It's early days yet and Alzheimer's is a field littered with failures, but the latest results for the vaccine UB-311 support advancing development.

Investors reacted negatively when Aptinyx’s lead candidate missed its primary endpoint in diabetic peripheral neuropathy, but CEO Riedel tries to emphasize the positives from the study while awaiting fibromyalgia data with NYX-2925.

Fixed-dose combination of phentermine and topiramate is FDA-approved for chronic, long-term use, but the average duration in the real world is only about 2.1 months, which is reassuring for Qsymia’s cardiovascular safety, according to a new retrospective claims study.

SVP/CSO Daniel Skovronsky says the company has invested in technology and biotech-like teams to speed up the process of translating targets identified in house into human data for novel drugs.

A Phase III study testing Keytruda monotherapy in second-line esophageal cancer versus physician’s choice of chemotherapy shows a 31% reduction in risk of death for patients expressing PD-L1.

Following Lilly's proposed acquisition of Loxo, other possible takeover targets in the precision medicine field have emerged and Array, armed with more positive data on its colorectal cancer triplet, is near the top of the list.

Astellas/Pfizer’s Xtandi and Johnson & Johnson’s Erleada are both now approved for non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer in Europe, while Xtandi benefits from physician familiarity, Erleada has shown greater metastasis-free survival.

Pipeline Watch is a weekly snapshot of selected late-stage clinical trial events announced by pharmaceutical and biotech companies at medical and industry conferences, in financial and company presentations, and in company releases and statements.

The cost-effectiveness watchdog is worried about the cost of Novartis's once-monthly first-in-class migraine drug and is not convinced it is more effective than Allergan’s Botox, which can require up to 40 injections into the head and neck.

New approvals in the EU were again dominated by oncology drugs in 2018, although medicines for infectious diseases were a close second. The number of orphan drugs more than doubled over the previous year, to 17. There were also some star arrivals in multiple sclerosis, genetic disorders, metabolism and migraine.

Pipeline Watch is a weekly snapshot of selected late-stage clinical trial events announced by pharmaceutical and biotech companies at medical and industry conferences, in financial and company presentations, and in company releases and statements.

Roche is working towards implementing PMS studies for Avastin (bevacizumab) and ensuring that a suspension of marketing authorization for the product in first line ovarian cancer is lifted in India.

Patients with heart failure on Entresto say they have fewer symptoms and greater quality of life, according to a registry study and Novartis is hoping that this and other real world data will propel the drug towards its peak sales target of $5bn.

Europe is expected to follow where the US led in expanding the label for Amgen's PCSK9 inhibitor Repatha to include a prevention indication for heart attacks and strokes. But growth will be hard-won.

Valeant is touting Siliq to lead new product growth, but the drug's significant safety concerns in a competitive psoriasis market likely will offset efficacy advantages it could offer.

With few remaining unmet needs in hepatitis C, Gilead, Merck and AbbVie are focusing on tough-to-treat niches with their next-gen combination regimens, especially treatment-experienced patients who failed on prior direct-acting antiviral therapy. Merck also is studying injectable drug users in an effort to eradicate HCV entirely.