BioCentury
ARTICLE | Product Development

May 18 Quick Takes: Enanta tumbles after hours after missing RSV endpoint

Plus: House E&C passes user fee bill and updates from Hengrui, Laekna, Prenetics, Enanta and more

May 19, 2022 12:28 AM UTC

Enanta Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ENTA) said it will focus on developing EDP-938 for high-risk RSV groups after top-line data from the RSVP Phase IIb study in adults with community-acquired respiratory syncytial virus did not meet the primary endpoint of clinical symptom reduction and secondary antiviral endpoints. High-risk groups have reduced RSV immunity allowing “a bigger window to realize the full potential of EDP-938,” Enanta said. The N-protein inhibitor did show a significant difference in the number of subjects achieving undetectable RSV RNA at the end of treatment at day five, compared to placebo, the company said. Enanta was off 16% to $38.49 after hours.

Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine Co. Ltd. (Shanghai:600276) is looking to go global through the launch of wholly owned subsidiary Luzsana Biotechnology to co-develop and commercialize Hengrui’s pipeline outside China. The subsidiary will initially develop 11 programs for the U.S., European and Japanese markets. Eight of the programs are in cancer and span from preclinical to Phase III in development. Luzsana will be led by Scott Filosi, CEO of Hengrui USA and Hengrui Europe. The biotech said it will disclose more details about its oncology pipeline at the 2022 annual American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting next month. Hengrui lists 41 programs in its pipeline, with 10 innovative products approved in China. ...