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Merck joins a growing list of companies targeting lipoprotein(a), high levels of which are associated with an elevated risk of adverse cardiovascular outcomes.
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Biogen recently bolstered its pipeline with a potential $1.8 billion acquisition of Human Immunology Biosciences, following other big players looking to cash in on a global immunology market estimated to grow to $257 billion by 2032.
Despite a surge in the financial markets, multiple Big Pharma companies have announced hundreds or even thousands of cuts. Experts hope for a better second half of the year.
Given their seven-figure price tags, it’s not clear how accessible the would-be cures will be to U.S. patients on public or private insurance.
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During the COVID-19 pandemic, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—along with FDA Commissioner Marty Makary and CBER Director Vinay Prasad—argued against vaccine mandates, partly because they limited medical choice. This week, the FDA under their leadership approved updated COVID-19 vaccines with restrictions that do the same.
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Staff cuts will leave IGM Biosciences with 37 employees. The company is also halting development of two bispecific antibody T cell engagers for autoimmune diseases.
After the successful development of mavacamten and the sale of MyoKardia to BMS in 2020, former executives of the biotech are back together with a mission to make cardiovascular disease curable and preventable.
The Biotech Ecosystem Venture Fund will combine the sourcing capabilities of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) with Eli Lilly’s expertise in R&D—plus half a billion in capital from the Big Pharma.
Research has shown remnant cholesterol is a significant factor in cardiovascular disease risk.
If approved, Pfizer’s sasanlimab will distinguish itself from Merck’s blockbuster Keytruda as the first PD-1 inhibitor indicated in combination with BCG for high-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer patients who had not previously undergone BCG treatment.
Concurrently, a preprint from the industry-backed Vital Transformation found a 50% drop in company investments into small-molecule drug development.
Eli Lilly’s idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis deal with Mediar is centered around MTX-463, an anti-WISP1 antibody that early studies have found to be safe and capable of engaging its target.
On Thursday, Boehringer Ingelheim announced a partnership with Synaffix to advance antibody-drug conjugates and exercised its fourth license option under a 2013 collaboration with Oxford BioTherapeutics.
Ouro is planning to leverage T cell engagers to deplete B cells and “reset” the immune system to treat immune-mediated diseases.
ALS
Misses from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis hopefuls Denali Therapeutics and partners AbbVie and Calico Life Sciences mark the latest setbacks for the controversial platform trial, the results from which have largely mirrored the dismal success rate in ALS overall.