Novartis's Big Hopes For Transplant Drug Blown Apart

Iscalimab Not Effective Enough In Preventing Kidney Rejection

Long touted as one of the drugs to watch in the Swiss giant's pipeline, iscalimab's chances of replacing tacrolimus as the standard of care preventing organ rejection in transplant patients have been dealt a hefty blow after a Phase II trial failure.

transplant
Less than half of donated kidneys last 10 years • Source: Alamy

Novartis AG's efforts to develop a drug that could result in more durable organ transplants have been hobbled by mid-stage data showing that its investigational anti-CD40 targeting monoclonal antibody iscalimab was less effective in preventing kidney rejection than the standard of care.

The Swiss major has decided to discontinue the 418-patient Phase II study called CIRRUS-1 following an interim analysis of data...

Scrip Podcast

Keep up with the top pharma business news of the week. On the go.

Scrip brings you a weekly bulletin of top picks.

More from Genitourinary

Cagrisema Leads The Charge For 2025

 

2030 sales forecasts for Novo’s obesity hope are an order of magnitude larger than its closest rival among 2025’s expected debutantes.  

Borealis Seeks Aurora In RNA-Based Drugs For Renal Disease

 

With $150m in series A funding, the Versant- and Novartis-backed start-up is betting it can overcome the challenges to getting RNA medicines into the kidney.

Pathalys Raises $105m To Pave Path Toward US Commercialization

 
• By 

The start-up launched last year with Phase III-ready upacicalcet, which has nearly completed two pivotal trials in secondary hyperparathyroidism and for which it has exclusive rights outside of Asia.

Quick Listen: Scrip's Five Must-Know Things

 
• By 

In this week's podcast edition of Five Must-Know Things: Amgen positions for obesity and diabetes; BMS returns TIGIT asset in pipeline reshuffle; is Kerendia the next jewel in Bayer’s crown?; Japan pharma firms cut jobs; and Sun Pharma seeks GLP-1 partner.

More from Therapeutic Category

Scrip Data Article Without An Author

"Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit..."

Spotlight On RDCs, AOCs As Leading Novel Bioconjugates[Updated]

Pipelines in bioconjugates continue to develop, from ADCs to XDCs, with radionuclide drug conjugates (RDCs) and antibody-oligonucleotide conjugates (AOCs) leading the expansion.

Fosun ALK/ROS1 Inhibitor Shows 1L Promise In Advanced NSCLC

Interim results from the Phase III REMARK study presented at WCLC showed the Chinese company’s second-generation ALK/ROS1 inhibitor met its primary endpoint as a first-line therapy in ALK-positive advanced NSCLC.