Genentech's MS drug on partial FDA hold

Today’s Big News

Dec 4, 2023

UPDATE: Roche muscles in on obesity market with $2.7B Carmot buyout, securing injectable and oral assets


Lilly's Jaypirca blazes leukemia trail with FDA nod, fast confirmatory trial filing


SPECIAL REPORT—Fierce Healthcare's 2023 Women of Influence


Genentech's MS drug on partial hold in US after liver enzyme elevations in 2 patients


Intuitive’s VC arm closes second fund with $150M for minimally invasive care startups


Merus shares dip as interim lung cancer data reveal 3 patient deaths


Contract manufacturing giant WuXi's stock plummets as it warns of $400M revenue miss

 

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UPDATE: Roche muscles in on obesity market with $2.7B Carmot buyout, securing injectable and oral assets

Roche is paying $2.7 billion upfront to enter the obesity market. The takeover will give Roche control of Carmot Therapeutics, a biotech with injectable dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonists and an oral GLP-1 drug in clinical development.
 

Top Stories

Lilly's Jaypirca blazes leukemia trail with FDA nod, fast confirmatory trial filing

As AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca and BeiGene are battling it out in the same BTK inhibitor market, Eli Lilly is trailblazing a new path for the blood cancer drug class with an accelerated approval in post BTK/BCL-2 chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Fierce Healthcare's 2023 Women of Influence

Meet our 2023 Women of Influence. Each of the 10 women profiled this year is playing a major role in driving the industry forward.

Genentech's MS drug on partial hold in US after liver enzyme elevations in 2 patients

After heralding data last month showing that the multiple sclerosis candidate fenebrutinib may have crossed the blood-brain barrier, Genentech revealed quietly last week that the program has been placed on a partial clinical hold by the FDA in the U.S.

Intuitive’s VC arm closes second fund with $150M for minimally invasive care startups

Three years after launching with a first fund of $100 million, Intuitive Surgical’s venture capital arm has gone even bigger with its second funding pool.

Merus shares dip as interim lung cancer data reveal 3 patient deaths

Shares of Merus fell 6% Monday morning as an interim update for a bispecific therapy revealed three deaths in the lung cancer portion of an ongoing trial.

Contract manufacturing giant WuXi Bio's stock plummets as it warns of $400M revenue miss

WuXi Biologics expects to miss its original sales target for the year by around $400 million, thanks to reductions across its development and manufacturing services. WuXi Bio blamed the projected miss largely on a COVID-related revenue slowdown and a decline in projects.

PerkinElmer picks up Covaris’ sample prep portfolio in New Mountain-led deal

New Mountain bought the lab supply business and brand from PerkinElmer in March via a $2.45 billion deal, and is now combining it with Covaris.

Digital kidney monitor maker Potrero Medical files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

The former Fierce Medtech Fierce 15 winner announced it has begun to voluntarily restructure its equity through pre-negotiated terms filed in Delaware bankruptcy court.

'Fascinating and completely unexpected': Tiny 'superbots' heal neural wound model

Researchers have used unaltered human tracheal cells to create self-assembling multicellular robots capable of healing wounded neurons in a petri dish.

South Africa's Aspen expands reach with $100M buy of Sandoz's Chinese business

The move is expected to bring in some $95 million in annual sales, the company said. In a separate deal, Sandoz snapped up four Aspen products for $60 million.

Amgen-backed Seismic shakes up $121M financing for preclinical immunology programs

Seismic Therapeutic has secured a series B of significant magnitude, snagging $121 million and new investor Amgen Ventures in a round aimed at pushing two immunology programs into the clinic.

High-flying Fujifilm splashes $200M to beef up cell therapy capacity

Fujifilm is dividing $200 million between a pair of subsidiaries. Those are: Fujifilm Cellular Dynamics, which specializes in development and manufacturing of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), and the organization’s CDMO for biologics and advanced therapies, Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies.

Eitan infusion pumps join others from Baxter, B. Braun in recent spate of Class I recalls

Drug delivery devices are in the safety regulation crosshairs as of late, as a growing list of the technologies have found themselves the subject of recalls and corrections in recent weeks.
 
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