Clinical Daily Summary: What Happened on October 15, 2026

Vanda pauses VQW-765 after Phase III trial misses both endpoints

Vanda Pharmaceuticals paused clinical development of VQW-765 after a Phase III study failed to significantly reduce acute social anxiety symptoms among women, missing its primary endpoint.1 The trial also found no significant anxiety reduction in the overall population, missing its key secondary endpoint.1

Women taking VQW-765 had an average SUDS score of 65.6, compared with 66.0 on placebo. Across all participants, scores were 64.7 on the drug and 63.8 on placebo.1 Vanda licensed the drug from Novartis in 2014 and is reviewing the complete trial dataset.1

Arrowhead reports tau reduction with ARO-MAPT in healthy volunteers

Arrowhead said ARO-MAPT reduced cerebrospinal-fluid total tau by a mean of up to 73% after under-the-skin dosing in healthy volunteers.23 In the Phase I/IIa study, researchers measured tau on day 105, 90 days after the final dose.3

ARO-MAPT uses RNA interference, which suppresses a gene’s activity, to target MAPT and reduce production of tau protein forms.3 The study’s second part is testing the drug in people with Alzheimer’s disease. The reported biomarker changes in healthy volunteers don’t establish an effect on symptoms or function.23

Arrowhead said the sustained effect at day 105 may support dosing every three months or less often.3 The treatment was generally tolerated in the reported study, and most treatment-emergent adverse events were mild or Grade 1.3

Also worth knowing

• 

  Pilatus Biosciences dosed the first patient at its Hong Kong site in a Phase I trial of PLT012 for hepatocellular carcinoma. The study began dosing in Houston in March 2026.4

• 

  Spinogenix added a Phase IIb idiopathic autism cohort to its CLARITY trial. The cohort will use EEG screening to enroll participants with elevated resting gamma-band power.5

• P

  Femtosecond laser imaging assessed lung tumor margins in under six minutes, compared with 36 minutes for the current method, and matched its accuracy in a study.6

• N

  A Phase 1 open-label trial evaluated an intravitreal optogenetic therapy for advanced retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited condition that causes progressive vision loss.7

Also published

• GLP-1 drugs linked to reduced acute schizophrenia episodes pharmaphorum
• ACT Brief: EHR-to-EDC Connectivity, FDA’s Rare Disease Framework, and Barriers to Oncology RWE Applied Clinical Trials
• Why clinical trials lose a quarter of their patients before enrolment pharmaphorum
• Beyond recruitment: Creating patient engagement that lasts pharmaphorum
• Compass Pathways CEO: Psychedelics company will ‘go slow before we go fast’ STAT Biotech
• <b>Hidden race disparities in cancer treatment toxicity</b> Nature Medicine
• Experimental Arrowhead RNAi drug hints at Alzheimer’s benefit BioPharma Dive