Acetaminophen/Hydrocodone Bitartrate

Collectively, SiteOne shareholders could receive as much as $1 billion from the deal, according to Lilly.\n Eli Lilly is expanding its efforts to advance next-generation pain medications. The Big Pharma has penned a deal to acquire SiteOne Therapeutics, primarily for a non-opioid pain asset ready to enter phase 2 trials.Collectively, SiteOne shareholders could receive as much as $1 billion from the deal, Lilly said in a May 27 release, which includes an upfront payment, plus additional biobucks tied to certain milestones.Lilly’s sights are set on STC-004, a sodium channel inhibitor made to block NaV1.8, an ion channel primarily found in the peripheral nervous system and involved in pain sensation.\"The global burden of chronic pain continues to increase and an effective non-opioid treatment remains elusive,\" Mark Mintun, M.D., Lilly’s vice president of neuroscience R&D, said in the release. \"Lilly is eager to continue the development of STC-004 with the outstanding SiteOne team as part of our efforts to advance novel, addiction-free pain therapies.”SiteOne recently tested out STC-004 in a phase 1 trial, finding that a once-daily dose of the drug candidate was well-absorbed and well-tolerated, while also improving pain tolerance, according to a Feb. 4 release.The Bay Area biotech closed a $100 million series C fundraise led by Novo Holdings at the end of last year, with a goal of using the money to advance an early pipeline of pain candidates. In addition to NaV1.8, the company is also exploring other ion channel modulators, such as NaV1.7. Other NaV1.8 inhibitors have hit bumps in the road to replacing opioids. Vertex Pharmaceuticals, a biopharma long on the hunt for non-opioid pain relievers, dropped a pair of NaV1.8-targeting assets back in 2020, and then years later revealed a different inhibitor beat placebo at relieving pain in two phase 3 trials but failed to best the opioid Vicodin.Lilly previously entered a next-gen pain partnership with Pfizer, teaming up with the fellow pharma giant to develop nerve growth factor inhibitor tanezumab. However, the partners ultimately dumped tanezumab after regulators from the FDA and European Medicines Agency rejected it. The candidate had shown the ability to reduce pain in patients with osteoarthritis, but faced concerns over a link to joint damage.

Plus, news about Tris Pharma and ARS Pharmaceuticals: Merck KGaA’s lupus drug yields mixed data in mid-stage trial: The drugmaker’s TLR7/8 inhibitor, called enpatoran, missed one of two Phase 2 primary endpoints in a cohort of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, according to chief financial officer Helene von Roeder on the company’s earnings call on Thursday. The drug previously showed promise patients with cutaneous lupus in the same trial, and Merck said the overall data support further development. — Ayisha Sharma Zymeworks deprioritizes ADC: The company is pausing Phase 1 development of ZW220, which is designed to target sodium-dependent phosphate transporter 2b. It had been considering testing the ADC in ovarian and non-small cell lung cancer. Zymeworks noted that the program still has “strong commercial rationale with partnership potential.” — Max Gelman Tris Pharma reports another Phase 3 success for pain drug: The treatment, called cebranopadol, succeeded in a trial measuring its pain reduction abilities after surgical bunion removal. The win comes less than two months after a Phase 3 study in patients who had undergone tummy tucks also met its primary endpoint. The drug is designed to target the pathway used by painkillers like Vicodin and morphine to create their sedative and analgesic effects as well as another receptor that has a “modulatory role” on that pathway (though it still belongs to the broader family of opioid receptors). — Max Gelman ARS Pharmaceuticals’ neffy gets another approval: The company said Wednesday that the FDA approved neffy 1 mg to treat Type I allergic reactions in children who are at least 4 years old and hit a weight requirement. The nasal spray was first approved in the US last summer. — Jaimy Lee Editor’s note: This article and its headline were corrected to note that Merck KGaA’s lupus trial had mixed data and to correct a quote attribution. A previous version of the article incorrectly stated that the trial had failed.