St. Vincent's Private Hospitals Ltd.

A small study conducted by researchers at St. Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin suggests that Novo Nordisk’s GLP-1 semaglutide could treat a common and chronic skin condition called hidradenitis suppurativa. The study , published Wednesday at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology’s annual meeting in Amsterdam, examined data from June 2020 to March 2023 in 30 obese patients with HS who started taking semaglutide. It found that those patients had fewer flare-ups of the disease than they did before treatment, with the frequency of flare-ups dropping from an average of once every 8.5 weeks to once every 12 weeks. Patients also saw other well-known benefits of the drug, including weight loss and improved blood sugar levels. “The results are highly encouraging and could represent a major breakthrough in HS treatment,” the study’s lead researcher Daniel Lyons said in a statement. “To build on this progress, larger randomized controlled trials are necessary to validate these findings.” Semaglutide is marketed as Wegovy for weight loss and Ozempic for diabetes, and it has already shown potential benefits in a wide range of diseases like heart failure and obesity. More news out of EADV:

SEOUL, South Korea--( BUSINESS WIRE )--The South Korean biotech company GI Innovation announced today that it has signed a clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with MSD (a tradename of Merck& Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA) to evaluate the combination of GI-102 and MSD’s anti-PD-1 therapy, KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) in patients with immunotherapy-resistant liver cancer, melanoma, and renal cell carcinoma. This agreement marks GI Innovation’s second clinical trial collaboration with MSD, following a previous collaboration for GI-101A. The Phase 2 clinical trial including GI-102 in combination with KEYTRUDA will enroll patients with resistance or non-response to immuno-oncology treatments, leaving them with no further treatment options. GI Innovation is focused on three indications with significant market potential and potential likelihood of success: metastatic liver cancer, melanoma, and renal cell carcinoma. The company has already demonstrated strong anti-cancer efficacy with a 42.9% overall response rate (ORR) in a monotherapy trial of GI-102 in melanoma patients who failed to respond to standard-of-care treatment (3 partial responses out of 7 patients). Complete tumor regression was previously observed in 60% of mice treated with GI-102 monotherapy in a preclinical liver cancer model. Fourteen hospitals in South Korea and world-renowned sites in the U.S. have agreed to join the trial, including the Mayo Clinic (campuses in Rochester, Florida, and Arizona), Cleveland Clinic and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. In South Korea, the trial will take place at leading hospitals including Samsung Medical Center, Asan Medical Center, Seoul National University Hospital, Severance Hospital of Yonsei University, and St. Vincent’s Hospital. "We are pleased to enter into another clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with MSD, a world leader in immuno-oncology. We aim to maximize the therapeutic value of GI-102 by combining it with KEYTRUDA, MSD’s anti-PD-1 therapy”, said Dr Myung-Ho Jang, GI Innovation’s Chief Scientific Officer. KEYTRUDA® is a registered trademark of Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway NJ, USA.

SPG302 is a once-a-day pill with the potential to regenerate synapses to reverse declines in cognitive function in people with Alzheimer’s diseaseLOS ANGELES, Aug. 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Spinogenix, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering first-in-class therapeutics that restore synapses to improve the lives of patients worldwide, today announced that enrollment is now open in Australia for their Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating SPG302 for the treatment of people with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most prevalent form of dementia worldwide. “The SPG302 trials are a completely different approach to tackling Alzheimer’s Disease,” stated Bruce Brew, MD, DSc, FRACP, FAAN, neurologist and trial Principal Investigator at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, Australia. “Unlike other approaches, SPG302 has the prospect for some degree of regeneration and consequent improvement in memory, instead of just slowing the disease. This is a refreshing, long-awaited and cutting-edge approach to the disease, if it’s successful, it could be the dawn of a new era in treating Alzheimer’s disease.” “There are currently no approved drugs for Alzheimer’s disease that focus on restoring function to reverse the course of disease by targeting the synapses. At Spinogenix, our mission is to offer new hope to people battling AD, not just by slowing the disease but by potentially reversing it, offering a significant departure from conventional approaches” said Stella Sarraf, Ph.D., Spinogenix Chief Executive Officer and Founder. The Phase 2 trial will evaluate the safety, tolerability, clinical efficacy, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of a once-a day pill of SPG302 in adult participants with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease. Enrollment is currently open at St. Vincents Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia with plans for a second site opening soon at Flinders Medical Center, Adelaide, SA, Australia. Additional information is available on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT06427668). SPG302 is also being evaluated in Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients in Australia, with plans to enroll ALS patients in the U.S. following recent FDA IND clearance. Additional information on the ALS trial may be found on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05882695). About SPG302SPG302 is a once-a-day pill being developed as a regenerative treatment for neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases with the unique ability to restore synapses, the key connections between neurons that allow people to think, plan, remember, and control motor functions. The synaptic regenerative activity of SPG302 represents a first-in-class approach to treating these diseases and has the potential to reverse declines in cognitive, respiratory, and motor function. SPG302 has been granted U.S. FDA Orphan Drug Designation for the treatment of ALS. Additional information on the clinical trials evaluating SPG302 can be found on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05882695 and NCT06427668). SPG302 has received preclinical support from the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense. About Alzheimer’s DiseaseAlzheimer’s Disease is the most common cause of dementia, accounting for ~60-70% of dementia cases worldwide. Loss of synapses occurs very early in Alzheimer’s and is a major driver of progressive impairments in cognition and memory. Currently, there is no cure for AD and medications that are approved for use in AD have only modest and temporary impact on symptoms. About SpinogenixSpinogenix is dedicated to developing transformative therapeutics for conditions involving the loss or dysfunction of synapses. Our lead clinical-stage synaptic regenerative drug, SPG302, is a first-in-class therapeutic designed to reverse synapse loss and improve cognitive and motor functions in neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases such as ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, and schizophrenia. In addition, we are developing a synaptic function therapeutic, SPG601, designed to improve cognitive and other symptoms in Fragile X Syndrome by correcting specific abnormalities in synaptic communication. More information on Spinogenix can be found at www.spinogenix.com or follow us on LinkedIn. Spinogenix Contact info@spinogenix.com Media Contact Kristin Politi, Ph.D.LifeSci Communicationskpoliti@lifescicomms.com(646) 876-4783