-
VC Report: Biotech Financings Fall, M&A Activity Expected to Pick Up
Biotech startups raised $2.6 billion globally in the second quarter of this year, but that’s down nearly 46% compared to the same period last year, according to a report from Pitchbook. Capital is harder to find, and the report projects an uptick in M&A activity as companies run out of cash.
-
Novo Nordisk Aims to Succeed Where Sanofi Faltered Drugging a Weight-Loss Target
Novo Nordisk isn’t putting all of its weight loss drug hopes in the same basket. Its acquisition of Inversago Pharma for up to $1 billion will bring a biotech whose lead drug candidate has early clinical trial data showing significant weight loss.
-
Payer’s Place: Dr. Anil Singh
Dr. Anil Singh shares his insights into the strategies employed by the organization to identify the most effective digital solutions for their members.
-
J&J Broadens Scope in Multiple Myeloma, Winning FDA Approval for New Drug
Johnson & Johnson’s stable of multiple myeloma drugs has grown to five products with the FDA approval of Talvey. The bispecific antibody is the first in a new class of new drugs designed to go after the novel multiple myeloma target GPRC5D.
-
Alltrna Unveils $109M to Make tRNA a Universal Therapy for Genetic Diseases
Flagship Pioneering-founded Alltrna is developing tRNA therapies to address genetic diseases driven by truncated versions of proteins. By addressing an aberrant genetic instruction underpinning many diseases, the startup is developing what it describes as a potential “universal solution.”
-
Nektar Sues Eli Lilly, Claiming the Big Pharma Breached Contract to Favor Another Drug
“Botched math” in calculating clinical data for an autoimmune disease drug is one of the allegations Nektar Therapeutics makes in a legal complaint against Eli Lilly. The biotech claims its former partner tried to disadvantage the asset in order to advance development of another drug it acquired in a billion dollar deal.
-
Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy Posts Trial Data Supporting the Drug as Way to Lower Heart Risks
Novo Nordisk weight-loss drug Wegovy reduced the risk of major cardiovascular events by 20% in a large clinical trial. The company said the results support expanding the drug’s label, but the looming question is whether the data will persuade payers to cover the pricey chronic therapy.
-
Astellas Drug Acquired in $5.9B Deal Wins FDA Approval in Vision-Loss Disorder
Izervay, a drug developed by Astellas Pharma subsidiary Iveric Bio, is now the second approved therapy for the degenerative vision-loss disorder geographic atrophy. The regulatory decision comes as safety concerns emerge around the first therapy for the disease, an Apellis Pharmaceuticals product.
-
Drug and Digital Technologies Are Part of NIH’s Long Covid Clinical Trial Plans
Long Covid continues to afflict patients and mystify clinicians. The National Institutes of Health is trying to identify potential treatments and it is launching a series of clinical trials that will assess a wide range of therapeutic interventions.
-
Discover the Next-Gen Platform for Integrated Collaborative Care
Beyond EHRs and digital front doors, reducing the gaps in patient care journeys.
-
Sage, Biogen Drug Is Now the First Approved Oral Med for Postpartum Depression
Sage Therapeutics’ Zurzuvae is the biotech’s second FDA approved product for postpartum depression, following the 2019 nod for IV-infused Zulresso. But in a blow to the multi-billion dollar partnership between Sage and Biogen, Zurzuvae did not win an additional approval in major depressive disorder.
-
Novartis Pays Ionis $60M to Expand Alliance on a Hot Target for Cardio Drugs
Novartis and Ionis Pharmaceuticals, already partners in cardiovascular disease R&D, are expanding their alliance to see if they can develop a next-generation therapy offering efficacy and dosing advantages. But competitors are already in the mix with programs addressing the same cardiovascular disease target.
-
GSK Patent Suit Aims to Halt Pfizer’s RSV Vaccine for Adults, But Not Infants
GSK claims that Pfizer’s FDA-approved vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus infringes on four patents protecting its own approved vaccine, Arexvy. The patent suit comes with the RSV season approaching.
-
Devices & Diagnostics, Artificial Intelligence, BioPharma
Newly Public Allurion Aims to Show How Med Tech Can Complement Obesity Drugs
Allurion Technologies has commercialized a gastric balloon in the form of a pill that patients swallow. But the weight loss platform from the now NYSE-listed company also includes AI-driven software that provides insights about a patient’s progress, technology with the potential for use alongside obesity drugs.
-
TG Therapeutics Lands Partner to Market MS Drug in Europe and Beyond
TG Therapeutics’ multiple sclerosis drug Briumvi will be commercialized in Europe by Neuraxpharm. The Germany-based company paid $140 million up front for certain rights to the drug, which received European Commission approval in June.
-
EQRx’s Affordable Drugs Strategy Ends in Acquisition by Revolution, Interested Only in Its Cash
Revolution Medicines is acquiring EQRx in an all-stock deal bringing that company’s more than $1 billion in cash. It marks the end for EQRx, a company that aimed to develop and commercialize lower-cost drugs for cancer and other diseases.