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If ultimately confirmed, Makary’s planned departure, broken by The Wall Street Journal Friday afternoon, would follow a controversial tenure in which his deputy and constant co-author Vinay Prasad riled biopharma feathers with myriad unexpected drug rejections. Prasad stepped down as biologics chief last week.
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The Department of Health and Human Services is spinning its wheels, unable to establish steady leadership at three major divisions—the CDC and the FDA’s two primary review units.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s health department has consistently touted radical transparency as being key to its mission. Recent instances—the FDA’s decision not to disclose the recipients of three Commissioner’s National Priority Vouchers and FDA and CDC choices not to publish vaccine-related papers—call this intent into question.
In Salt Lake City, biotech founders new and seasoned reflect on ways to ride out the industry’s challenges, such as sending cold emails to investors and learning to address leadership weaknesses.
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Novo Nordisk’s amycretin showed no weight-loss plateau over 36 weeks in patients with type 2 diabetes, suggesting its efficacy could become even stronger with longer follow-up, according to analysts at BMO Capital Markets.
Previous mega blockbusters took years to reach their peak sales. Lilly’s tirzepatide franchise is on course to exceed them just a few years in.
Tecvayli plus Darzalex led to an 83% boost to progression-free survival versus the current standard therapy in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, results analysts at Guggenheim Securities called “remarkable.”
Richard Pazdur, the new director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, raised concerns amid the rollout of several FDA initiatives seeking to shorten the drug review process.
Alicia Jackson formerly served as deputy director of the Biological Technologies Office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Experts suggest the FDA’s Advanced Manufacturing Technologies designation could be a lifeline for improving production processes for approved cell and gene therapies.
Johnson & Johnson will discontinue the Phase II Auτonomy study of posdinemab after a scheduled review found the anti-tau antibody failed to slow clinical decline in patients with early Alzheimer’s disease.
Analysts agree that the failure of Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide to reduce Alzheimer’s disease progression removes a “modest” or “perceived” overhang on Biogen and the anti-amyloid antibody class in general, clearing the way for increased uptake of Leqembi and Eli Lilly’s Kisunla.
“We felt we had a responsibility to explore semaglutide’s potential, despite a low likelihood of success,” Martin Holst Lange, Novo’s R&D chief, said on Monday.
NervGen will meet with the FDA early next year to align on a regulatory path forward for NVG-291 in chronic spinal cord injury.