Walgreens is stepping up its emphasis on beauty with a new partnership with Birchbox, CNBC reports. Walgreens, which will take a minority stake in the digital beauty subscription company, will start a pilot program with Birchbox in 11 Walgreens stores Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis and New York City, as well as an online partnership, with Walgreens adding a Birchbox section to its website, according to the report. “Beauty is a very important category for Walgreens, and we’ve been doing a huge amount of work to get ourselves ready for a partnership like this to take us to the next step,” said Lauren Brindley, Walgreens’ group vice president of beauty and personal care
Thursday, October 4, 2018
Allergan’s CoolSculpting cleared by FDA to treat area below jawline
Allergan’s CoolSculpting cleared by FDA to treat area below jawline Allergan’s treatment received FDA clearance to treat the submandibular area. In addition, the FDA clearance was expanded to include patients with a BMI of up to 46.2 when treating the submental and submandibular areas. This recent clearance makes CoolSculpting the first and only nonsurgical fat reduction treatment to contour the area below the jawline and improve the appearance of lax tissue in conjunction with submental fat treatments.
Arrowhead gains on news of $3.7 billion license agreement with Janssen
Arrowhead Pharmaceutics Inc. stock ARWR, -8.89% surged 19% in premarket trade Thursday, after the company said it has entered a $3.7 billion license and cooperation agreement with Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. to develop and commercialize its ARO-HBV treatment for chronic hepatitis B. As part of the deal, Arrowhead will receive $175 million upon close and Janssen parent Johnson & Johnson Innovation JJDC Inc., a unit of Johnson & Johnson JNJ, -0.62% will buy a $75 million stake priced at $23 a share of Arrowhead common stock. Arrowhead will be eligible to receive up to $1.6 billion in milestone payments and another roughly $1.9 billion in option and milestone payments for reaching three additional targets. The company will also be eligible for tiered royalties on product sales. Janssen will have an exclusive license on the ARO-HBV program, a subcutaneously administered RNAi therapeutic candidate aimed at treating hepatitis B. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter. Arrowhead shares have gained 404% in 2018, while the S&P 500 SPX, -0.59% has gained 9%.
Sarepta micro-dystrophin gene therapy data impressive, says JMP Securities
JMP Securities analyst Liisa Bayko noted that Sarepta’s gene therapy showed robust improvement in functional endpoints in the latest data from the program, which she sees “reinforcing the leapfrog this platform can offer” in Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The safety also still looks acceptable, added Bayko, who reiterates her Outperform rating and $270 price target on Sarepta shares.
Ophthotech completes recruitment for Phase 2b of macular degeneration trial
Ophthotech announced completion of patient recruitment for its Phase 2b clinical trial of Zimura, the company’s complement factor C5 inhibitor, monotherapy in patients with geographic atrophy secondary to dry age-related macular degeneration, or AMD. Complement factor C5 is a central component of the complement cascade and is believed to be involved in the development and progression of AMD. A total of 286 patients have been enrolled into this randomized, double-masked, sham controlled multi-center clinical trial. This clinical trial is designed to assess the safety and efficacy of various Zimura dosing regimens over 12 months. Patients will continue to be treated and monitored until month 18.
AMN Healthcare initiated at Berenberg
AMN Healthcare initiated with a Buy at Berenberg. Berenberg analyst Sam England initiated AMN Healthcare with a Buy and $70 price target. England believes the company’s transition into a full-service workforce solutions provider from a temporary staffing of nurses and doctors will lead to a stickier customer base, higher growth, and increased margins.
Vaxart to present new data from Phase 2 Challenge study of oral H1 Flu vaccine
Vaxart announced it will present new data from the Phase 2 Challenge Study of its H1 influenza oral tablet vaccine at IDWeek 2018 in San Francisco on Saturday, October 6, 2018. “These latest results show that our vaccine elicited a significant expansion of mucosal homing receptor alpha4beta7+ plasmablasts to approximately 60% of all activated B cells, while Fluzone only maintained baseline levels of 20%. We believe these beta7+ plasmablasts are a key indicator of a protective mucosal immune response and a unique feature of our oral recombinant vaccines,” said CSO Sean Tucker. “Further analysis of the data also confirm that, while our vaccine also generated protective hemagglutinin inhibition antibodies in serum like conventional injectable flu vaccines, it primarily protected through the mucosal mechanism, providing a robust 39% reduction in illness versus placebo overall. In contrast, Fluzone, the market-leading injectable quadrivalent influenza vaccine, only provided a 27% reduction in illness versus placebo, while protecting primarily through HAI antibodies.” Vaxart previously reported only 37% of study participants receiving the Vaxart vaccine developed influenza infection after challenge, compared to 44% of those receiving Fluzone and 71% of those receiving placebo. The new Phase 2 data to be presented at IDWeek 2018 showed that the Vaxart vaccine generated a strong increase in mucosal homing antibody secreting cells, or beta7+ plasmablasts. In protected study participants, the percentage of beta7+ plasmablasts in recipients of the Vaxart vaccine nearly doubled, whereas the percentage of beta7+ plasmablasts in Fluzone recipients remained unchanged. The Phase 2 study was completed with support from Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. Vaxart received a $13.9M contract from BARDA in September 2015 to support the advanced development of more effective influenza vaccines to ultimately improve seasonal and pandemic influenza preparedness. The contract was increased to $15.7M in 2017.
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