Neuroscience
Biogen and Eisai have spent much of Leqembi’s launch convincing physicians and patients that it’s safe to treat Alzheimer’s disease. With patients now hitting the 18-month mark of treatment, the conversation is finally shifting to efficacy.
The approval comes days after Germany’s Merck KGaA confirmed it was in advanced talks to acquire SpringWorks.
Leqembi’s sales in the U.S. continue to underwhelm, overshadowed by its growth in international markets.
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.
Before garnering approval on Tuesday, Onapgo had been rejected twice by the FDA.
Faced with the encroaching threats of patent expirations and generics, biopharma companies in 2024 invested 33% more in licensing deals, on average, than in 2023 with an eye toward enriching their pipelines with novel and potentially more effective therapies.
The Phase IIa results continue a surge of momentum in a treatment space that last week saw the approval of Vertex’s Journavx as the first novel mechanism for acute pain in decades.
In a Phase IIb trial, GH001 elicited significant drops in treatment-resistant depression. The news comes less than two weeks after J&J secured FDA monotherapy approval for its esketamine nasal spray Spravato in the same indication.
After the Phase II failure of its lead asset from Cerevel, AbbVie is resetting expectations and narrowing the clinical program to an adjunct approach—for now.
Analysts were unfazed by the news that Takeda will cease development of soticlestat after Phase III failures, while responding positively to the announcement that Julie Kim will take the helm of the Japanese giant in 2026.
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