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President Donald Trump loves a deal, but Most Favored Nation drug pricing isn’t a good one for anyone.
Novo Nordisk has plummeted back to Earth after a stunning rise driven by Ozempic and Wegovy. Can the storied Danish pharma recover?
After a slow 2024, the biotech shell company Concentra Biosciences is back, offering to buy four biotechs in the past month and seven so far this year.
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Positive high-level results from an interim analysis of the ECHO Phase III trial showed AstraZeneca’s CALQUENCE® in combination with standard-of-care chemoimmunotherapy, bendamustine and rituximab, demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival versus standard of care in previously untreated adult patients with mantle cell lymphoma.
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With five CDER leaders in one year and regulatory proposals coming “by fiat,” the FDA is only making it more difficult to bring therapies to patients.
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The regulatory action marks the second rejection for a spinal muscular atrophy therapy this week after Scholar Rock’s apitegromab was issued a complete response letter on Tuesday, similarly on manufacturing grounds.
The FDA is hoping to repurpose GSK’s Wellcovorin for cerebral folate deficiency; Pfizer acquired fast-moving weight-loss startup Metsera for nearly $5 billion after suffering a hat trick of R&D failures; psychedelics are primed for M&A action and Eli Lilly may be next in line; RFK Jr.’s revamped CDC advisory committee met last week with confounding results; and Stealth secured its Barth approval.
While last week’s recommended changes by CDC advisors to the MMRV vaccine schedule are unlikely to have a tangible effect on Merck’s business, the company said the removal of choice for healthcare providers is “concerning.”
In its rejection letter, the FDA flagged problems at a third-party fill-finish site owned by Novo Nordisk. Issues at this site have previously been investigated by the regulator.
The agency also pointed to the use of Tylenol and other acetaminophen products during pregnancy as being potentially linked to neurological and developmental defects in children, following a press conference Monday in which President Donald Trump did the same.
An advisory committee last year found that Zynquista’s benefit-risk profile in type 1 diabetes was unfavorable due to cases of diabetic ketoacidosis.
By improving gait stability, Ionis’ zilganersen could be “potentially disease modifying,” according to analysts at William Blair.
Small and large drugmakers alike have made big, proactive moves to secure the production capacity that will be vital to serving the weight loss market.
The company was expecting a decision from the FDA by Sept. 28 for its oral drug tolebrutinib, but an update to the drug’s application package convinced the agency to take more time to review.
The acquisition of breakout obesity star Metsera should pump new life into Pfizer’s portfolio, which over the last two years has suffered from three discontinued assets.