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AbbVie and Novartis strike billion-dollar pacts while attendees at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference await that one big M&A deal and Merck teases limitless buying capacity; Eli Lilly readies for potential orforglipron launch while Novo Nordisk laments compounders; the IPO window cracks open; and the FDA concludes that GLP-1s do not pose a suicide risk.
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Drugmakers told the FDA that inflexible post-approval change requirements are among the top regulatory barriers to the reshoring of pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Former European Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan and former US Senator Richard Burr, speaking on a panel at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, pushed to see a larger picture beyond the Trump administration’s year of chaos and confusion.
Heightened diligence standards and longer decision timelines for early-stage startups slowed venture activity last year, J.P. Morgan found in a report published ahead of the bank’s annual healthcare conference in San Francisco.
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Follow along as BioSpace tracks job cuts and restructuring initiatives.
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Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
With five CDER leaders in one year and regulatory proposals coming “by fiat,” the FDA is only making it more difficult to bring therapies to patients.
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The nausea and other gastrointestinal side effects of weight loss drugs like Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy or Eli Lilly’s Zepbound will limit how much these drugs can help patients and stunt the overall obesity market unless we approach the problem head on.
The FDA awards a second round of Commissioner’s National Priority vouchers to six larger biopharma companies. And this time, with the exception of Eli Lilly’s orforglipron, the vouchers are for drugs that are already on the market.
The agreement will also secure a $150 price for future weight loss pills from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly—at least initially.
The company reported $200 million in net losses for the third quarter, but an aggressive and highly successful cost-cutting campaign is helping to stem the downward trend.
The highest dose of Eli Lilly’s eloralintide led to 20.1% weight loss after 48 weeks in a Phase II trial, exceeding analyst expectations and highlighting a “potentially best in class profile,” according to BMO Capital Markets.
In this episode presented by PII, BioSpace’s head of insights discusses how to relieve clinical trial patients of technological burden to improve compliance with guests Oliver Eden and Travis Webb.
In an investor call Thursday, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot outlined his company’s approach to obesity drug development based on “the medical aspect” of weight loss, including driving down visceral fat.
FDA
The search continues for a new leader for the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research after George Tidmarsh resigned on Sunday. Deputy Director Mike Davis is in the running, along with Mary Thanh Hai, currently head of the Office of New Drugs.
The court’s decision allows Metsera to walk away from its previous acquisition agreement with Pfizer in favor of Novo Nordisk’s higher bid.
Pressure from the FTC and Pfizer is building around Novo Nordisk’s bid to snatch obesity biotech Metsera. The antitrust watchdog has spotted issues with the structure of Novo’s bid, while its New York-based rival has put more money on the table.