Miragen Therapeutics price target raised to $19 from $13 at Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer analyst Leah Rush Cann raised her price target fro Miragen Therapeutics to $19 from $13 to account for an increased average forward price-to-sales multiple of the biotechnology sector. The analyst reiterates an Outperform rating on the shares
Monday, July 9, 2018
Mirati target upped by Oppco
Mirati Therapeutics price target raised to $62 from $35 at Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer analyst Leah Rush Cann raised her price target for Mirati Therapeutics to $62 from $35 to account for an increased average forward price-to-sales multiple of the biotechnology sector. The analyst reiterates an Outperform rating on the shares.
Catabasis plans Phase 3 Duchenne trial
Catabasis Pharmaceuticals announced plans for the Phase 3 POLARIS DMD trial with edasalonexent in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, or DMD. Catabasis plans to initiate the global POLARIS DMD trial in the second half of 2018 with top-line results expected in Q2 of 2020. The POLARIS DMD trial will evaluate the efficacy and safety of edasalonexent in patients with DMD and is intended to support an application for commercial registration of edasalonexent. The trial design was informed by discussions with the FDA as well as input from treating physicians and families of boys affected by Duchenne. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled POLARIS DMD trial has many key elements in common with the Phase 2 MoveDMD trial, including the patient population and functional endpoints. Catabasis anticipates enrolling approximately 125 patients between the ages of 4 and 7 regardless of mutation type who have not been on steroids for at least 6 months. Boys on a stable dose of eteplirsen may be eligible to enroll. The primary efficacy endpoint will be change in the North Star Ambulatory Assessment score after 12 months of treatment with edasalonexent compared to placebo. Key secondary endpoints are planned to include the age-appropriate timed function tests time to stand, 4-stair climb and 10-meter walk/run. Assessments of growth, cardiac and bone health are also planned to be included. Two boys will receive edasalonexent for every boy that receives placebo and after 12 months, all boys are expected to receive edasalonexent in an open-label extension
Biogen target hiked by Jefferies
Biogen price target raised to $400 from $300 at Jefferies. Jefferies analyst Michael Yee raised his price target for Biogen to $400 following the positive Phase II Alzheimer’s data for BAN-2401. After Friday’s rally, the question is whether there is significant incoming moneyflow above and beyond peers as well and what’s risk/reward into the presentation of BAN-2401 data now, Yee tells investors in a research note. The analyst keeps a Hold rating on Biogen shares after analyzing the bull/bear setup for 2018.
Sunday, July 8, 2018
IT Solutions for Easier EHRs Save Physicians Time, Burnout
Yale Medicine is effectively targeting electronic health record (EHR) use and functionality as a way to improve physician job satisfaction and reduce burnout, according to an article published in the American Medical Association’s AMA Wire.
EHR inefficiencies were making physicians unhappy and adding extra work hours, including bringing home work at night and on weekends. A series of discussions with leadership led to implementation of information technology (IT) solutions that would address physician burnout and improve the user experience with EHRs.
Three IT solutions are enabling Yale Medicine physicians to save hours of time. First, easier login identification, using badges to tap in and out of the EHR system throughout a shift, eliminates repetitive typing of the physician’s username and password. Physicians now just do a one-time login at the start of their shift, which saves physicians between six and 20 minutes daily by eliminating 20 to 140 logins per physician per day. Additionally, Yale Medicine implemented speech recognition for physicians. Voice-recognition software that connects directly to EHRs has reduced the time it takes physicians to complete and close encounters by 50 percent. The average time to close an encounter is down by eight hours a week. The third major IT initiative is an ongoing pilot using virtual scribes.
“One of the things we realized is that there is still a limitation to the keyboard-and-mouse user interface,” Allen Hsiao, M.D., the chief medical information officer at Yale, said in the article. “Anything we can do to tackle that can make a big difference and help take clicks away for physicians to complete their work.”
850M worldwide have kidney disease
Kidney disease is a “hidden epidemic” affecting more than 850 million people worldwide, renal experts say.
