
John Maraganore joins up with ProQR as strategic advisor; Servier nabs priority review for Tibsovo sNDA
After a month-long break from advisory appointments, John Maraganore is once again being tapped to join another biotech.
The RNA-focused startup announced Maraganore’s appointment this morning, with the Alnylam founding CEO joining up as a strategic advisor to ProQR’s supervisory board.
Monday’s move comes a few weeks after the biotech’s lead candidate for the rare genetic eye disease, Leber congenital amaurosis, had shown no difference between placebo and any other efficacy measures. Maraganore said in a statement that he first met ProQR CEO Daniel de Boer more than a decade ago through former Genzyme CEO Henri Termeer, before his passing in 2017.
With the new gig at ProQR, it brings Maraganore up to 11 positions across biotech and VC since he announced last year he would be leaving the company he founded. — Paul Schloesser
FDA grants priority review for Servier’s plans to move Tibsovo up the lines
Servier is one step closer to the bright future it envisions for Tibsovo.
The FDA has granted priority review for its sNDA targeting patients with previously untreated IDH1-mutated acute myeloid leukemia, the French drugmaker said.
First developed by Agios and eventually sold to Servier as part of an oncology business in a $2 billion-plus deal, Tibsovo targets cancer metabolism by hitting mutated IDH1 enzymes. It’s currently approved for that particular subset of relapsed or refractory AML — as well as newly diagnosed IDH-1 mutated AML patients who are older than 75 or have comorbidities that make intensive chemotherapy a bad idea. More recently, Servier nabbed an OK to treat IDH1-mutated cholangiocarcinoma.
In a Phase III study focusing on previously untreated AML patients, Agios and Server showed that Tibsovo not only improved event-free survival, but also helped patients live longer when given in combination with chemotherapy. — Amber Tong