ProMis distances PMN310 from Acumen’s setback. ProMIS Neurosciences published an investor question and answer document arguing that its Alzheimer’s antibody PMN310 differs from Acumen’s sabirnetug, which produced disappointing Phase 2 results. PMN310 is a humanised IgG1 antibody designed to bind only toxic amyloid beta oligomers and avoid plaques and vascular deposits. The company said the six month blinded interim analysis of its PRECISE-AD Phase 1b trial, in 136 participants, showed no cases of ARIA-E, against an approximately 10 percent incidence Acumen reported for sabirnetug, and that its plans are unchanged, with unblinded 12 month topline results expected in the first quarter of 2027. ProMis will present the interim safety and biomarker poster at the Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease conference in Boston on November 16 to 19. The comparison is the company’s own, across two separate trials, and the blinded interim cannot yet attribute safety to the drug rather than to the mix of drug and placebo patients.
Ellipsis Health buys Kouper Health. Ellipsis Health, whose Sage voice agent handles care management calls and texts for health plans and health systems, acquired Kouper Health, an AI care navigation company founded in 2022 with backing from CVS Health Ventures, General Catalyst and 25madison. Financial terms were not disclosed. Kouper’s team is joining Ellipsis, both brands will keep serving existing customers, and Sage will be integrated with Kouper’s electronic health record integrations and longitudinal patient maps. Ellipsis said Sage is used by seven of the top 20 United States health plans and is trained on more than 3 million labelled clinical conversations.
VRC01 protected, then breakthroughs followed. A new analysis of the HVTN 704 and HPTN 085 antibody mediated prevention trials, published in Science Translational Medicine, found the broadly neutralising HIV antibody VRC01 maintained cumulative prevention efficacy of 66.3 percent against virus strains highly sensitive to it. After infusions ended at week 72, however, diagnoses in the period to week 104 were more frequent in the VRC01 groups than on placebo, and the breakthrough viruses were more resistant, as antibody concentrations waned and selective pressure favoured escape strains. The authors conclude that multiple antibodies will likely be required, and that future prevention trials should test for infection long after dosing stops.
Democrats map the pharma agenda. After winning both chambers in the midterms, incoming Democratic senators campaigned on healthcare costs, and party figures have named reversing more than 1 trillion dollars of Medicaid cuts over a decade as a first priority, according to PharmaVoice. Bernie Sanders and Ron Wyden are expected to chair key health committees, and members are preparing oversight of the administration’s confidential drug pricing deals with more than 25 pharma companies, including through the Drug Deal Disclosure Act. With a presidential veto in place, the near term effect is oversight and groundwork rather than enacted pricing law, a distinction the sector’s pricing exposure should be priced on.