Psychedelics

Sanofi and Novartis kick off the heart of earnings season; Lilly strikes its fourth pact in as many weeks; Regeneron earns landmark approval for a gene therapy for a type of genetic deafness, and also strikes a White House deal; FDA asks Amgen to withdraw Tavneos and, separately, issues Commissioner’s National Priority Vouches to three unnamed psychedelics companies.

While the FDA did not announce the recipient names of the Commissioner’s National Priority Vouchers, the agency’s descriptions of the awarded products match those in development at Compass Pathways, Transcend Therapeutics and Usona Institute.

With a greenlight for ibogaine to enter clinical testing and three unnamed products set to receive Commissioner’s National Priority Vouchers this week, it’s full speed ahead for psychedelics. But will sidestepping normal regulatory protocols actually be a net negative for the field?

The deals keep rolling in, with Lilly penning a $7 billion pact for gene delivery biotech Kelonia Therapeutics and UCB taking over cell therapy-focused Neurona Therapeutics; President Trump signed a new executive order supporting the development of psychedelic therapies, sparking fanfare and concern alike; and the FDA’s recent Replimune decision has triggered broader debate about the agency’s flexibility.

A new executive order could usher in psychedelics as the “key next wave” of mental health therapies, according to analysts at RBC Capital Markets.

Psychedelics are a “game changer” in depression care, according to William Blair, but the complicated treatment regimens mean they will likely be supplanted by more-traditional options once they become available.

The FDA outright refuses to review Moderna’s mRNA-based flu vaccine as CBER director Vinay Prasad’s conduct is scrutinized; Disc Medicine receives an unexpected rejection, which Prasad may also have had a hand in; Compass Pathways posts new late-stage data on its psilocybin-based depression drug; CDC is once again leaderless.

Evidence of durability of psilocybin-based COMP360 is a key point for the FDA, according to Compass Pathways Chief Medical Officer Guy Goodwin. By providing 26 weeks’ worth of such data instead of the requested 12, the company is delivering “in spades,” he said.

A lawsuit and FDA warning ensued after Hims & Hers launched a compounded version of Novo Nordisk’s new obesity pill, more Big Pharma report earnings—including from weight loss rivals Novo and Eli Lilly—and the gene therapy space sees another rejection.

Sales of Johnson & Johnson’s esketamine-based nasal spray jumped in the fourth quarter last year, priming the pump for a suite of other pharmas, including AbbVie, champing at the bit with their own psychedelics.