Pfizer
NEWS
Eli Lilly’s retatrutide exceeds expectations in Phase III, capping off a sparkling 2025 for the obesity titan; an internal FDA safety review finds no confirmed pediatric deaths caused by COVID-19 vaccines, and Commissioner Marty Makary says no black box warning will be attached to the shots; and BioSpace looks at six biotechs that could be pharma’s next buy.
These deals radically reshaped the biopharma world, either by one vaccine rival absorbing another, a Big Pharma doubling down after another failed acquisition or, in the case of Pfizer and Novo, two heavyweights duking it out over a hot obesity biotech.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla defended his company’s vaccine business as rhetoric from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. drives a notable drop in COVID-19 sales.
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.
While new late-stage data point to some liver toxicity signals, analysts at BMO Capital Markets said Tukysa’s efficacy outcomes “appear to more than make up for any safety concerns.”
Pfizer is in the midst of an aggressive, multi-year cost-cutting effort, which so far has left nearly 2,000 people jobless.
Pfizer deals again in obesity space as Wave and Structure drop splashy weight loss results; what CDER Director Richard Pazdur’s sudden retirement means for biopharma; neuro diseases take center stage at CTAD; and more.
With $6 billion left in firepower, Pfizer is planning transactions in the hundreds of millions to the low-billions range, particularly in internal medicine and immunology and inflammation, Guggenheim reported.
Pfizer apparently had more in the tank after the high-profile battle to acquire Metsera earlier this fall. The company has licensed a new GLP-1 from YaoPharma.
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