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Drugs are being invented and manufactured right here in the U.S. by Americans, for Americans. So why doesn’t the industry hold the same respect as steelworkers or other all-American pursuits?
FEATURED STORIES
New data and analyses presented at the American Diabetes Association’s annual meeting highlight the priorities for the next generation of weight loss medicines: muscle preservation, limited side effects and novel targets.
The FDA has several big-ticket decisions lined up to close out July, including applications in lymphoma, rare diseases and a hormone deficiency, while GSK dares to DREAMM again in multiple myeloma.
Market reaction to recent readouts from Compass Pathways and Beckley Psytech/atai in treatment-resistant depression speaks to the hurdles psychedelic therapies must clear to quell concerns about commercial viability.
Job Trends
Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, announced statistically significant and clinically meaningful results from its Phase III STARGLO study of Columvi® in combination with gemcitabine and oxaliplatin versus Rituxan® in combination with GemOx for people with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma who have received at least one prior line of therapy and are not candidates for autologous stem cell transplant, or who have received two or more prior lines of therapy.
FROM OUR EDITORS
Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
The FDA has vowed to fix a pharma ad loophole—but they’re targeting the wrong one.
THE LATEST
The number of biopharma professionals let go has increased year over year for three straight months. In July, as many as 8,000 people lost or were projected to lose their jobs, due largely to news that Merck projects to cut roughly 6,000 employees as part of a multiyear process.
Vertex reported healthy revenue in its second quarter earnings report, though news of VX-993’s mid-stage trial results and lack of alignment with the FDA regarding an expanded label for Journavx tempered analyst reactions, sending the stock down 13%.
Praxis’ vormatrigine reduced seizures by 56.3%, an effect size that, according to analysts at Truist Securities, exceeds that of its closest competitors.
While the deaths occurred in patients who had been treated with Agios’ anemia treatment Pyrukynd, the biotech insisted in an SEC filing midday Monday that the drug’s risk-benefit profile remains unchanged.
In an open letter, 22 experts who designed and ran Replimune’s Phase III IGNYTE trial answered the FDA’s issues, as outlined in the complete response letter for the melanoma candidate RP1.
From innovation in manufacturing to more-flexible regulation and better communication with payers, much needs to happen to make CGTs commercially viable. But it is possible, experts agreed at a recent panel.
The primary focus in scaling up production should first be the adoption of lean manufacturing principles used in virtually every other industry.
According to reporting from multiple outlets, Richard Pazdur, head of the Oncology Center of Excellence at CDER, opposed the consensus opinion of CBER staff to approve the drug. Replimune’s stock has dropped precipitously since the rejection.
The company expects that the U.S. COVID-19 vaccination rate will be “maybe a couple of points lower” than the prior level of around 20% but that pricing and Comirnaty’s market share will hold steady.
The pivotal Phase II trial is testing Allogene’s CAR T candidate cemacabtagene ansegedleucel for large B-cell lymphoma. ALLO-647 was being used as a preparative lymphodepletion therapy.