Shuttered, Closed, Halted and Killed: Biopharma Companies End Programs

Biopharmaceutical companies cancel programs all the time. Usually it’s either because of clinical failures—somewhere along the line they’re just not getting positive data, or because of cost-benefit ratios, which is to say, it’s taking longer to get the data they want in a competitive market and throw in the towel because the company’s business analysis finds it wouldn’t be profitable. Sometimes it’s simply a matter of priorities changing—the company acquired or developed assets in one area and just didn’t have the resources to pursue it appropriately.

Here’s a look at some notable programs that have been shuttered so far this year.

1. Roche ends its olesoxime for spinal muscular atrophy program. This broke on June 1. Roche had acquired olesoxime from Trophis for $140 million in 2015, but recently abandoned the drug. “We have had many difficulties in developing this molecule for people with SMA,” Roche stated. “These difficulties have focused on the formulation (the actual liquid preparation of olesoxime), the most appropriate dose to be given and requests from Health Authorities (FDA and EMA) to run a new Phase III study.” The company is still committed to developing a drug for SMA, just not olesoxime. It still has RG7916 in development in collaboration with PTC Therapeutics and SMA Foundation.

2. Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen ended its trials of atabacestat for Alzheimer’s disease. The company indicated that it was shuttering the program because of safety issues, rather than any question about the drug’s efficacy. Patients in the EARLY Phase IIb/III clinical trial with preclinical Alzheimer’s disease, as well as a Phase II long-term safety trial, had elevated liver enzymes. EARLY launched in 2015 and was scheduled to wrap in 2024.

The company stated that “the benefit-risk ratio is no longer favorable to continue development of atabacestat for people who have late-onset preclinical stage Alzheimer’s disease.”

Despite the setback, the company indicated it “continues to maintain a strong commitment to discovery and developing new treatments for this devastating disease.”

3. Prothena Corporation, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, announced in April it had shuttered its NEOD001 program for AL amyloidosis after the failure of its Phase IIb PRONTO study and Phase III VITAL study. Shares dropped 60 percent in premarket trading at the news.

The Phase IIb trial did not meet its primary or secondary endpoints. Prothena then asked an independent data monitoring committee (DMC) to review the futility of the Phase III VITAL trial. The committee recommended discontinuing the VITAL study. As a result, Prothena executives decided to discontinue all development.

“We are deeply disappointed by this outcome, particularly for patients suffering from this devastating disease,” said Gene Kinney, president and chief executive officer of Prothena, in a statement. “We are surprised by the results from these two placebo-controlled studies and will continue to analyze the resulting data to share insights with our collaborators in the scientific, medical and advocacy communities. We thank all of the patients, their families, caregivers, investigators, study staff and our employees. Their participation in and commitment to these studies are indispensable to advancing our shared goal of improving the lives of patients with amyloidosis.”

4. Merck & Co., announced in February it was halting protocol 019, its APECS Phase III clinical trial of verubecestat (MK-8931) in Alzheimer’s disease.

The company indicated that an external Data Monitoring Committee (eDMC) had recommended ending the trial after an interim safety analysis, saying that the likelihood of benefits didn’t outweigh the risks.

“We are disappointed with this outcome, especially given the lack of treatment options for patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease,” said Roger Perlmutter, president, Merck Research Laboratories, in a statement. “We are grateful to the patients and caregivers who participated in this study, and despite this outcome, Merck remains committed to developing novel therapies for the treatment of Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases.”

5. As part of its fourth-quarter earnings report in February, Paris-based Sanofi released a pipeline update, showing it plans to halt several mid-stage drug programs.

Sanofi ended a mid-stage program for isatuximab for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and SAR428926, an anti-LAMP1 ADC for solid tumors. With no explanation, the company ended its next-generation version of Lemtrada, GLD52 (GZ402668) for relapsing multiple sclerosis, and SAR100842, an LPA1 receptor antagonist for systemic sclerosis.

In addition, after a Phase II trial for SAR156597 for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis was finished, they ended the program. SAR156597 is an IL-4/IL-13 antibody. It also shuttered a late-stage program for a vaccine for Clostridium difficile.

