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Today’s Big News

Jul 17, 2024

Roche’s $2.7B weight-loss wager delivers early oral GLP-1 win

Caribou cuts NK cell therapy program, lays off 12% of staff to fund CAR-T priorities

Genentech sinks SHP2 pact, leaving Relay to race thinning field

Aslan’s dream of challenging Dupixent dies as cash-strapped biotech winds down

Actuate unveils modest $50M IPO plans to fund further cancer drug trials

SK inks $572M deal for Full-Life prospect, advancing push to become Asia’s radiopharma leader

3 months after taking NGM Bio private, VC firm oversees biotech’s $122M series A

Featured

Roche’s $2.7B weight-loss wager delivers early oral GLP-1 win

By Nick Paul Taylor

Roche’s $2.7 billion bet on Carmot Therapeutics has delivered another early win. Participants in a phase 1 trial lost 7.3% of their body weight after taking Carmot’s oral GLP-1 prospect for four weeks, suggesting the candidate can hold its own against rival molecules from the likes of Eli Lilly and Pfizer.

Caribou cuts NK cell therapy program, lays off 12% of staff to fund CAR-T priorities

By James Waldron

Eyeing up ways to keep the money flowing into 2026, the CRISPR-focused company has decided that the preclinical CAR-NK research needs to go—along with 12% of Caribou’s workforce.

Genentech sinks SHP2 pact, leaving Relay to race thinning field

By Nick Paul Taylor

Roche’s Genentech has scuttled its SHP2 inhibitor pact, returning the rights to Relay Therapeutics after plowing more than $120 million into the alliance. The action is the latest in a series of terminations of SHP2 deals.

Aslan’s dream of challenging Dupixent dies as cash-strapped biotech winds down

By James Waldron

Aslan Pharmaceuticals had bold ambitions to challenge immunology blockbuster Dupixent, but now the cash-strapped biotech has run out of road.

Actuate unveils modest $50M IPO plans to fund further cancer drug trials

By James Waldron

Actuate Therapeutics has set out plans for a modest $52 million IPO, as the biotech seeks to fund a pair of clinical trials of its glycogen synthase kinase‐3 beta (GSK-3β) drug.

SK inks $572M deal for Full-Life prospect, advancing push to become Asia’s radiopharma leader

By Nick Paul Taylor

SK Biopharmaceuticals has followed through on its promise to place big bets to try to become Asia’s radiopharmaceutical leader. The Korean biotech got the ball rolling by striking a $571.5 million deal to license a drug candidate in development at Full-Life Technologies.

3 months after taking NGM Bio private, VC firm oversees biotech’s $122M series A

By James Waldron

Three months after The Column Group acquired NGM Bio to take the biotech private, the VC firm has overseen a $122 million fundraise to fund clinical trials of NGM’s two lead assets

Cardio-focused Cardurion closes hearty $260M series B to challenge statin-dominated status quo

By Darren Incorvaia

Cardurion plans to harness the fresh funds to support later-stage trials of its two leading first-in-class candidates and acquire other assets.

J&J keeps growth projections afloat as it braces for IRA price negotiation impact

By Fraiser Kansteiner

As myriad pharma industry attempts to challenge the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) fall flat, Johnson & Johnson is settling into a reality of pricing rebates and Medicare drug cost negotiations.

Bayer’s Nubeqa, en route to blockbusterland, clinches 2nd win in prostate cancer subtype

By Angus Liu

Bayer has claimed a second pivotal trial win for its blockbuster-to-be androgen receptor inhibitor Nubeqa, looking to reach the entire space of metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer.

Behind Hengrui's surprise FDA rejection: Scathing Form 483 lists litany of shortfalls at PD-1 drug plant

By Angus Liu

A lengthy Form 483 details the concerns that led to the FDA's surprise rejection of Hengrui and Elevar's PD-1 inhibitor camrelizumab in May. Meanwhile, a separate Form 483 and a warning letter add to Hengrui's list of production problems.

Elevance Health beats the Street in Q2 as it posts $2.3B in profit

By Paige Minemyer

Elevance Health beat the Street on both profit and revenue in the second quarter, according to its earnings report released on Wednesday.

Fierce podcasts

Don’t miss an episode

A look at Big Pharma’s top-paid CEOs

In this week's episode of "The Top Line," Fierce Pharma’s Eric Sagonowsky and Fraiser Kansteiner discuss Fierce’s annual special report, “Big Pharma's 10 highest-paid CEOs.”

Fighting maternal and infant health inequities

The best biopharma M&A deals

Resources

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2024 Life Sciences Industry Outlook

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The “Best Practice Organization” & Its Importance for Success in Today’s Biopharma Industry

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