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New data on Hengrui Pharma and Kailera Therapeutics’ investigational oral GLP-1 have validated the late-stage weight loss asset and paved the road for a regulatory submission in China, but analysts pointed to high rates of nausea and vomiting that could challenge the ongoing U.S. study.
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Molecular glue degraders are gaining traction in the clinic as well as funding from Big Pharma, with their potential to treat previously “undruggable” cancers and immunological diseases. Here are five clinical programs worth keeping an eye on.
Last month, the FDA launched TrialBlazer, intended to streamline the IND path and bring early clinical trials and medical innovation home to the U.S. It’s a start, but new agency leadership must see it through.
FDA
Significant leadership instability at the FDA—compounded by continued workforce attrition—led to a slight slowdown in overall regulatory productivity in the first half of this year, but the agency has been catching up of late.
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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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However, a lack of regulatory harmonization risks undermining the effective implementation of these technology-driven approaches.
Citing lack of evidence and manufacturing issues, the regulator has rejected Outlook Therapeutics’ bid to have its bevacizumab formulation approved for wet age-related macular degeneration.
In the latest salvo, Pfizer and BioNTech fired back at Moderna and asked the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to invalidate patent claims over the COVID-19 vaccines they say are overly broad.
The company’s pamrevlumab has failed another late-stage study in Duchenne muscular dystrophy, unable to significantly improve functional motor abilities over placebo.
FDA
Bristol Myers Squibb announced Monday that Reblozyl is now approved as a first-line treatment for adults with anemia due to myelodysplastic syndromes who may require regular blood transfusions.
The Biden administration on Tuesday released a much-anticipated list of the first 10 medicines included in Medicare’s Drug Price Negotiation Program under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Warning signs that preceded the current economic squeeze in the biopharma sector were not heeded by investors seeking rapid profits. Now, biotechs interested in making the leap to the public markets must get creative.
Data from the first-in-human trial showed that Eli Lilly’s muvalaplin is safe and can cut significant levels of lipoprotein(a), a risk factor for atherosclerosis and related cardiovascular diseases.
The company’s investigational electric field therapy was unable to elicit significant survival benefits in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.
The British drugmaker filed a lawsuit on Friday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware claiming the Inflation Reduction Act conflicts with the goals of the Orphan Drug Act.