Karuna swoops up Goldfinch programs

Today's Big News

Feb 2, 2023

Lilly execs shrug off Alzheimer's rejection while assuring investors safety was not an issue


The AKT is over: Roche finally dumps phase 3 prostate cancer prospect


Merck admits defeat in race with Valneva to get first chikungunya vaccine to market 


Lilly drops 2nd program against NASH target that caught Pfizer's eye


BMS knocks down a handful of early cancer candidates amid pipeline cleanout


Karuna plunders Goldfinch's nest with hopes of repurposing kidney candidates for neuroscience


Innovation, investment in pain and addiction are not meeting the societal burden, report says

 

Featured

Lilly execs shrug off Alzheimer's rejection while assuring investors safety was not an issue

CEO David Ricks expressed a shrug over the FDA rejection of the accelerated review for Alzheimer’s med donanemab, while the company’s chief scientist batted back concerns that the FDA was worried about safety.
 

Top Stories

The AKT is over: Roche finally dumps phase 3 prostate cancer prospect

Roche’s long-stuttering attempt to bring the cancer drug candidate ipatasertib to market has run out of steam. After multiple clinical setbacks, the Swiss drug developer has dropped a phase 3 prostate cancer trial—and sent its acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) prospect packing at the same time.

Merck admits defeat in race with Valneva to get first chikungunya vaccine to market

Once neck and neck with Valneva to get the first chikungunya vaccine to market, it now looks like Merck & Co. has admitted defeat as its French rival reaches the finish line.

Lilly drops 2nd program against NASH target that caught Pfizer's eye

Eli Lilly’s second stab at developing a KHK inhibitor in diabetes and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is over. Fifteen months after dropping its first candidate, Lilly has kicked the second program from its phase 1 pipeline, dealing another blow to a target that has attracted the attention of Pfizer.

BMS knocks down a handful of early cancer candidates amid pipeline cleanout

Bristol Myers Squibb has dumped nearly 10 early to mid-stage assets as part of a new year pipeline cleanout, including a phase 2 solid tumor candidate. The news comes just a day after the company ended a phase 2 trial testing its anti-TIGIT candidate.

Karuna plunders Goldfinch's nest with hopes of repurposing kidney candidates for neuroscience

Fierce Biotech may have only broken the story of Goldfinch Bio’s demise last Friday, but Karuna Therapeutics has already raced to the closing down sale to take its pick of the shuttered biotech’s pipeline.

Innovation, investment in pain and addiction are not meeting the societal burden, report says

With 93% of experimental pain drugs failing in phase 2 over the past five years, it’s not hard to see why pharma has been resistant to drug development in this area. A new report from the Biotechnology Innovation Organization catalogs the dearth of investment in new nonaddictive drugs to relieve pain despite an obvious unmet need.

Purple Biotech to paint with Immunorizon's tri-specific antibodies in small M&A deal

Purple Biotech is adding Immunorizon’s tri-specific antibodies to its paint palette in an acquisition that could reach $100 million in milestone payouts.

Mesoblast gives allogeneic cell therapy a 2nd try with FDA—but without a new trial

Mesoblast is giving it another go with regulators, submitting a second approval application for its off-the-shelf cell therapy. The treatment was originally rejected in 2020 due to a lack of convincing data.

Inovio hopes Ebola vaccine booster data can provide a shot in the arm

A day after imposing a second round of layoffs, Inovio revealed a small data set for its Ebola vaccine booster, which the company hopes could someday also boost its fortunes.

CVS partners with ProKidney to enroll patients for phase 3 cell therapy trial

CVS Health Clinical Trial Services, a unit of the pharmacy giant CVS, signed up to begin enrolling patients for ProKidney’s phase 3 trial of its ReACT cell therapy for chronic kidney disease.

Compounds for cancer, psychiatric conditions improve wound healing in cells

By modulating a key circadian rhythm protein, the compounds potentially reduce scar tissue buildup and reduce the risk of hypertrophic scars after surgery.

IQVIA partners with Alibaba Cloud to expand services in China

IQVIA inked a partnership deal with Alibaba Cloud, a unit of Alibaba Group, to leverage Salesforce in a first-of-its-kind deal in mainland China.

Novartis CEO, as incoming PhRMA chair, outlines 3 priorities for pharma after IRA setback

As the incoming chair of the industry trade group PhRMA, Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan has ideas about how the industry should respond to the consequential U.S. drug pricing law.

Researchers looking for long COVID symptoms find only 7

Long lists of long COVID symptoms exacerbates the confusion surrounding the condition that makes diagnosing and treating patients difficult. A new study narrows the list of long COVID symptoms down to just seven.
 
Fierce podcasts

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'The Top Line': What the pharma industry can expect with the new Inflation Reduction Act, and biotech's outlook for 2023

This week on "The Top Line," we hear from Stacie Dusetzina, Ph.D., a professor at Vanderbilt University's Department of Health Policy, about what the IRA means for the pharma industry. We'll also discuss what we can expect from the biotech industry in 2023.
 

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Linear Compression vs. Parallel Processing: Speeding Biologics Through Development and Into Clinical Trials

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Clinical Supply Solutions for the Asia-Pacific Region

Learn how Catalent’s extensive network across APAC can meet a wide range of clinical supply needs for sponsors conducting trials within the region.
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A Strategy to Standardize Process Characterization & Late Phase Development

Learn more on an approach for process characterization for the production of a monoclonal antibody, which will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the process by targeting the right design and number of experiments.

 

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