Nov. 18 Company Quick Takes: Eidos spikes on latest amyloidosis readout; plus Janssen, Pfizer, Tricida, BMS-Celgene

Eidos hits new peak on Phase II extension readout in amyloidosis
Eidos Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:EIDX) shares climbed $8.47 (18%) to $55.02, touching an all-time intraday high of $55.25, after the company said results of a Phase II open-label extension trial to treat transthyretin amyloidosis cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) showed AG-10 led to mortality and cardiovascular hospitalization rates that were lower than those seen at a similar time point in the Phase III ATTR-ACT study, which led to the approval of Vyndaqel tafamidis from Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE). At 65 weeks, all-cause mortality was 8.5% and CV hospitalization was 25.5% in Eidos' trial. Eidos, which began Phase III testing of AG-10 in March, finished the day with a market cap above $2 billion. Its majority owner BridgeBio Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ:BBIO), which bid unsuccessfully to reacquire all of Eidos' outstanding shares this year, added $0.81 to $29.07.

Janssen, PRA launch digital clinical trial of Invokana for heart failure
The Janssen Pharmaceutical Cos. of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and PRA Health Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:PRAH) launched CHIEF-HF, a digital clinical trial using wearable devices to evaluate Invokana canagliflozin vs. placebo in about 1,900 patients with preserved or reduced ejection fraction heart failure with or without Type II diabetes. The study, which will be used to support the Phase III clinical program for Invokana, begins as companies are increasingly incorporating digital tools into each step of drug development, from discovery to real-world monitoring in clinical trials (see "Back to School 2019: Rules of the Road for Digital Health")...