A draft copy of an upcoming MAHA report reveals a strategy in lockstep with recent HHS actions such as reviving the Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines; Viking Therapeutics reports robust efficacy from mid-stage oral obesity candidate but is tripped up by tolerability concerns; Novo Nordisk wins approval for Wegovy in MASH; and Lilly takes a pricing stand.
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Three months after taking heat over an error-riddled first report, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again Commission was due to submit a new strategy report to President Donald Trump last week. While the report is delayed—for disputed reasons— Politico obtained a draft copy, which homes in on creating a new vaccine framework and streamlining access to investigational drugs, specifically for children. The new strategy also touches on pharma lobbying, with plans to address alleged conflicts of interest within HHS—which, incidentally, a new JAMA study found have dropped dramatically over the past 25 years. In other HHS news, Kennedy is reviving the Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines—which has been dormant for 30 years, and the secretary voiced his support of mRNA vaccines for cancer.
Meanwhile, weight loss continues to coral the headlines. Viking Therapeutics reported greater than 12% weight loss after 13 weeks for its obesity pill VK2735, but tolerability tanked the biotech’s stock. As Viking, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk begin to report data from these oral options, manufacturing comes into focus, and Novo’s pending approval of an oral form of Wegovy specifically puts the spotlight on the variability of high-dose peptides.
Speaking of Novo, the Danish pharma appears to be sucking in some oxygen after a difficult run. Last week, the FDA approved Wegovy as just the second drug for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), and on Monday, Novo teamed up with GoodRx to offer Wegovy and Ozempic and $499 per month if patients skip insurance. Not to be outdone, fellow weight loss warrior Lilly announced a $1.3 billion partnership with AI/ML startup Superluminal Medicines to advance new small molecules for cardiometabolic diseases and obesity. Lilly has also been active on the policy front, saying that it will soon announce higher prices for its drugs in markets like Europe in an effort to “align prices across developed countries.”
Always a contentious topic, pricing plays a key role in why the pharmaceutical industry fails to command the same respect as steelworkers or other all-American pursuits. Also in BioPharm Executive this week, BioSpace takes a deep dive into how the Trump administration is using Most Favored Nation pricing to target pharma companies and pursue a broader trade war.
