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President Donald Trump continues to warn of tariffs on the pharmaceutical industry; Susan Monarez replaces Dave Weldon as CDC director nominee; Novo Nordisk joins the triple-G race; Alnylam wins approval for Amvuttra in ATTR-CM; and Cassava Sciences ends development of simufilam in Alzheimer’s.
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FDA
A week into his tenure as head of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, experts agree that Rick Pazdur is the “ideal fit” to stabilize the agency. And, according to one ex-FDA official, if his CBER counterpart Vinay Prasad tries to supersede Pazdur’s authority, “there will be hell to pay.”
The introduction of AbbVie’s hepatitis C drugs in 2014 forced Gilead’s hand in the fight for market dominance in hepatitis C. A similar dynamic is now playing out between Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk in the obesity space, with some key differences.
The industry’s ability to generate a return on billions of dollars of investment rests on a heavily regulated supply chain defined by time-pressured logistics.
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Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
Unpredictable communication and a lack of transparency are eroding the industry’s and the public’s trust. The FDA, experts agree, needs to take control of the narrative.
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President-elect Donald Trump and his incoming administration are unlikely to attempt a wholesale restructuring of U.S. healthcare and could promote M&A activity, but controversial picks like Robert F. Kennedy could impact vaccine sales, experts say.
SURMOUNT-5’s results reflect those of multiple real-world studies, which have found that tirzepatide treatment results in stronger weight loss than semaglutide.
The agency’s warning letter outlines Applied Therapeutics’ failure to provide adequate information regarding the clinical trial—including a dosing error for govorestat—claims that the company said it had already addressed.
Amylin analogs present a strong alternative or complement to GLP-1 receptor agonists, potentially eliciting higher-quality weight loss with a cleaner tolerability profile.
Novartis, Gilead, Roche and Takeda commit to new partners in a spate of mid-sized collaborations this week. Meanwhile, Applied Therapeutics’ stock tanks 80% after govorestat is denied approval, Intra-Cellular Therapies seeks to expand Caplyta into major depressive disorder and the FDA investigates the safety of bluebird bio’s Skysona.
Not exactly known for its dealmaking, Sarepta Therapeutics has thrown down a massive wad of cash to work with Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals on RNAi-based medicines.
Intra-Cellular submitted its application to the FDA for Caplyta’s approval in major depressive disorder, potentially opening up an additional $1 billion in sales. Still, the stock remains “cheap,” according to Jefferies analysts.
Keros’ elritercept has shown promising efficacy signals in myelofibrosis and myelodysplastic syndromes and could pose a formidable challenge to Bristol Myers Squibb’s Reblozyl.
The collaboration will see COUR and Roche’s Genentech leverage the biotech’s antigen-specific immune tolerance platform to develop and commercialize therapies for an undisclosed autoimmune disease.
The deal with Tubulis will help Gilead regain its footing in the ADC space following the withdrawal of Trodelvy in bladder cancer and its late-stage fail in NSCLC.