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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The star of Monday’s deal is gusacitinib, a small-molecule drug that Formation is developing for chronic hand eczema. Sanofi will explore additional indications for gusacitinib in a Phase I study.
Eli Lilly’s bimagrumab led to weight loss that was due almost entirely to fat reduction when combined with semaglutide, marketed by rival Novo Nordisk as Wegovy. BMO Capital Markets called the data “impressive” while raising concerns about the antibody’s safety profile.
While Eli Lilly brushed off concerns about gastrointestinal side effects for oral weight loss candidate orforglipron, analysts from William Blair worried that adverse events are not tapering off as expected.
In combination with Roche’s PD-L1 blocker Tecentriq, zanzalintinib bested Bayer’s Stivarga. Exelixis is positioning the drug candidate as a successor to cabozantinib, which is set to lose patent exclusivity in 2030.
After consistently failing to meet investor expectations, Novo Nordisk touted a safety profile for CagriSema in line with the GLP1-RA class, while reporting mid-stage data for its GLP1- and amylin-targeting drug amycretin that raised dosing questions.
Although the company withheld detailed findings from the study of treatment-resistant depression, analysts at Stifel called COMP360’s efficacy “more than good enough” for registrational purposes.
While BMO Capital Markets said that zimislecel is “highly encouraging” for type 1 diabetes, questions regarding its target population and Vertex’s execution hang over the cell therapy’s commercial potential.
The Inflation Reduction Act includes an exemption for orphan drugs for a single indication, but experts say this is far from sufficient to maintain momentum in the rare disease space.
Analysts at William Blair say dapiglutide’s 11.6% weight reduction at 28 weeks could still be better, given that Zealand’s study predominantly included men and enrolled patients with lower BMI at baseline.
After the delayed approval of its next-generation COVID-19 vaccine, Novavax now awaits the first meeting of the recently overhauled CDC vaccine advisory committee next week. Throughout a tumultuous season, the Maryland-based company is relying on agility and a diverse pipeline to stay ahead of rapidly changing regulations.