That’s twice the number of diabetics (422 million) and more than 20 times the number of people with cancer (42 million) or HIV/AIDS (36.7 million).
But most people don’t realize that kidney disease is a major health issue.
“It is high time to put the global spread of kidney diseases into focus,” said David Harris and Adeera Levin of the International Society of Nephrology. Harris is the group’s president and Levin is past president.
They noted that kidney diseases often cause no early symptoms. And many people aren’t aware of their increased risk for heart problems, infections, hospitalization and kidney failure.
Chronic kidney diseases (ones lasting more than three months) affect 10 percent of men and nearly 12 percent of women around the world. Up to 10.5 million people need dialysis or a kidney transplant, but many don’t receive these lifesaving treatments due to cost or lack of resources.
In addition, more than 13 million people suffer acute kidney injury. Some will go on to develop chronic kidney disease or kidney failure.
“Using all these sources of data, and existing estimates of acute and chronic kidney diseases, we estimate approximately 850 million kidney patients — a number which surely signifies an ‘epidemic’ worldwide,” Levin said.
Kidneys remove waste products and help balance the volume of fluids and minerals in the body. They also produce a hormone that tells the body to make red blood cells, the researchers explained.
Even if many patients with damaged kidney function don’t feel ill, they’re at high risk for other health problems, said Carmine Zoccali, president of the European Renal Association — European Dialysis and Transplant Association.
Heart disease deaths due to chronic kidney disease are high — 1.2 million cardiovascular deaths were attributed to kidney disease in 2013.
“The number of people with kidney diseases is alarmingly high, but the public is not aware of this reality. These patients have outcomes and kidney diseases impose a heavy financial burden on health care budgets,” said Mark Okusa, president of the American Society of Nephrology.
The annual per-patient cost of dialysis is $88,195 in the United States, he said in a ASN news release.
More information
The National Kidney Foundation has more on kidney disease.
Prana preclinical data set for Parkinson’s conference
Prana Biotechnology Ltd (ASX PBT: NASDAQ PRAN) has today announced it will be presenting further pre-clinical evidence for PBT434 at the International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders® to be held in Hong Kong from October 5-9, 2018.
The data to be presented will include new in-vivo evidence of the efficacy of PBT434 to prevent neuron loss and improve function in an animal model of Multiple system atrophy (MSA), an important cause of atypical Parkinsonism. MSA is a rapidly progressive and devastating neurological disease with no established treatments and is one of the target indications for PBT434.
PBT434 is the first of a new generation of small molecules designed to inhibit the aggregation of alpha(α)-synuclein and tau, vital intracellular proteins that are implicated in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and atypical Parkinsonism. PBT434 has been shown to reduce the abnormal accumulation of these proteins in animal models of disease by restoring normal iron balance in the brain. Prior non-clinical characterization of PBT434, including animal models of Parkinson’s disease, was published last year in Acta Neuropathologica Communications and may be found at https://doi.org/10.1186/s40478-017-0456-2.
The experimental data to be presented demonstrate that in an animal model of MSA, PBT434 prevents α-synuclein accumulation, preserves neurons, and decreases the number of glial cell inclusions in the brains of treated animals. Glial cell inclusions are the key pathological finding in MSA and contain abundant aggregated α-synuclein that is associated with neurodegeneration. Importantly, these benefits led to improved motor function in treated animals. Alpha-synuclein is of great interest because aggregated forms of the protein are considered a pathological hallmark of Parkinsonian conditions and are a recognised therapeutic target by basic and clinical neuroscientists.
‘Multiple system atrophy, or MSA, is a devastating orphan disease with limited treatment options. These animal data are robust and indicate that PBT434 has excellent potential to help individuals with MSA. Having recently started our first human study of PBT434, these data represent an important step as we pursue new treatments for Parkinsonian diseases’, said David Stamler, Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Clinical Development.
The initial human study of PBT434 commenced in June 2018.
The International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders® is the preeminent scientific meeting for sharing ideas and stimulating interest in the care and research of movement disorders, and is organized annually by the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.
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