AACR and ATS virtual mini-meets on tap

Lynne Peterson is the Senior Writer for Trends-in-Medicine.

Here is the medical news to watch for June 22-28, 2020. If you are starting to venture out into the world, please be extra careful.

Cardiology

  • The Transcatheter Valve Therapies (TVT) virtual meeting is taking place through June 28. It’s an 11-day meeting, but only a few hours each day, with the focus on transcatheter delivery of aortic, mitral, bicuspid, and tricuspid valves as well as left atrial appendage (LAA) closure and patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure. There will be late-breaking science, challenging cases, industry-sponsored sessions, and more.
  • EuroPCR has moved from Paris to a virtual meeting, PCR e-Course, June 25-27. Five specially designed channels will replace (virtually) the amphitheaters and symposium halls of a physical Course. One feature at this meeting that some other virtual meetings haven’t had is moderated question-and-answer sessions. There will also be case-based learning, a hotline and innovation channel devoted to late-breaking clinical trials, and abstracts.

Endocrinology: The FDA is expected to make a decision by June 26 on a treatment for acromegaly – Chiasma’s Mycapssa (octreotide).

Hepatology: The FDA is expected to make a decision by June 26 on a treatment for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) – Intercept Pharmaceuticals’ Ocaliva (obeticholic acid), which is already approved to treat primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). The FDA had been expected to make a decision in March, but with Covid-19 an advisory committee meeting wasn’t possible, and the FDA extended the deadline. Since there still hasn’t been an advisory committee review, it could get delayed again.

Oncology

  • The FDA is expected to make a decision by June 23 on a new treatment for relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma – Karyopharm Therapeutics’ Xpovio (selinexor), an oral nuclear export inhibitor.
  • AACR-II, the second half of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) virtual meeting will take place June 22-24. If you didn’t get enough information at the jam-packed AACR-I, you can find more mini-symposia, e-posters, workshops, and lectures in Part-II. Among the data to be presented:
    • Phase II results with a first-in-class small molecule chemotherapeutic, VAL-083 (DelMar Pharmaceuticals’ dianhydrogalactitol) in newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).
    • The latest developments in tumor biology and genetics, precision oncology, early detection, and immunotherapies.

Pain: The FDA is expected to make a decision by June 26 on a new treatment for postoperative pain – Heron Therapeutics’ HTX-011 (bupivacaine + meloxicam). The decision was originally expected in March but was delayed, likely due to Covid-19.

Pulmonary: The American Thoracic Society (ATS) virtual meeting isn’t until August 5-10, but ATS is holding a virtual Clinical Trials Session on June 24 where breaking results will be presented on three drugs:

  • A DPP1 inhibitor — the Phase II WILLOW trial of brensocatib (Insmed’s INS-1007) in patients with bronchiectasis.
  • Inhaled treprostinil (United Therapeutics’ Tyvaso) – the details of the Phase III INCREASE trial of this prostacyclin analog, in interstitial lung disease-associated pulmonary hypertension.
  • Sotatercept (Acceleron Pharma’s ACE-011), an activin type IIA receptor fusion protein, for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).

Rare diseases: The FDA is expected to make a decision by June 25 on a new treatment for Dravet syndrome – Zogenix’s Fintepla (fenfluramine, ZX-008). A decision was originally expected in March, but that was extended by three months after the company submitted additional data.

Urology: The American Urological Association (AUA) virtual meeting is taking place June 27-28. It was postponed from May 15-18 due to Covid-19. Among the things to look for:

  • New guidelines, semi-live surgeries, debates.
  • A talk by Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
  • The results of the Phase IIb OPTIMA-II trial of UroGen Pharma’s UGN-102, a thermal gel containing mitomycin that allows patients with non-muscle invasive urothelial cancer to have a localized treatment, non-surgically.

Lynne Peterson, Contributing Writer, Senior Writer for Trends-in-Medicine

Cat ID: 121

Topic ID: 78,121,393,914,187,121,467,725,241,383,165,200

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