6. In January, Pfizer announced it was abandoning research and development into new neuroscience development, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. The company indicated it will continue working on tanezumab, a late-stage drug for pain it is developing with Eli Lilly & Co., as well as Lyrica, for fibromyalgia. It also intends to continue working on developing neurological drugs for rare diseases.

In a statement, Pfizer said, “This was an exercise to re-allocate spend across our portfolio, to focus on those areas where our pipeline, and our scientific expertise, is strongest.”

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Tactile Systems’ Valuation Is ‘Getting Stretched,’ BTIG Says In Downgrade

After doubling in value over the past seven months alone, shares of Tactile Systems Technology Inc TCMD 7.08% are trading at a “stretched” valuation despite expectations for continued growth ahead, according to BTIG.

The Analyst

BTIG’s Sean Lavin downgraded Tactile Systems Technology from Buy to Neutral with no assigned price target.

The Thesis

Tactile Systems, a medical technology company that focuses on treatment of chronic diseases at home, should be able to exceed its own 2018 sales guidance growth of 21-23 percent, Lavinsaid in the Monday downgrade note. Investors should expect the company to deliver future earnings beats, but given the company’s momentum, this is already mostly “expected” at the stock’s current price, the analyst said.

Three concerns exist with Tactile Systems, Lavin said:

• The lack of intellectual property protection on key patents including Flexitouch is “not ideal.”
• Pneumatic compression device companies face minimal barriers to entry given the relatively low tech involved.
• A mid-single digit price erosion is expected and is higher than other medical technology peers.

Nevertheless, the company’s fundamentals remains as strong today as it in the past, and the analyst’s downgrade from a bullish stance is strictly due to valuation concerns, he said. The entire medical technology sector is trading above historical multiples, so investors may want to consider a “disciplined” approach to Tactile Systems’ stock, according to BTIG.

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Genzyme/Sanofi Lemtrada Benefits in MS Maintained at 7 Years

The beneficial effects of treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) with alemtuzumab (Lemtrada, Genzyme/Sanofi) are maintained as far out as 7 years, with significant reductions in brain atrophy even among those who received no additional treatment after the first two courses, results from the latest extension phase data on the drug suggest.

“It is remarkable and encouraging that patients can receive two doses of alemtuzumab 1 year apart and have sustained benefit for 7 or more years,” said Corey C. Ford, MD, a professor of neurology and director of the Multiple Sclerosis Specialty Center at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque,  in commenting on the study to Medscape Medical News.

“That result is similar to observations after autologous stem cell transplant and obviously of great significance for MS patients.”

The findings, presented here at the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) 2018 Annual Meeting, reflect the latest updates on patients 7 years after starting in the phase 3, 2-year CARE-MS II trial of alemtuzumab, a humanized anti-CD52 monoclonal antibody.

Treatment with the intravenous drug includes a course of 12 mg per day for 5 consecutive days, followed by a second course of three doses 12 months later.

In the original CARE-MS I trial of 376 treatment-naive patients with relapsing-remitting MS, alemtuzumab was superior to subcutaneous interferon β-1a in various clinical measures, with 78% of patients in the alemtuzumab group relapse-free after 2 years, compared with only 59% of patients with interferon β-1a.

The CARE-MS II trial, which included 435 patients with relapsing-remitting MS who had an inadequate response to prior therapy, also showed significant improvements in clinical and MRI outcomes compared with interferon β-1a treatment over 2 years.

That trial was followed by a 4-year extension in which patients could receive alemtuzumab retreatment or other disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) as needed for relapse. The durability of the original treatments was demonstrated, with approximately half of patients not requiring further treatment following the first two courses of the drug.

The latest findings reflect the first year of the subsequent five-year TOPAZ study, designed to continue to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the alemtuzumab, with patients given the option of receiving alemtuzumab retreatment 12 or more months apart or any other DMT at any time.

As many as 73% of alemtuzumab recipients from the core CARE-MS II baseline remained through year 1 of TOPAZ (representing year 7 in the full study) and 47% received neither alemtuzumab retreatment nor another DMT through year 7.

