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As an office of the executive branch, the Department of Health and Human Services “does not have the authority” to implement sweeping changes to the structure of the agency as created by Congress, a judge wrote.
FEATURED STORIES
The EPIC Act has been proposed with bipartisan and industry support to give small molecule drugs the same protection against price negotiation as biologics, but concerns over how to balance the federal budget could prevent a short-term fix to the IRA.
IPO
Around 25 companies have gone public this year, most of them in the early months. Most have tumbled from their original offer price.
By far, the largest acquisition of 2024 was Novo Holdings’ yet-to-be-closed buyout of manufacturer Catalent at $16.5 billion. Outside of that, the leading pharmaceutical companies kept to less than $5 billion per deal.
Job Trends
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) today announced topline data from the Phase 2b clinical trial (NCT04707313) investigating its oral Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) candidate, danuglipron (PF-06882961), in adults with obesity and without type 2 diabetes.
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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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The FDA accepted Novo Nordisk’s NDA for an oral formulation of Wegovy. The agency is expected to release its verdict on the drug in the fourth quarter of this year.
The FDA’s user free programs account for just under half of the agency’s budget—money that could be imperiled by the recent staffing exodus.
Beam Therapeutics and Verve Therapeutics have each built their lead candidates on a technique billed as a safer alternative to conventional CRISPR. Clinical results have so far been promising.
On the FDA’s docket this month are two expansion bids, one for GSK’s asthma drug Nucala into COPD and another for Merck’s oral cancer drug for a pair of rare tumors.
Following challenges with its drug candidate bexotegrast and announcement of a limited-duration stockholder rights program, Pliant is paring back its workforce.
No Patient Left Behind says that drug value assessments used in countries like Canada and Germany undervalue innovative medicines by 90% and mislead U.S. policymakers into thinking Americans are overpaying.
After multiple rounds of layoffs that cut Kronos down to just 10 people, the small molecule biotech has accepted a buyout offer from Kevin Tang’s Concentra Biosciences.
As the Trump administration—including HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—plays fast and loose with scientific studies and facts, there may be a more sinister force at play: censorship.
Some 20 travel staff at the FDA, who made arrangements for the regulator’s inspectors, will be getting their jobs back, as per the Associated Press. Some food scientists involved in testing will also be reinstated.
In an internal memo, the World Health Organization signaled its support for anti-obesity drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound, which the agency decided against listing in 2023, the last time the Essential Medicines list was updated.