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Today’s Big News

Mar 7, 2024

Another day, another win for Novo in obesity, as early oral med appears to beat Wegovy

Tau, anti-inflammation and orals form Biogen's future Alzheimer's pipeline

Boundless Bio bumps IPO market back to life after sleepy few weeks

Merck KGaA drops BTK inhibitor evobrutinib, marking end of road for blockbuster dreams

Zymeworks halts plans for phase 2 ADC trial to mull 'evolving clinical landscape'

Ultimovacs' cancer vaccine flunks another checkpoint combo test, triggering plans to preserve cash

Featured

Another day, another win for Novo in obesity, as early oral med appears to beat Wegovy

By Annalee Armstrong

Novo Nordisk has blown its own drug Wegovy out of the water. The Danish pharma reported early results for a next-gen oral weight loss drug called amycretin, showing 13.1% weight loss after 12 weeks.

Tau, anti-inflammation and orals form Biogen's future Alzheimer's pipeline

By Max Bayer

Biogen's grander Alzheimer's strategy includes tau and future oral treatments.

Boundless Bio bumps IPO market back to life after sleepy few weeks

By Max Bayer

Arch- and Leaps-backed Boundless Bio is going public, likely the seventh biotech company to grace Wall Street in 2024. The company launched less than five years ago.

How CDMO Wacker Biotech is inspiring innovation in mRNA therapeutics

Merck KGaA drops BTK inhibitor evobrutinib, marking end of road for blockbuster dreams

By James Waldron

Only months ago, Merck KGaA was outlining hopes for a major commercialization push for the BTK inhibitor—and now the German pharma has dropped the drug completely.

NYC's Bold Move: Life Sciences Take Center Stage

Zymeworks halts plans for phase 2 ADC trial to mull 'evolving clinical landscape'

By James Waldron

Zymeworks has halted phase 2 plans for a HER2 antibody-drug conjugate while the biotech assesses the “evolving clinical landscape.”

A new chapter for biotech: Confidence returns to the market

Ultimovacs' cancer vaccine flunks another checkpoint combo test, triggering plans to preserve cash

By Nick Paul Taylor

The long wait for phase 2 data on Ultimovacs’ cancer vaccine has ended in disappointment. After a series of delays, the biotech reported the failure of the melanoma study Thursday—and outlined plans to cut costs to keep going into 2025.

Despite Leqembi's launch pains, Eisai projects Alzheimer's med will reach $8.8B in the long run

By Fraiser Kansteiner

By Eisai’s 2026 fiscal year—which ends in March 2027—the company figures its Alzheimer's disease drug Leqembi can bring home 290 billion Japanese yen (nearly $2 billion) in global revenues. Come fiscal year 2032, those sales could potentially swell to a whopping 1.3 trillion yen ($8.8 billion). In the near term, the company is dealing with some launch hurdles.

Lindus jumps on GLP-1 hype with 'all-in-one' CRO package for metabolic disease

By Helen Floersh

Lindus Health has launched a so-called “All-In-One Metabolic CRO” for running clinical trials on treatments for metabolic disease and diabetes.

After withdrawal, GSK touts another Blenrep combo win as analysts build blockbuster case for the myeloma ADC

By Angus Liu

GSK has more trial evidence to support a potential comeback for its withdrawn antibody-drug conjugate Blenrep. And analysts are already assigning blockbuster sales figures to the medicine.

Eisai to drop up to $15M on C2N Diagnostics to boost the reach of Alzheimer's disease blood tests

By Conor Hale

The drugmaker has re-upped ties with the former Fierce 15 winner, whose Precivity blood tests detect tau and beta amyloid proteins in the bloodstream.

In SOTU, Biden will ask Congress to expand IRA price negotiation program: reports

By Kevin Dunleavy

With President Joe Biden girding for a significant challenge from former President Donald Trump in his re-election bid in November, Biden undoubtedly will emphasize his success in leading the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Tonight, as Biden makes his State of the Union address, he is expected to reveal a push to double down on his drug price initiatives outlined in the IRA.

Fierce podcasts

Don’t miss an episode

CAR-T boxed warnings: What comes next?

The FDA recently asked the six marketed CAR-T therapies to add a new boxed warning item on their labels to reflect the risk of secondary T-cell cancers. This week on "The Top Line," Fierce Pharma’s Angus Liu talks with regulatory experts to understand the rationale behind the FDA’s decision and to discuss its implications for CAR-T candidates and their developers down the line.

A closer look at the impact of measurement-based care in behavioral health

'The Top Line': Breaking down Eli Lilly’s ESG formula

Resources

Whitepaper

CNS Market Outlook, 2024

This paper assesses the current state of the broad CNS market, reviewing key expectations for 2024. It addresses Alzheimer’s disease, biomarkers, and advances in psychiatry in detail. It also provides a high-level look at the pain market and the evolving regulatory environment.

Presented by Blue Matter, strategic consultants in the life sciences