On a recent investor call, Pharmaxis (PXS: $0.097) CEO Gary Phillips said that the company's Phase I/IIa trial in patients with myelofibrosis is on target to complete recruitment by mid-year with results still due at the end of the year.

Chimeric Therapeutics (CHM: $0.21) has finished dosing the second cohort of three patients in its chlorotoxin CAR-T cell therapy in patients with glioblastoma.

Aortic heart valve development company Anteris Technologies (AVR: $18.67) has declined a proposal to merge with US cashbox company Medicus Sciences Acquisition Corp.

Background
EBR Systems is a single product medical device company developing a wireless electrode designed to stimulate the left ventricle (LV) for biventricular cardiac re-synchronisation therapy (CRT). CRT is a mainstay of treatment for late-stage heart failure. The WiSE (Wireless Stimulation Endocardially) electrode represents a step change in CRT for the key reason that it is already the first ever device to achieve a CE mark for implantation to the endocardium (inside) of the left ventricle.

Cogstate (CGS: $1.68) has delivered another good quarter of sales contracts signed, totalling US$13.7 million and $US54 million for the first half following a very strong September quarter performance.

Biologics drug development company Adalta (1AD: $0.09) has announced that its lead drug candidate, AD-214, will now be developed as an inhaled drug rather than a systemically delivered injected therapy.

The key reason for the change is that preclinical imaging studies with a radiolabelled version of AD-214 showed high accumulation levels (more than half the administered dose) in the liver. The reasons for strong binding affinity in the liver are unknown at this point, but it is not related to the i-body platform with the rapid distribution to the liver seen only with this drug candidate.

Adalta (1AD: $0.155) has progressed its collaboration with GE Healthcare for its cancer treatment diagnostic.

In September Adalta signed a commercial deal with GE to find i-bodies using its unique technology that could very specifically bind to the enzyme granzyme B which is produced by activated T-cells.

Adalta has now identified several relevant i-bodies which will progress into preclinical development.

Last week Adalta (1AD: $0.175) provided details of the successful completion of its Phase Ia trial with its lead antibody drug candidate, AD-214. The company will now move into two additional Phase I studies, one in healthy volunteers and the second in patients with fibrotic lung diseases.

Adalta’s (1AD) competitive prospects improved recently when a high profile drug, ziritaxestat, being developed by Galapagos and Gilead Sciences for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), was discontinued.