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Weekly Quick Takes for September 17, 2023

De-Risking Clinical Trials?

Why do so many clinical trials fail? What can be done to reduce the number of failures? This may offer some insights in what can be done and what needs to be done.

ASCO 2023 Preview

As always, there will be a lot of data at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting, which is taking place in Chicago June 2-6, 2023. Abstracts were released on May 25, 2023, and there are (and will be) numerous reports based on those abstracts. Here we try point out some trials you may want to give special attention. We are not reporting the data, except sometimes to reference “preliminary” (meaning abstract) findings, with 2 exceptions where the actual data were released in a press conference [in cervical cancer and in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS)]

Mpox Update

The mpox (monkeypox) outbreak is not over. The U.S. government is warning of a possible summer surge and planning a summer vaccination push. This report has some interesting information about the efficacy of the vaccine and the outbreak in Chicago

Obesity Medicine Association

Obesity researchers at the Obesity Medicine Association meeting were optimistic about medications to treat obesity, particularly Lilly’s Mounjaro (tirzepatide) and Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy (semaglutide 2.4 mg), but also others on the horizon. They are concerned about: undertreatment, cost, insurance coverage, lack of physician time and obesity training, and lack of an obesity diagnosis. Obesity was compared to hypertension – a condition usually requiring lifelong treatment.

American College of Cardiology 2023

Among the many impactful trials presented at the American College of Cardiology meeting and discussed in this report are: the STELLAR trial of Merck/Acceleron Pharma’s sotatercept for pulmonary arterial hypertension; a Phase IIb trial of Merck’s MK-0616, an oral PCSK9 inhibitor in hypercholesterolemia; the CLEAR trial of Esperion Therapeutics’ Nexletol (bempedoic acid) for cholesterol lowering; a meta-analysis that found CRP an important cardiac risk factor along with news that colchicine can lower CRP; the FOREST-HCM trial of Cytokinetics’ aficamten in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; the HALO trial of AstraZeneca/CinCor Pharma’s baxdrostat in hypertension; the TRILUMINATE trial of Abbott’s TriClip in tricuspid regurgitation; and the PULSED AF trial of Medtronic’s PulseSelect in atrial fibrillation.