superiority to antibiotics alone in a Phase II trial to treat ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Aridis will cease developing the human IgG1 mAb against P. aeruginosa and focus on its remaining pipeline, which includes lead candidate AR-301, a mAb against aHL in Phase III for VAP caused by Staphylococcus aureus. Aridis fell $0.78 to $10.90 on Tuesday.

Kura's bladder cancer therapy meets PFS endpoint
Kura Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) said four patients with relapsed or refractory urothelial cancer receiving tipifarnib in a Phase II trial achieved six month progression-free survival, meeting the primary endpoint. Among 13 evaluable patients in the study, which has not yet completed enrollment, the farnesyl transferase inhibitor led to an interim overall response rate of 38%...