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While the FDA appears to be adamant that uniQure conduct a sham surgery–controlled Phase 3 trial before AMT-130 can be considered for approval, experts believe there is an alternate path forward for the therapy, perhaps even based on precedent from the recent drama surrounding Moderna’s mRNA flu vaccine.
Poplar Therapeutics is seeking a “step change” in the treatment of food allergy and other atopic conditions, with $95 million raised to date, including a $45 million series A extension that closed Tuesday.
Infrastructure and location have helped make Holly Springs a future hub for obesity drug production, with Amgen and Roche planning to manufacture GLP-1 therapies there to compete in the growing market.
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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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Pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts announced Tuesday it has filed a lawsuit in federal court in Missouri against the Federal Trade Commission for its “unfair, biased and erroneous” July report on the industry.
The release of early-stage data on three oral weight loss drug candidates hints at which companies have the strongest hand, but the comparisons are rife with confounding variables, leaving analysts unsure about where to place their bets.
Last month, Vertex said sickle cell patients had not yet received infusions of its gene therapy Casgevy. That’s now changed, as the company races with bluebird bio’s Lyfgenia.
Despite meeting the primary endpoint in a Phase III study, two patients treated with Merck and Daiichi Sankyo’s experimental antibody-drug conjugate died in a Phase III non-small cell lung cancer study, though the deaths have not been linked to patritumab deruxtecan.
In metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, a retrospective analysis shows that patients on GLP-1 receptor agonists are 14% less likely to progress to cirrhosis.
Boehringer Ingelheim’s investigational compound nerandomilast, which targets the PDE4B enzyme involved in fibrosis and inflammation in the lungs, met its primary endpoint in a late-stage study.
RSV
The newly approved filling line will be able to provide both 50-mg and 100-mg doses of the respiratory syncytial virus antibody Beyfortus to help meet demand ahead of the 2024/2025 RSV season.
Bristol Myers Squibb presented the positive Phase III results on its already approved Opdivo-Yervoy combo at ESMO over the weekend, while separately announcing that it was returning Immatics’ bispecific T cell engager.
Friday’s approval comes after a previous rejection in October 2023 due to manufacturing concerns.
The result comes months after an FDA advisory committee flagged the risk of potential overtreatment with perioperative regimens.