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Biogen’s new data, presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, supports a tau-focused approach to the intractable neurodegenerative disease; psychedelics are back in the news with more positive data from Compass Pathways and final guidance from the FDA; and the ATTR-CM space got a major shakeup with the late-stage failure of AstraZeneca and Ionis’ antisense therapeutic.
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Biopharma is entering its second-quarter earnings season riding high on a wave of massive deals and venture capital flow, plus a clearing of regulatory and policy overhangs. What can industry watchers expect to hear on the upcoming investor calls?
Biogen touted an “unprecedented” drop in tau in a Phase 2 trial, backing the company’s decision to take diranersen to Phase 3 despite a missed primary endpoint and seemingly supporting the anti-tau approach.
As antibody-drug conjugates advance and move into earlier lines of treatment, drug developers have to build gentler therapies that don’t just extend survival but improve it.
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Congressional letters sent to the CEOs of Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Merck, BMS and AbbVie this week voicing concerns about the pharmas’ clinical trials in China highlight an ongoing discrepancy in how government and industry think about the rise of the Asian country’s biotech industry.
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FDA
After several rejections over 20-plus years, Fabre-Kramer Pharmaceuticals has secured the FDA’s approval for its major depressive disorder drug gepirone hydrochloride, now marketed under the brand name Exxua.
After a groundbreaking year in the Alzheimer’s space, Parkinson’s disease researchers express renewed hope based on a greater biological understanding of neurodegeneration.
The FDA will kick off October with an advisory committee meeting for Amgen’s Lumakras and target action dates for Alnylam’s patisiran and Bristol Myers Squibb’s Opdivo.
If approved by the FDA, Karuna Therapeutics’ investigational agonist of muscarinic acetylcholine 1 receptors M1 and M4 would provide the first new mechanism of action for schizophrenia patients in decades.
The companies, which have been partners for a decade on various research programs, are pooling their efforts in two early-stage programs for Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s diseases using RNA-targeting medicines.
Non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with the drug combination saw a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival compared to AstraZeneca’s osimertinib.
FDA
The companies on Wednesday secured the regulator’s approval for their eye drop Ryzvumi for the reversal of pharmacologically-induced mydriasis, as Viatris looks to add $1 billion in sales by 2028.
After an FDA advisory committee voted 17-1 against approving NurOwn last month, BrainStorm executives Wednesday laid out a potential path forward for the experimental amyotrophic lateral sclerosis treatment.
As the incoming CEO of Vicore, Mousa is ready to rally for fresh investment to advance cures for respiratory conditions.
After picking up magrolimab in a $4.9 billion purchase of Forty Seven, a second Phase III study is being discontinued for the anti-CD47 antibody, this time in acute myeloid leukemia.