The fatty liver disease MASH is one of the metabolic disorders that Nula Therapeutics is pursuing. The startup’s small molecules are intended to restore the integrity of the nuclear envelope, a cellular membrane whose dysfunction can contribute to metabolic disease.
Alveus Therapeutics’ Phase 2-ready lead drug hits the same two targets as Amgen’s MariTide, but with the potential for a dosing advantage. The startup’s pipeline also includes molecules that could compete with drugs in development by Roche and Novo Nordisk.
Enterprise EHR boosts scalability, interoperability, and governance for large healthcare systems.
Omeros’s complement system drug Yartemlea is now FDA approved for treating a severe and potentially fatal complication of hematopoietic stem cell transplants. Our recap of other regulatory actions includes drug approvals in cancer, rare disease, and metabolic disorders.
YaoPharma’s once-daily oral GLP-1 drug is currently in Phase 1 testing. The license agreement gives Pfizer global rights to the small molecule, which it envisions as part of potential drug combinations.
Acquisition talks for Metsera that played out this year culminated in an agreement with Pfizer, which agreed to buy the obesity drug developer for $4.9 billion. Novo Nordisk, a finalist in that pursuit, is positioning itself as a deal spoiler with a new unsolicited offer that shells out much more upfront cash.
Bain Capital Private Equity led Kailera Therapeutics’ Series B financing, which will support global Phase 3 tests of KAI-9531, a weekly injectable drug that hits the same targets as Eli Lilly’s blockbuster obesity medication, Zepbound. The capital will also support development of other oral and injectable metabolic medicines in Kailera’s pipeline.
How to turn analytics into actual policy outcomes.
Novo Nordisk is acquiring Akero Therapeutics for drug candidate efruxifermin, which executive say could be first and best in the emerging class of FGF21 analogs for the fatty liver disease MASH. The deal comes months after Novo’s internal FGF21 drug candidate failed a Phase 2 trial.
Pfizer is acquiring Metsera and its pipeline of obesity medications that could offer dosing and tolerability advantages for patients as well as a manufacturing edge for the pharma giant. Key data Phase 2 readouts for Metsera’s lead GLP-1 drug candidate are expected in 2026.
Roche is buying 89bio to get pegozafermin, a drug currently in two Phase 3 studies for the fatty liver disease MASH. Beyond the $2.4 billion payable when the deal closes, another $1.1 billion in contingent value right payments is tied to the achievement of commercial milestones for the projected blockbuster seller.
Addressing the obesity-cancer connection begins with awareness. The more we understand how excess weight influences cancer risk, the better equipped we are to intervene early, tailor treatment, and support long-term health.
Small practices play a critical role in healthcare delivery, but they cannot continue to absorb ever-increasing administrative demands without consequences.
Obesity and type 2 diabetes are among the cardiometabolic diseases included in Novo Nordisk’s R&D pact with Replicate Bioscience, a deal that could pay out up to $550 million. Startup Replicate specializes in therapies and vaccines based on self-replicating RNA.
Eli Lilly is partnering with Camurus, a company with technology that extends how long an injectable drug lasts in the body, permitting longer dosing intervals. Lilly plans to apply the technology to its metabolic medicines; the deal follows a similar move Novo Nordisk starting an alliance with Ascendis.
The first Phase 3 results for Eli Lilly’s daily pill orforglipron show statistically significant reductions in blood sugar and body weight in patients with type 2 diabetes. The pharmaceutical giant plans global regulatory submissions starting at the end of this year.
Pfizer said a patient dosed with danuglipron developed potential drug-induced liver injury. Pfizer is stopping further work on this program, a move that comes nearly two years after it discontinued development of a different obesity drug due to liver safety signals in a clinical trial.
Rhythm Pharmaceuticals drug Imcivree met the body mass index reduction goals of a Phase 3 test in hypothalamic obesity, an acquired form of obesity stemming from dysregulation of the MC4R pathway in the hypothalamus. The engineered peptide drug is already approved for two genetically driven types of obesity.