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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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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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Newer hiring models based on skills applicants have learned and their general potential for growth could avoid the drawbacks of relying on degrees and experience.
A combination of Gilead Sciences’ domvanalimab and Arcus Biosciences’ zimberelimab, along with chemo, has shown an “encouraging” overall response rate in a mid-stage study.
Although it hit primary and secondary endpoints in a Phase II study, Ventyx Biosciences concluded that the results weren’t strong enough to face the stiff competition for the indication.
BioSpace has published its annual 2024 Best Places to Work list.
For $80 million upfront and the promise of more than $1.2 billion in milestones, Novartis has bought the global rights to develop an oral HDAC6 inhibitor from Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical.
The cell therapy-focused biotech will use most of the net proceeds from its initial public offering to fund Phase II clinical trials for its lead program, a novel CAR T-cell candidate.
In the third quarter, Vertex Pharmaceuticals reported revenue of $2.48 billion, a 6% increase from the same period in 2022. However, these figures fell short of Wall Street’s consensus estimates.
The Department of Health and Human Services in a court filing last week said that the blockbuster treatment could be “deselected” from the drug price negotiation list, given the recent approval of Amgen’s Stelara biosimilar.
Although Kodiak Sciences initially scrapped its development of tarcocimab tedromer after late-stage failures, new data has convinced the company to give the eye drug another shot.
After its deal with Tubulis in April 2023, Bristol Myers Squibb is continuing its antibody-drug conjugate buying spree by acquiring an asset from South Korea’s Orum Therapeutics.