Curis announced that the U.S. FDA has granted fast track designation for the development of fimepinostat in patients with relapsed or refractory, or R/R, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, or DLBCL, after two or more lines of systemic therapy. Previously reported results from Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical studies demonstrated that treatment with fimepinostat resulted in a complete or partial response in one out of every four patients with R/R DLBCL with MYC alterations. The median duration of response for all responding patients in these studies was over one year.
Thursday, May 31, 2018
Biogen upped to buy by Canaccord
Biogen upgraded to Buy with $335 price target at Canaccord. As reported previously, Canaccord analyst Sumant Kulkarni upgraded Biogen to Buy from Hold. The analyst said although there are risks that remain, the company’s financial flexibility makes him more positive on the shares. He sees ample business opportunity while the MS and Spinraza dynamics are key variables. Kulkarni likes the current valuation but lowered his price target to $335 from $350 on Biogen to account for a more conservative outlook on revenues
Edwards Lifesciences started at buy by Raymond James
Edwards Lifesciences initiated with an Outperform, target $152 at Raymond James. Raymond James analyst Jayson Bedford initiated Edwards Lifesciences with an Outperform and $152 price target saying it is the dominant player in attractive end markets with favorable competitive dynamics. The analyst expects Edwards’ R&D investment, which is well above peers, to maintain market leadership, for the TAVR market to grow in double-digits, and new product introductions and indication expansion to be near-term drivers of growth. Bedford’s analyst are slightly above consensus and expects modest multiple expansion and mitral progress to drive stock outperformance
Myriad Genetics treatment shows improvement in depression
Myriad Genetics’ wholly-owned subsidiary Assurex Health announced results from the Individualized Medicine: Pharmacogenetics Assessment and Clinical Treatment study highlighted at the 2018 ASCP annual meeting in Miami Beach. The key finding is that patients with depression whose medication selection was guided by the GeneSight Psychotropic genetic test saw improvements in remission, response and symptoms when treated by both primary care physicians and psychiatrists. Additionally, patients treated by primary care physicians exhibited 33% more symptom improvement, 34% increased response and 57% greater remission than those treated by psychiatrists. This study evaluated the clinical utility of the GeneSight test in selecting medications for 2,025 patients with moderate-to-severe major depressive disorder who were enrolled in the IMPACT study. Patients saw a 28% mean reduction in symptoms. Additionally, 26% of patients responded to treatment and 17% achieved remission, which is consistent with previously reported studies
Corcept cut to hold by Stifel after research results
Corcept Therapeutics downgraded to Hold ahead of competitive read outs at Stifel. As previously reported, Stifel analyst Adam Walsh downgraded Corcept Therapeutics (CORT) to Hold from Buy, noting that results are due near-term for both Strongbridge Biopharma’s (SBBP) Recorlev and Novartis’ (NVS) osilodrostat. While he does not have a clear read on the potential for positive outcomes for these candidates, Walsh thinks the impending read outs could create an overhang for Corcept shares, he tells investors. The analyst, who also notes a lack of FDA clarity on the Phase 3 trial design for Corcept’s second-gen Cushing’s candidate relacorilant, keeps a $20 price target on Corcept shares.
Madrigal soars 67% after Phase 2 NASH data, Intercept falls
Shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (MDGL) are soaring after the company announced positive top-line, 36-week results from a Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with biopsy-proven non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. In the trial, MGL-3196 demonstrated statistical significance in the primary endpoint, relative reduction of liver fat on magnetic resonance imaging-estimated proton density fat fraction at 12 weeks and statistically significant results in multiple week 36 endpoints. Shares of Madrigal are up 67%, or $66.57, to $175.00 in premarket trading. Viking Therapeutics (VKTX), which has a thyroid beta agonist in Phase 2 development for the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and hypercholesterolemia, is trading up 38% to $6.86. Intercept Pharmaceuticals (ICPT), which has a competing, and further along than Madrigal’s, drug to treat non-alcoholic steatohepatitis is trading down 6% to $69.01.
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
Divorce is bad for your health
We already know divorce can be bad for your check book and your emotional health. It turns out, it can be bad for your physical health, too.
A new study published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine, an academic journal, suggests people who divorce have a greater likelihood of smoking and lower amounts of physical activity.
Researchers at the University of Arizona studied more than 5,700 people, using the English Longitudinal Study of Aging, a long-term health study of adults over 50 in the U.K. There are seven sets of data in the study, collected every two years, beginning in 2002. Some 900 of the study participants were divorced or separated and had not remarried. The rest were married.
They reported their life satisfaction, their exercise frequency, smoking status and measurements of their lung function and levels of inflammation. Those who were divorced or separated had a 46% greater risk of dying during the study than their counterparts who were still married. (The researchers controlled for factors like gender, health, age and socioeconomic status.)
Why the deterioration in divorcees’ health? Divorced or separated participants, especially women, were less satisfied with life than their married counterparts in the study, the researchers found. That creates an unhealthy and potentially fatal spiral: Lower satisfaction with life was also linked to lower levels of physical activity and lower levels of physical activity is linked to greater risk for an early death.
That said, not all marriages are the same, and it’s important to distinguish between healthy, happy ones and toxic ones, that might be impacting one or both partners’ health negatively, said Jennifer Behnke, a licensed marriage and family therapist based in Juno Beach, Fla. “In a miserable relationship, you’re sitting on the couch, watching TV, feeling that toxicity of resentment and not getting your needs met,” she said.
But this isn’t the first study that has shown a link between divorce and a negative impact on health. A 2009 study from researchers at the University of Chicago and Johns Hopkins University found that divorced or widowed people have 20% more chronic health conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes or cancer, than married people.
Divorced or widowed people also have 23% more mobility limitations than married people, such as trouble climbing stairs or walking one block. People who never married have about the same number of chronic health conditions as married people. But they do report 13% more depressive symptoms and 12% more mobility limitations than people who are married.
Healthier partners might actually help their spouse stay healthier, too, Bourassa said. “If you imagine a husband or wife who doesn’t smoke and their partner does, one might try to influence the other’s behavior. In many ways, when relationships end, we lose that important social control of our health behaviors.”
Still, divorce doesn’t have to lead to poor health outcomes, the researchers of the latest study said. Quality of life can actually improve for people who have ended relationships that are unhealthy for them. In fact, right after a divorce, individuals will often hit the gym even more, as they re-enter the dating world, Behnke said.
“It’s called a ‘revenge body’ for a reason.”
But smoking and exercise could be important factors to watch in divorcees, Bourassa said. “If we know someone who is divorced, maybe we should ask, ‘Are you smoking? Are you getting enough physical activity?’” he said.
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