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JPM25 is in full swing as several pharma powerhouses—including Merck, Lilly and Amgen—detail their strategies for growth in the coming year.
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A decade-long journey is coming to an end for Stealth BioTherapeutics and the Barth syndrome community. Will it result in the first-ever treatment for this ultra-rare mitochondrial disease, or possibly the end of the road for the Massachusetts-based biotech?
The patient-specific nature of autologous cell therapies presents unique challenges that can best be addressed by a middle path between on-site and centralized manufacturing.
Some observers see risks to becoming over-reliant on local facilities, noting the potential need for trade partners if domestic production is disrupted.
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Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved PAXLOVID™ (nirmatrelvir tablets and ritonavir tablets) for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in adults who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19, including hospitalization or death.
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During the COVID-19 pandemic, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—along with FDA Commissioner Marty Makary and CBER Director Vinay Prasad—argued against vaccine mandates, partly because they limited medical choice. This week, the FDA under their leadership approved updated COVID-19 vaccines with restrictions that do the same.
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Despite the disappointing late-stage results in non-small cell lung cancer, Jefferies analyst Stephen Barker contends the likelihood of FDA approval “remains high” for the experimental antibody-drug conjugate, though the regulator is now more likely to convene an advisory committee.
Candid Therapeutics, which is repositioning two antibodies for autoimmune indications, will be led by Ken Song who was previously CEO of RayzeBio and oversaw its $4.1 billion acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb.
Terns Pharmaceuticals will advance TERN-601 into Phase II after early-stage data showed the oral therapy led to weight loss of 4.9%, comparable with weight loss pills Lilly and Pfizer are developing, according to analysts.
Set to start in 2025, Relay Therapeutics is moving toward a pivotal study of experimental treatment RLY-2608 in heavily pretreated locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer.
GSK’s twice-yearly depemokimab reduced asthma attacks by half and cut clinic visits by nearly three-quarters, positioning it for an estimated $4 billion in peak sales if approved.
In advanced non-small cell lung cancer, Summit Therapeutics’ ivonescimab appears to be 49% more effective at reducing the risk of disease progression or death versus Merck’s Keytruda in a late-stage study. However, analysts contend the caveat is that the trial was conducted in an entirely Chinese patient population.
Follow-up data from the MARIPOSA study show a favorable overall survival trend versus Tagrisso in EGFR-mutated advanced non-small cell lung cancer. The findings come just weeks after the Rybrevant-Lazcluze combination was approved for the first-line treatment.
Using a computational biomarker, the companies say they can identify which patients would derive significant clinical benefit from their experimental antibody-drug conjugate. AstraZeneca and Roche are co-developing and commercializing a companion diagnostic for the biomarker.
Bispecific antibodies and anti-TIGIT therapies both appear to be writing comeback stories as cancer experts head to Barcelona for the 2024 European Society for Medical Oncology Congress. Radioligand therapies and synthetic lethality assets are also attracting attention.
As Congress considers a bill that aims to distance U.S. biopharma from five Chinese companies, the industry must emphasize the importance of prioritizing patient care over power plays.