Merck's Welireg secures first-in-class approval

Today’s Big News

Dec 15, 2023

Pfizer finds room for ADC snack after swallowing Seagen, inking deal for mesothelin candidate 


Senators call for congressional investigation into FDA’s handling of device recalls 


House lawmakers threaten FDA with subpoena amid probe into overseas inspections 


With new FDA approval, Merck's Welireg takes another step toward blockbuster goal 


Fractyl, hoping its GLP-1 gene therapy can take on Wegovy, plans IPO 


UPDATED: Novartis, Seagen and Amgen meds among 48 flagged by Biden administration for IRA rebates 

 

Featured

Pfizer finds room for ADC snack after swallowing Seagen, inking deal for mesothelin candidate

Pfizer just swallowed a $43 billion ADC company and still isn’t full. Hours after Pfizer closed the Seagen buyout, Nona Biosciences put out news that the Big Pharma has committed $53 million in upfront and near-term payments for rights to its mesothelin-targeted ADC, dubbed HBM9033.
 

Top Stories

Senators call for congressional investigation into FDA’s handling of device recalls

Following the publication of a report suggesting that the FDA has a history of taking a lax approach to enforcing regulations around medical device recalls, a pair of senators have requested an investigation into the agency’s actions.

House lawmakers threaten FDA with subpoena amid probe into overseas inspections

After contacting the FDA back in July, Republicans in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce are concerned that the agency may have put the kibosh on its unannounced foreign inspection program. In a letter to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, M.D., they're pressing for answers.

With new FDA approval, Merck's Welireg takes another step toward blockbuster goal

Since Merck secured approval for kidney cancer pill and blockbuster hopeful Welireg (belzutifan) in August of 2021, sales have grown slowly but surely. With a second FDA nod for a much larger patient population, the company can anticipate a more pronounced upswing in revenue from the hypoxia-inducible factor-2 alpha (HIF-2a) inhibitor.

Fractyl, hoping its GLP-1 gene therapy can take on Wegovy, plans IPO

With the gold rush in obesity meds showing no sign of abating, Fractyl Health is gearing up to go public as it gathers preclinical evidence that its GLP-1 gene therapy could take on Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy.

UPDATED: Novartis, Seagen and Amgen meds among 48 flagged by Biden administration for IRA rebates

Four dozen Medicare Part B drugs saw their prices grow faster than inflation in the final quarter of 2023, and some drug companies raised prices faster than inflation during every quarter over the last year. The rebates under IRA could save seniors who take the meds between $1 and $2,786 per dose, the White House said.

Spinal cord stimulation improves sensory link to prosthetic feet, cuts phantom limb pain in Pitt study

After racking up more than 30 years’ worth of experience in treating chronic pain, spinal cord stimulators have recently begun to expand their remit.

In a world first, Immusoft gives engineered B cell in a clinical trial, starting new phase of 15-year odyssey

Immusoft has administered an engineered B cell to a human for the first time, marking a milestone in its long-running quest to create a new type of medicine.

Gene therapy curbs seizures in mice with hard-to-treat form of childhood epilepsy

A new form of gene therapy designed to treat the most treatment-resistant form of childhood epilepsy appears to reduce seizures in mice.

Regulatory tracker: EMA backs Vertex's gene-editing therapy Casgevy

In this tracker, Fierce Pharma is recording the regulatory progress of in-market products, including expansions into key geographies and new indications. Some of these updates may not meet the bar for standalone stories, but we think they are still worth mentioning.
 
Fierce podcasts

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'The Top Line': A closer look at the Fierce 50

The Fierce 50 honorees range from tech innovators to researchers developing novel therapies to providers on the frontlines of changing care. This week on "The Top Line," senior editor Paige Minemyer sat down with staff writers Dave Muoio and Anastassia Gliadkovskaya as well as senior editor Heather Landi to discuss a few of the honorees in more detail.
 

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