GLP-1
From the price of forthcoming weight loss pill orforglipron, to Most Favored Nation drug pricing and the market battle with Novo Nordisk, pricing was the number one issue for Eli Lilly on its second quarter earnings call.
George Tidmarsh takes over temporarily at CBER following Vinay Prasad’s abrupt departure; Replimmune trial leaders protest rejection reportedly driven by FDA’s top cancer regulator Richard Pazdur; Merck’s $3 billion savings push claims 6,000 jobs; and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla addresses President Donald Trump’s new threats around Most Favored Nation drug pricing.
Earlier this year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services scrapped a previous proposal, from the Biden administration, to include anti-obesity medications in Medicare Part D coverage.
While Eli Lilly’s diabetes blockbuster was non-inferior to its older incretin therapy Trulicity in a highly anticipated Phase III cardiovascular outcomes trial, analysts had hoped for statistical significance in reducing major events such as cardiovascular death, heart attack and stroke.
Madrigal will study SYH2086 in combination with Rezdiffra for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, aiming for clinical trials in early 2026.
In a surprise double announcement Tuesday, Novo reduced sales guidance by 5%—attributing the change to slowed growth of its semaglutide franchise in the U.S.—and named current international operations head Maziar Mike Doustdar as its new president and CEO.
A retrospective cohort study found that semaglutide and tirzepatide are linked with significantly lower risks of dementia and stroke, hinting at potential neuroprotective effects of GLP-1 therapies.
New data and analyses presented at the American Diabetes Association’s annual meeting highlight the priorities for the next generation of weight loss medicines: muscle preservation, limited side effects and novel targets.
Analysts said the deal with Novo was likely giving Hims “‘credibility’ or increased consumer traffic,” adding that the “litigation risk is back on the table” now that the Danish pharma has stepped away.
With PN-477, Protagonist is directly going up against Eli Lilly, which is advancing retatrutide, also a triple-G agonist, in a Phase II trial.
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