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Biogen’s new data, presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, supports a tau-focused approach to the intractable neurodegenerative disease; psychedelics are back in the news with more positive data from Compass Pathways and final guidance from the FDA; and the ATTR-CM space got a major shakeup with the late-stage failure of AstraZeneca and Ionis’ antisense therapeutic.
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Biopharma is entering its second-quarter earnings season riding high on a wave of massive deals and venture capital flow, plus a clearing of regulatory and policy overhangs. What can industry watchers expect to hear on the upcoming investor calls?
Biogen touted an “unprecedented” drop in tau in a Phase 2 trial, backing the company’s decision to take diranersen to Phase 3 despite a missed primary endpoint and seemingly supporting the anti-tau approach.
As antibody-drug conjugates advance and move into earlier lines of treatment, drug developers have to build gentler therapies that don’t just extend survival but improve it.
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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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Truqap’s positive clinical data comes after it failed a late-stage study in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. It helps AstraZeneca position itself as a top player in the prostate cancer space, alongside its Big Pharma colleagues.
While taldefgrobep alfa failed to show improved motor function in spinal muscular atrophy, treated patients saw a marked reduction in body fat. Biohaven plans to launch a Phase II trial in obesity by the end of the year.
Cassava Sciences has revealed the late-stage clinical failure of controversial Alzheimer’s drug simulfilam. The company had pledged to share the results whether “good, bad or ambiguous.”
The FDA has accepted Alnylam’s supplemental New Drug Application for Amvuttra on the heels of BridgeBio’s Attruby nod, potentially giving Pfizer’s tafamidis franchise another competitor.
Adcendo joins a growing group of biotechs working to usher the next generation of antibody-drug conjugates to the market.
Career conservative and former congressman Dave Weldon will, if confirmed, act as director of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, where his anti-vaccine views will mesh with those of selected Department of Health and Human Services head Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Sage Therapeutics discontinued development of its lead candidate dalzanemdor after a third clinical failure, leading analysts to question the biotech’s future profitability.
ADC Therapeutics, Sutro Biopharma and Zai Lab are among those developing antibody-drug conjugates to address payload and toxicity challenges of current ADCs—and rapidly grow the multibillion-dollar market.
With two decisions originally scheduled for this week already announced, including BridgeBio’s approval in ATTR-CM, the regulator has just one PDUFA on its plate this holiday week.
BridgeBio secured approval for Attruby Friday, along with the all-important mortality benefit that could give the drug a significant boost in the market against Pfizer’s tafamidis and potentially Alnylam’s Amvuttra.