Of the 336 patients who entered the TOPAZ trial, 67% showed no MRI disease activity at the end of year 7, 90% had no new gadolinium-enhancing lesions on MRI, 67% had no new or enlarging T2 lesions, and 88% had no new T1 hypointense lesions.

The median annual change in brain volume, as measured by the relative change in brain parenchymal fraction (BPF), from baseline, was –0.62 in the alemtuzumab group at the end of the 2-year CARE II-MS trial, compared with –0.81 in the interferon β-1a group (P = .01).

Changes since then remained low, at less than 0.19% annually (–0.10% in year 3, –0.19% in year 4, –0.07% in year 5, –0.10% in year 6, and –0.14% in year 7).

“We saw not even a 1% change from baseline in terms of brain volume loss over 7 years,” said senior author Daniel Pelletier, MD, from the Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California, Los Angeles, in presenting the results.

“If this isn’t close to normal aging, I don’t know what is.”

In terms of the 40% of patients who did receive one or more additional courses of alemtuzumab but did not receive another DMT, and had at least 12 months of follow-up after the third course, the mean percentage of patients who were free of MRI disease activity increased from 51% before the third course to 63% 12 months after (P = .001). This percentage remained increased, at 69% 24 months after the third course and 61% at 36 months.

Pelletier noted that in addition to brain volume loss, preliminary imaging data from pilot studies suggest further neuroprotective effects with alemtuzumab, including significant increases in retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness in patients with or without optic neuritis and maintenance of RNFL thickness in patients without optic neuritis.

In addition, an increase in myelin water fraction in normal white matter and lesions, suggesting remyelination, has also been observed, and patients have shown a stabilization of magnetization transfer ratio, which is a measure of tissue structural integrity in normal-appearing gray and white matter and lesions, Pelletier explained.

“These findings, along with improved clinical outcomes, suggest alemtuzumab may provide a unique treatment approach for relapsing-remitting MS patients, remaining efficacious in the absence of continuous treatment,” Pelletier said.

A separate analysis of the findings of the CARE-MS II trial through year 7 (year 1 of TOPAZ) further showed an annualized relapse rate of just 0.14, and 51% of patients were relapse-free from year 3 to year 7.

As many as 73% of core patients had Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) scores that were improved or stable at year 7 compared with baseline, with 22% improved and 51% stable, with a mean change in EDSS score from baseline of 0.17.

Nearly 70% of patients at year 7 were free of 6-month confirmed disability worsening, while 44% had 6-month confirmed disability improvement.

In 60% of patients, there was no evidence of disease activity in year 7 and as many as 88% did not receive another DMT following their initial two courses.

Ford, in further commenting on the research, noted that an important caveat is the risk for secondary autoimmune dysfunction affecting the thyroid, platelets, and kidneys.

The study did show an incidence of thyroid-related adverse events reaching the highest point in year 3 (17%); however, the incidence subsequently declined.

As recently reported by Medscape Medical News, new reports of potentially life-threatening adverse events associated with alemtuzumab, published in March, include eight cases of acute acalculous cholecystitis, two cases of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, and one occurrence of acute coronary syndrome.

An accompanying editorial, published at that time along with the three papers in Neurology, noted that other rare adverse reactions have also emerged in postmarketing reports on the drug.

Ford commented that such potential adverse events need to be taken seriously and weighed carefully against the potential benefits for individual patients.

“More efficacious disease-modifying therapies often have more serious potential toxicities or adverse events,” he said.

“That is always a concern in a disease much more likely to cause disability rather than shorten life. For that reason, a patient’s risk tolerance must be balanced against disease severity and their prognosis for disability.

“There are effective drugs with risk benefit profiles that virtually preclude their use, for example mitoxantrone. For a lifelong disease like MS, the right DMT is ideally both effective and safe.”

The study received support from Sanofi and Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals. Pelletier’s disclosures include relationships with Biogen, Merck Serono, Novartis, Roche, and Sanofi (consulting and/or speaking fees, grant/research support). Corey Ford has received research funding from Genentech/Roche and Genzyme/Sanofi Aventis but has not done any recent consulting work with either and is not on any speaker’s bureaus.

Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) 2018 Annual Meeting. Abstracts DX65 and DX07. Presented June 1, 2018.

