Drug Development
Analysts said the outcome is disappointing because there are no approved treatments for dyskinetic cerebral palsy, but the setback had little impact on Neurocrine’s valuation.
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In the midst of regulatory and political upheaval, biopharma’s R&D engine kept running, churning out highs and lows in equal parts. Here are some of this year’s most glorious clinical trial victories.
Every year in biopharma brings its share of grueling defeats, and 2025 was no different, especially for companies targeting neurological diseases. Some failures split up partners, and one particularly egregious case even led to the demise of an entire company.
The R&D pipeline for depression therapies faced a demoralizing 2025 as five high-profile candidates, including KOR antagonists by Johnson & Johnson and Neumora Therapeutics, flunked late-stage clinical trials, underscoring the persistent challenges of CNS drug development.
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Johnson & Johnson on Wednesday reported late-stage trial data showing its first-in-class orexin receptor antagonist reduced major depressive disorder symptoms as an adjunctive treatment in patients with insomnia.
AstraZeneca on Wednesday unveiled Phase I results for its PCSK9 inhibitor, acquired from Dogma Therapeutics in 2020, which when combined with a statin reduced LDL-C levels in patients with high “bad” cholesterol.
In a late-stage trial, Insmed’s small molecule DPP1 inhibitor cut yearly exacerbation rates by around 20% in bronchiectasis patients, according to topline data.
Driven by growing market demand and an improving supply chain, the global weight-loss drug market is expected to hit $150 billion in value by the early 2030s, according to analysts cited by Reuters.
The FDA currently does not recommend using changes in lean mass as an endpoint in clinical trials for weight loss drugs. Should it?
Johnson & Johnson’s deal for Numab Therapeutics’ bispecific antibody NM26, slated to enter Phase II studies, comes on the heels of J&J’s $850 million Proteologix bispecific antibody acquisition.
The potential purchase by the Japanese conglomerate could secure access to Calliditas’ IgA nephropathy therapy Tarpeyo, which won the FDA’s full approval in December 2023.
NS Pharma, a subsidiary of Nippon Shinyaku, announced Monday that its Duchenne muscular dystrophy candidate Viltepso failed a late-stage confirmatory trial, showing no significant motor function improvements over placebo.
Flagging a risk of hypoglycemia, the FDA’s Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee on Friday did not recommend the approval of Novo Nordisk’s once-weekly insulin icodec for type 1 diabetes.
With back-to-back victories in IgA nephropathy and C3 glomerulopathy, Novartis on Saturday said it is planning to make regulatory submissions for the rare kidney diseases this year.