Novartis is acquiring a Sironax platform technology designed to transport a range of drug modalities across the protective blood-brain barrier. The deal comes as Novartis weathers several pipeline setbacks, including trial failures for neuroscience drug candidates.
GSK is acquiring global rights to a T cell engager that Chimagen Biosciences developed to hit three targets. GSK believes this tri-specific approach could offer advantages over currently available drugs that hit two targets, but other big pharma companies are also developing trispecific antibodies.
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Pharma leaders must take a “construction crew” mindset and start treating workforce development in the same manner as they do critical infrastructure.
Scholar Rock’s Isembyld isn’t the only FDA-approved therapy for spinal muscular atrophy, but it is the first one that directly targets muscle tissue. Isembyld is the first commercial product for Scholar Rock, which is also evaluating the antibody in other rare muscle disorders.
Patient trust, physician credibility, and payer goodwill are not soft considerations alongside the balance sheet; they are the mechanism by which a pharmaceutical product generates revenue over time.
LEP Biomedical is developing a dissolvable implant that replaces weeks of self-administered eye drops after glaucoma surgery, aiming to fix the compliance problems that drive surgical failure rates as high as 40%.
What if health plans could identify member decline before an avoidable hospitalization occurs? Real-time clinical visibility into long-stay SNF members uncovers risk earlier and drives better outcomes.
GSK gained rights to a Hutchmed antibody-targeted therapy conjugate, or ATTC. This new type of targeted therapy blocks two cancer-driving proteins and will initially be developed for lung, colorectal, and pancreatic cancers.
Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ zilganersen, brand name Zanvastro, is the first disease-modifying therapy approved for the neurological disorder Alexander disease. While Ionis has experience developing medicines for rare neuroscience indications, Zanvastro will be the first neurology product the company brings to the market without a commercialization partner.
Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals’ apazunersen did not meet the goals of its Phase 3 test in Angelman syndrome, a rare genetic neurological disorder with no FDA-approved therapies. The disappointing result has some readthrough to Ionis Pharmaceuticals and Oak Hill Bio, each in clinical development with Angelman drugs designed to work in a similar way as Ultragenyx’s failed molecule.
In a mid-stage study, Teva’s drug prevented intestinal damage in celiac disease patients who underwent a gluten challenge — eating food with gluten to see if it prompts an immune response. There are currently no FDA-approved drugs for celiac disease, but Teva’s antibody is part of a competitive race to bring patients the first one.
Healthcare decision-makers, especially at pharmaceutical companies, must prioritize patient input. Data collected from social media listening is a significant step in the right direction.
GSK’s messenger RNA vaccine for seasonal influenza is designed to prompt an immune response to two proteins on the surface of the virus. That could be an advantage over Moderna’s recently approved mRNA flu shot, which addresses just one of those proteins.
Faster trials are not a vanity metric. They reflect an undeniable need: getting safe therapies to patients sooner.
Takeda Pharmaceutical’s Mimrylo is now approved for treating polycythemia vera, a rare blood cancer with limited therapeutic options. Originally developed by Protagonist Therapeutics, the engineered peptide gives Takeda a drug with blockbuster sales potential as the pharma company’s top overall product faces patent expirations.
Biohaven is outlicensing to SK Biopharmaceuticals global rights to opakalim, a Kv7-targeting small molecule in pivotal clinical testing for epilepsy. Biohaven gets non-dilutive financing for its pipeline while SK Bio gains another asset to potentially commercialize in the U.S.
Roivant Sciences subsidiary Priovant Therapeutics received FDA approval for Lisraya as a treatment for the rare inflammatory disorder dermatomyositis. Licensed from Pfizer, this once-daily pill designed to block JAK1 and TYK2 proteins is also in clinical development for three additional rare immunological disorders, each with blockbuster potential.