Drug Delivery
A push to reshore some drug production and progress in advanced manufacturing technologies have been prominent trends this year, industry leaders say.
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Following FDA rejections, Regeneron and Scholar Rock are turning to other facilities to clear regulatory logjams created by quality problems at an ex-Catalent facility in Indiana. Novo Nordisk, meanwhile, has been tight-lipped about whether its own FDA applications have been affected.
Experts suggest the FDA’s Advanced Manufacturing Technologies designation could be a lifeline for improving production processes for approved cell and gene therapies.
Novo Nordisk goes “on the offensive” following Trump deal that also included rival Eli Lilly, putting an exclamation point on rapidly declining GLP-1 drug prices. Experts say the unusual situation makes it hard to predict what’s next.
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As Eli Lilly ends the year with Zepbound in good supply, TD Cowen analyst Steve Scala asked CEO David Ricks if the company has taken the GLP-1 supply chain too far.
Bristol Myers Squibb clocked $10 million in sales for new schizophrenia drug Cobenfy in the fourth quarter of 2024, with the launch proceeding ahead of expectations.
Wegovy sales increased by more than 100% over 2024. But that wasn’t enough to satiate analysts who want to know why Novo Nordisk can’t access more patients, particularly in the U.S.
While the former Biden administration showcased the Inflation Reduction Act as a key victory in the fight over high drug prices in the U.S., Trump has so far been mum on how the controversial law could evolve in the coming years.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has named Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy, Ozempic and Rybelsus as part of the second round of the IRA drug price negotiation program, even as the pharma challenges the program.
The deal follows a $1.06 billion U.S. contract in July 2024 and a $1.24 billion agreement with an Asia-based pharma a few months later.
Biopharma executives shared their thoughts on the potential impacts of the new administration; Annalee Armstrong recaps JPM and her talks with Biogen, Gilead, Novavax and more; Wegovy’s higher dose induces more weight loss; AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo’s Dato-DXd scores its first FDA approval.
Drugmakers will have until the end of February to decide whether they want to participate in the second round of Medicare negotiations or not. CMS has until June 1 to send an initial offer for the adjusted prices.
Boehringer Ingelheim’s trio of late-stage schizophrenia failures on Thursday came a day after the Department of Health and Human Services hit back on the pharma’s legal challenge to the IRA’s drug price negotiation program.
Concurrently, a preprint from the industry-backed Vital Transformation found a 50% drop in company investments into small-molecule drug development.