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Specific Viruses Tied to Asthma Treatment Failure in Kids

Children with moderate to severe asthma exacerbations who are also infected with respiratory viruses, and especially respiratory syncytial virus, influenza, and parainfluenza, are at increased risk of not responding to asthma treatments, according to results published online today in Pediatrics.

The results come from the largest study of its kind and suggest children with moderate to severe asthma exacerbations may need a different workup and more intense management.

About 60% to 80% of asthma exacerbations are triggered by respiratory pathogens, but until now, researchers haven’t known exactly which pathogens cause the problem.

“This is the first time we’ve been able to disentangle the risk of non-response to asthma treatment with the presence of specific viruses — specifically, influenza and rhinovirus. The more than 20-per-cent higher absolute risk of treatment failure in flu cases is very significant,” senior author Caroline Quach, MD, said in a press release. Quach is chair of the Quebec Immunization Committee, chair of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization of the Public Health Agency of Canada, and affiliated with McGill University and the University of Montreal.

The results also highlight the importance of prevention, using the influenza vaccine. The authors encouraged easy access to vaccination at the point of care in asthma, respiratory, and general pediatric clinics.

“These kids should get their flu shot and they should get it systematically — it’s worth it,” study coauthor Francine Ducharme, MD, from the University of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, said in the news release.

“We now know that if these kids get the flu the risks are very high that emergency treatment for an asthma attack will fail,” she added. “Instead of having an overall 17-per-cent risk of treatment failure, with flu their risk rises to almost 40 per cent.”

To evaluate the effect of respiratory viruses on asthma exacerbation severity and treatment, researchers analyzed data from the DOORWAY (Determinants of Oral Corticosteroid Responsiveness in Wheezing Asthmatic Youth) study. DOORWAY was designed to evaluate treatment failure after standard therapy with inhaled bronchodilators and systemic corticosteroids. The trial enrolled 958 children with moderate to severe asthma exacerbations, who were seen at one of five Canadian emergency departments between 2011 and 2013.

During the study, researchers tested nasopharyngeal fluids for the presence of respiratory viruses and atypical bacteria and measured asthma exacerbation severity using the standardized Pediatric Respiratory Assessment Measure. Treatment failure was defined as hospital admission, emergency department stay longer than 8 hours, or asthma relapse.

Overall, 61.7% of children tested positive for at least one respiratory virus, with rhinovirus most prevalent, and 16.9% of children experienced treatment failure.

Testing positive for any respiratory pathogens was not linked to more severe asthma exacerbations. However, children who tested positive had an 8.2% absolute higher risk for treatment failure compared with children with negative tests (20.7% vs 12.5%; 95% CI, 3.3% – 13.1%).

Among children infected with nonrhinovirus pathogens, the absolute risk for treatment failure was 25.4% (95% CI, 19.8% – 31.0%), which was a 13.1% adjusted risk difference compared with those with no pathogen infection.

By specific viral type, the risk for treatment failure was 21.4% (95% CI, 14.1% – 28.7%) for respiratory syncytial virus, 37.5% (95% CI, 17.8% – 57.2%) for influenza, and 46.7% (95% CI, 20.4% – 73.0%) for parainfluenza. The adjusted risk differences for each virus were 8.8% for respiratory syncytial virus, 24.9% for influenza, and 34.1% for parainfluenza.

In contrast, children who tested positive for rhinovirus, which causes the common cold, were not at increased risk for treatment failure.

The study did not include children with mild asthma exacerbations, so results may not necessarily apply to less severe cases.

The study was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. One or more authors reports donations, grants, and/or advisory board membership from one or more of the following: Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck Canada, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Merck, Sanofi Regeneron, AstraZeneca, Sage Products LLC, and AbbVie.

Pediatrics. 2018;142(1):e20174105. Full text

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Cannabis Showing Promise for IBD

Cannabis could be considered to treat inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), investigators said here over the weekend, but the limited evidence on the plant’s efficacy and potential adverse effects necessitates much more research before cannabis becomes a mainstream medicine got IBD.

In addition, a preliminary study showed that consuming cannabis for 8 weeks helped ulcerative colitis (UC) patients.

