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After its next-generation obesity asset CagriSema lost a head-to-head matchup with Eli Lilly’s Zepbound, Novo Nordisk is throwing more money into the obesity space, striking a deal with Vivtex to advance novel weight loss pills.
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IPO
LB Pharma needed $350 million to advance a promising schizophrenia candidate at a time when the biotech markets were locked up tight. Fortunately, it wasn’t CEO Heather Turner’s first rodeo.
Rare disease drug developers struggle to survive in a biopharma investment market that prioritizes large patient populations. Initiatives like the Orphan Therapeutics Accelerator are attempting to solve what CEO Craig Martin says is not a science problem, but a math problem.
Eli Lilly’s win in a head-to-head trial drove Novo Nordisk’s market cap to pre-Wegovy levels not long after the victor became the first pharma company to top a $1 trillion valuation. It seems one company can do no right, while the other can do no wrong.
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Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
FDA
Following the FDA’s refusal to review Moderna’s investigational mRNA flu vaccine last week, Commissioner Marty Makary faced questions from the U.S. president about the agency’s handling of vaccines. It’s a clear signal that the tension long brewing at the drug regulator has now gone all the way to the top.
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The pharma giant announced Tuesday that Mikael Dolsten is leaving his role as chief science officer after more than 15 years. Pfizer is conducting an external search for a replacement with Dolsten staying on to assist in finding his replacement over next several months.
As Novo Nordisk’s weight loss drug enters the Chinese market, its patent is expiring in two years and biosimilar competition is rising.
The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday issued an interim report on the top pharmacy benefit managers, showing that they are generating massive profit at the expense of patients by inflating prescription drug costs.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Monday said he intends to have a “significant package of China-related legislation” signed into law by the end of this year, including the BIOSECURE Act which intends to stop federal contracts with Chinese “companies of concern.”

Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro outperformed Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic at inducing weight loss in obese or overweight adults, according to an observational study published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Roche’s eye implant Susvimo for patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration is re-entering the U.S. market after the FDA approved updates to the components of the product.
The Biden administration is appealing a 2023 jury decision that declared invalid its patent protections over Gilead Sciences’ HIV prevention regimen of Truvada and Descovy.
Following a disappointing readout last year, uniQure on Tuesday posted promising Phase I/II data for its investigational gene therapy AMT-130 and nabbed the first-ever Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy designation from the FDA in Huntington’s disease.
FDA
The groundwork being done in 2024 is building the foundation for global collaboration in the future.
GLP-1 receptor agonists could reduce the risk of 10 obesity-associated cancers, such as meningioma, multiple myeloma and colorectal cancer, according to an analysis of electronic health records.