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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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FROM OUR EDITORS
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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Eli Lilly, Rivus Pharmaceuticals and more target different biological processes in hopes of generating higher-quality weight loss and avoiding metabolic issues.
Rocket Pharmaceuticals’ gene therapy Kresladi has been hit with an FDA Complete Response Letter requesting additional chemistry, manufacturing and controls information to complete its review.
Alumis is debuting in an initial public offering Friday on the Nasdaq, though the $250 million IPO is less than its initial targeted raise of $274 million just days ago.
AbbVie on Thursday announced it has acquired Celsius Therapeutics to expand its immunology portfolio with a first-in-class TREM1 inhibitor CEL383, following other big players looking to cash in on the hot immuno market.
Following the recently completed spinoff of cancer detection company Grail, sequencing giant Illumina said Thursday it expects to absorb a $1.47 billion goodwill impairment charge.
The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review has again flagged “substantial concerns” with Lykos Therapeutics’ data for its MDMA-based therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder and propensity for bias.
FDA
AbbVie and Merck/Daiichi Sankyo were hit this week with Complete Response Letters from the FDA, which rejected their respective drugs due to manufacturing issues.
Expansion across its network will mean hundreds of new employees in Cincinnati, increased ability to get complex medicines to patients and more.
Novo Nordisk on Wednesday announced it is stopping a late-stage study after its candidate ocedurenone, which the pharma acquired last year in a potential $1.3 billion deal with KBP Biosicences, failed to meet the primary endpoint.
The FDA on Thursday rejected Merck and Daiichi Sankyo’s HER3-targeted antibody-drug conjugate patritumab deruxtecan in a Complete Response Letter, citing problems with a third-party manufacturer.