Speaking at Digestive Disease Week, Mark Silverberg, MD, PhD, of Sinai Health System in Toronto, led a review of evidence on cannabis and IBD, concluding that “when you have exhausted other treatments, it isn’t unreasonable” to try cannabis.

But cannabis can yield adverse effects, he cautioned, especially when consumed by children and adolescents: “It’s not a completely harmless substance.

“It is not clear if cannabis can be used to induce remission in IBD. Further research is warranted to determine if cannabis can be used as an adjunctive therapy to treat symptoms such as nausea, pain, and anorexia,” and to examine the long-term effects.

Right now “we don’t fully understand the endocannabinoid system,” Silverberg said, so it is difficult to manipulate the system with cannabis.

Regarding available evidence, he noted that only three studies have been published to date about cannabis and Crohn’s disease (CD), and one on cannabis and UC. Researchers conducting the CD studies found a higher clinical response rate in the cannabis group, compared with a placebo group, after 8 weeks. There was no difference in clinical remission rates and there was a higher rate of adverse events among cannabis patients. He added that regarding the UC study, the researchers did not divulge any clinical differences after 10 weeks and also recorded more adverse events among cannabis patients.

Silverberg said that cannabis could be an alternative to narcotic medications for IBD patients. In addition, panelists noted after Silverberg’s presentation, cannabis has not caused some of the caustic side effects that narcotics have.

Silverberg said that practitioners should ask themselves if they are aiding their patients: “Are we providing patients what they want? If not, that’s the reason they are seeking out” cannabis independently.

He also cited the following as reasons justifying the use of cannabis to treat IBD:

• There is significant morbidity in young patients with systemic and local symptoms
• Current therapies are effective, but require immune suppression and are often accompanied by adverse events
• A “substantial number” of patients have a desire for complementary and alternative treatments
• There is “ubiquitous” use of cannabis — about one-half of IBD patients use it in some areas, he said
• Cannabis is often applied to reduce abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, and anorexia symptoms

Also at DDW, Timna Naftali, MD, of Meir General Hospital and Tel Aviv University in Israel, presented preliminary results of her group’s randomized placebo-controlled trial on cannabis and patients with “moderately active” UC. The researchers divided 28 UC patients who did not respond to conventional medical treatment into placebo and control groups (receiving twice-daily “cigarettes” featuring 0.5 g of cannabis, or about 11.5 mg of THC), and assessed the Disease Activity Index (DAI), Mayo endoscopic scores, and laboratory parameters before and after 8 weeks of treatment.

The control group reported significantly better changes in DAI and Mayo endoscopic scores than the placebo group did. Control patients also reported significantly better improvements in appetite, behavioral change, pain relief, and general satisfaction; placebo respondents reported significantly better improvement in sleep. The laboratory parameters, however, did not improve.

There were no “serious” side effects, the researchers reported, although they did observe statistically insignificant differences in memory decline and dizziness.

The study included 17 males, with a mean age of 33. Patients did not change other medication regimens during the study period.

“Tetrahydrocannabinol-rich cannabis is safe and can induce clinical as well as endoscopic improvement in moderately active UC,” the team concluded.

The study launched in 2010 and just finished, Naftali told MedPage Today, which demonstrates the amount of time it can take to perform the human studies needed to examine cannabis’ potential as a treatment for digestive diseases. She pointed out that numerous animal studies have been conducted, but human studies have been severely lacking.

The results “didn’t surprise me,” she said, explaining that she started the study because she had several patients who were already self-medicating with cannabis and figured she may as well examine it.

She said she hopes the results will fuel future research into medical cannabis for IBD. “It’s not a magic bullet, but it certainly does have an effect, and I think should be explored further.”

• Primary Source

  Digestive Disease Week

  Source Reference: Naftali T, et al “Cannabis induces clinical and endoscopic improvement in moderately active ulcerative colitis” DDW 2018; Abstract Sa1744.

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#ASCO18: Don’t write off IDO yet, says NewLink

At last year’s ASCO, IDO inhibitors were being hailed as the next big thing in cancer immunotherapy, but a series of trial setbacks took that optimism down a notch. Now, armed with new data on its lead IDO drug indoximod, NewLink Genetics insists there is still hope for the class.

