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Alternatives to opioids are desperately needed to better treat moderate to severe acute pain, but to date, we’ve seen few novel analgesics hit the market.
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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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Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
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.
THE LATEST
Delphia launched in May 2024 with the goal of forcing malignant cells to overactivate and die.
After failing to hit the primary endpoint in a Phase III trial, Neumora is remixing study parameters in two replicate trials, with data expected in the first half of 2026.
Protagonist Therapeutics notches a milestone in its pact with Takeda for rusfertide. New data show that many patients with a chronic blood cancer taking the drug didn’t need to have their blood removed to bring down dangerously high hemocrit levels.
Despite not differentiating itself from placebo, the Texas-based company said it plans to push pilavapadin into Phase III trials before long.
AbbVie is joining the amylin arena, though the pharma is still far behind leaders Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly.
Leqembi’s application now moves forward to the European Commission, which will issue a formal verdict for the injection that will apply to all EU member states as well as Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland.
Roche’s asthma drug Xolair appears to be safer and more effective than oral immunotherapy at treating adults and children with one or more food allergies.
The partners are building toward a regulatory submission for Tezspire in chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps in the first half of 2025.
In the current legal and political landscape, it is all about survival for DEI initiatives.
Two recent documents—one from the FDA, the other from a commission organized by The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology—indicate an evolving mindset toward treating obesity as a chronic disease.