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European pharma companies splashed billions of dollars into the U.S. biopharma sector in a matter of days, but there are differing views on whether the activity represents the rise of a new buyer class or a quirk of timing.
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New guidelines from two leading medical associations suggest that efforts to reduce bad cholesterol should focus on maintaining low levels of two key lipoproteins. Big pharma is all in, looking to improve on the standard statins to help vanquish America’s number one killer: heart disease.
The FDA’s decision last year to make complete response letters public provides new insight into why therapies sometimes fail to get the regulatory greenlight. Analysts say the information could help sponsors refine their regulatory strategies.
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.
FROM OUR EDITORS
Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
FDA
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.
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FDA
The FDA’s approval of Eli Lilly’s obesity drug Zepbound intensifies an already heated battle with Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy in the lucrative weight-loss drug market, as other drugmakers hope to get a piece of the action.
To protect the central nervous system, the blood-brain barrier bars entry to around 98% of molecules—but approaches like Roche’s trontinemab could spell new hope in Alzheimer’s and beyond.
The company’s immunotherapy, in combination with chemotherapy Avastin, showed favorable progression-free survival in a late-stage hepatocellular carcinoma study.
FDA
Following a more than two-month delay to its PDUFA action date, Valneva’s chikungunya vaccine Ixchiq has won the regulatory race beating biotech Bavarian Nordic.
The two mid-stage flops—one in major depressive disorder and another in focal onset seizures—involve drug candidates from partnerships with Xenon Pharmaceuticals and Takeda, respectively.
FDA
The biopharma’s Adzynma, a human recombinant ADAMST13 therapeutic, is the first approved therapy for the ultra-rare clotting disorder congenital thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.
Over the next two weeks, the FDA is set to decide on New Drug Applications from Pacira, CorMedix and Aldeyra and hold an advisory committee meeting for two overdue confirmatory trials from Acrotech.
The Federal Trade Commission is challenging over 100 pharmaceutical patents held by prominent drugmakers, including AbbVie, AstraZeneca and Boehringer Ingelheim, for their listings.
As Vertex and CRISPR Therapeutics await the monumental potential approval of exa-cel, bluebird bio, Iovance and Rocket Pharmaceuticals wait patiently in the wings.
While the biotech’s third-quarter revenue beat Wall Street expectations, its $7.3 billion acquisition of Reata Pharmaceuticals—which closed in September—negatively impacted 2023 per-share earnings.