Today, the company revealed data from a single-arm phase 2 trial of indoximod given alongside checkpoint inhibitor drugs in 102 patients with advanced melanoma, suggesting that the combination achieved an overall response rate of 56%, with 19% of patients achieving a complete response. The median progression-free survival was greater than one year.

Out of the total group, 70 patients were treated with indoximod alongside Merck & Co’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab), with a small number also receiving Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Opdivo (nivolumab) and Yervoy (ipilumumab).

It’s a welcome bit of positive news for NewLink, which has been one of the pathfinders for the IDO inhibitor class. It saw enthusiasm wane however, after a failed phase 3 trial of rival Incyte’s candidate epacadostat paired with Merck & Co’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab)—as well as negative data from other studies including a breast cancer trial with indoximod—was followed by the shuttering of IDO programs at Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb, among others. It also cost NewLink a $1 billion partnership with Roche on indoximod follow-up navoximod.

While the run of bad news prompted a rethink at NewLink, which is in the midst of a review of all its clinical programs, it would be premature to write off IDO as target, the firm’s chief medical officer Eugene Kennedy, M.D., tells FierceBiotech from the side-lines at ASCO.

The results of the new melanoma trial as well as earlier data in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and diffused intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), a form of brain cancer, are all cause for optimism about the program, he suggested.

“A sizable amount of data has been generated over approximately 20 years describing the central role of the IDO pathway in immune response,” according to Kennedy. “We continue to believe that indoximod, with its unique mechanism of action, may show efficacy in multiple combination therapies across a broad range of cancer indications.”

So what makes indoximod different? According to NewLink, it’s because the drug has a mechanism of action that differs from direct enzymatic inhibitors—a group that includes epacadostat—and may explain its efficacy where other drugs have failed.

“Our work on the MOA of indoximod presented at AACR 2018 suggests indoximod mimics tryptophan, causing the immune cells to sense a normal level of tryptophan and remain active,” said Kennedy. “In so doing, indoximod increases the proliferation of effector T cells, appears to re-program the regulatory T-cells towards helper T-cells, and, finally, downregulates the IDO expression in dendritic cells—activity not seen in the presence of direct IDO inhibitors.”

Kennedy said it is notable that there was a lower percentage of PD-L1 positive patients in the trial, and higher response rates in the PD-L1 negative cohort, than those seen in trials with direct enzymatic inhibitors for patients with advanced melanoma.

Looking ahead, he says the next data read-out will be an update on the phase 1b study of indoximod in combination with radiation and maintenance chemotherapy for pediatric patients with DIPG at ISPNO in July. It will also be presenting updated data from its phase 1b/2 study of indoximod plus standard-of-care chemotherapy for patients with AML at a medical conference at the end of 2018.

“NewLink has generated data in a number of clinical trials suggesting an improvement in response rates and patient outcomes when indoximod is administered in combination with multiple treatment regimens across a number of cancer indications thus far, including PD-1 inhibitors, chemotherapy, and radiation,” according to Kennedy.

“We believe that indoximod’s mechanism may be a contributing factor to the differentiated outcomes of cancer patients.”

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Sony Micronics Gets FDA Clearance for MDx System, E. Coli Test

Sony subsidiary Micronics announced today that its PanNAT microfluidic molecular diagnostics system and related test for Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) have received US Food and Drug Administration clearance.

PanNAT is a fully automated PCR-based instrument designed to run single and multiplexed nucleic acid amplification cartridges, providing results within an hour without the need for sample preparation. Micronics noted that the battery powered, benchtop-sized platform is designed for use in a diverse range of centralized laboratories.

The STEC test cartridge simultaneously detects and differentiates the stx1 and stx2 Shiga toxins and E.coli O157.

Micronics said the STEC test is its first to receive FDA clearance. CE marking for both the test and PanNAT system is planned, the company added, although it provided no timeframe.

“Micronics believes that the PanNAT system is poised to take advantage of the expanding use of low to medium multiplex assays for timely diagnosis across a diverse group of customers, while also being responsive to the reimbursement environment,” Micronics President Karen Hedine said in a statement.

Sony acquired Micronics in 2011.

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