Akebia brings in Cyclerion’s diabetes candidate praliciguat, plus deals involving Genmab/Bolt, Auris/Trasir, Zymergen/Lodo, Bavarian Nordic/Dynavax and more.

Helped by a hefty financing earlier this year, Bukwang subsidiary Contera Pharma is poised to speed ongoing multinational Phase II trials with its lead asset for Parkinson’s-associated dyskinesia by hiring CNS experts as new top executives, as the Korean firm looks to take it public in ground-breaking move.

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.

MLR-1023, a repositioned oral compound being developed for type 2 diabetes by Melior and Bukwang, is set to move into Phase IIb in the US and South Korea, and the firms are looking to its novel mechanism of action, improved tolerability and efficacy to carve a niche in a highly competitive sector.