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Unity biotechnology6/22/2023 ![]() Putting on a brave face, Unity’s CEO, Anirvan Ghosh, stated publicly that the trial has “ generated valuable data that will enable us to learn from this study and inform future studies in diseases of aging. As a consequence the company will drop the drug’s development and fall back to its second candidate. Its lead candidate failed to reduce pain in patients with the age-related condition osteoarthritis. Last week, however, Unity hit a bump in phase II. These are designed to prevent the buildup of senescent (aged) cells in our tissues, which are thought to contribute to the aging process. The company’s lead candidate is part of a class of drugs called senolytics. Unity Biotechnology is a high-flyer in geroscience, backed by big investors such as Amazon’s CEO, Jeff Bezos. Biotechs in the field of anti-aging - also known as geroscience - target these hallmarks with the aim of treating or preventing age-related diseases. Aging is generally broken down into several biological ‘hallmarks’ such as unstable DNA and breakdowns in cell function. How is this high-profile setback affecting European biotechs developing anti-aging treatments?Īging is a complex, multi-faceted process that makes people vulnerable to a wide range of conditions such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and even Covid-19. This resulted in a 30% cut in the biotech’s staff and Nelsen’s eventual departure, and the company pivoted to ophthalmology and neurology.Īt the start of this year, the company sliced away another 50% of its workforce, primarily in its discovery research unit, to stretch its cash into 2023.A drug developed by the US firm Unity Biotechnology - designed to slow the aging process - recently proved a dud in phase II for the treatment of osteoarthritis. ![]() In 2020, after the company saw massive investments from names such as Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel and Bob Nelsen, its Phase II study testing whether their lead drug UBX0101 could alleviate pain in people with osteoarthritis of the knee showed virtually no difference in patients on the placebo arm. This positive news is a welcome reprieve after several recent setbacks for Unity. The company is bullish on the findings and is forging ahead with more studies for UBX1325 for now. These data represent an important and exciting step in validating the senolytic therapeutic concept that is core to UNITY’s platform,” said Unity CEO Anirvan Ghosh. “The vision gains observed are greater than what has been previously reported with the standard of care in similar patient populations, and the durability of effect suggests that UBX1325 could address the large unmet need for longer-lasting, disease-modifying treatments for patients with DME. Patients treated with a single injection of UBX1325 for 12 weeks had a mean improvement in BCVA of +4.7 ETDRS letters from baseline compared to +1.3 ETDRS letters in sham-treated patients, leading to a value of p=0.1148. ![]() The data also showed that patients treated with UBX1325 maintained a central subfield thickness (CST) compared to sham-treated patients who demonstrated progressive worsening of CST. UBX1325 was one of the major focuses of the company after its lead candidate flopped in 2020.Īt 18 weeks, after a single injection of UBX1325, the change in patients’ best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was an increase of 6.1 ETDRS letters, representing an improvement of +5.0 ETDRS letters compared to sham-treated subjects and a value of P= 0.0368. The company posted 12- and 18-week data from its Phase II BEHOLD study of UBX1325, a senolytic Bcl-xL inhibitor, in patients with diabetic macular edema (DME). However, data released this morning are bringing better news for investors, pushing the stock price up by more than 100% Friday morning.Īnd that may help pave the way to bringing in more cash, if they can follow the road to a follow-on. The company price $UBX dropped into the penny stock range earlier this year and has been gyrating in and out since.
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