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While expressing disappointment, William Blair analysts were unsurprised by the Phase II failure, having assigned the VISTA study a high level of risk given the “mixed” performance of a similar drug in a prior multiple sclerosis study.
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Ensho Therapeutics CEO Neena Bitritto-Garg, recently named to BioSpace’s 40 Under 40, proved her mettle managing one of the toughest partnerships out there: the one between Eisai and Biogen that led to new Alzheimer’s drugs Aduhelm and Leqembi.
While the FDA continues to put out guidance documents and approve drugs, some companies are already reporting delays in dealings with the agency, while insiders warn of falling morale and a negative perception from the rest of the biopharma world.
Mergers and acquisitions are not just for Big Pharma. A new report from Leerink Partners takes a stab at identifying the small- to mid-cap pharmas best prepared to bolster their pipelines with a buyout.
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Astellas is opening a second location of Universal Cells, its wholly owned subsidiary, at a research campus in Japan and transferring 12 roles from Universal’s Seattle location.
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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 strategic initiative will extend Metagenomi’s cash runway into the fourth quarter of 2027. That same year, the company expects to generate initial Phase I data for its lead asset MGX-001 in hemophilia A.
Altimmune’s pemvidutide showed “class-leading signals” in non-invasive assessments and has “potentially best-in-class tolerability,” according to analysts at H.C. Wainwright.
Aside from offering to acquire all remaining shares of Neuphoria, existing investor Lynx1 Master Fund also announced its plan to nominate directors in the biotech’s upcoming board elections.
With immunology and inflammation blockbusters like AbbVie’s Skyrizi and Rinvoq reeling in nearly $7 billion combined in the third quarter, the pipeline-in-a-product strategy has never been more attractive.
Pfizer seals the deal with Metsera for $10 billion after Novo Nordisk bowed out; President Donald Trump welcomes executives from Novo and Eli Lilly to the White House to announce that the companies’ GLP-1 medicines would be sold at a reduced cost; and the FDA grants the second round of priority review vouchers—primarily to already marketed drugs.
With pricing pressures climbing, Pfizer, Eli Lilly and other major drugmakers are looking to sell their products directly to patients. Analysts are skeptical that these efforts, including those announced to much fanfare from the White House, will result in meaningful reductions in drug spending.
FDA
The appointment of Richard Pazdur, currently director of the FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence, comes less than a week after he reportedly declined the post, and just nine days after his predecessor’s controversial exit.
Data presented at this year’s American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in New Orleans underline rapid advancements in the cardiovascular field.
The mid-stage failure was unexpected to analysts at BMO Capital Markets, who viewed ‘770 as mostly derisked given its similar mechanism of action to Johnson & Johnson’s Spravato.
Cogent Biosciences expects to file a new drug application for bezuclastinib in gastrointestinal stromal tumors early next year after what Leerink said was “the first positive trial in this disease in over a decade.”