| Today's Rundown Oncopeptides' shares crash as it pulls Pepaxto from the market, plans to shut down commercial units 23andMe jumps into telehealth, prescription drug delivery with $400M buyout of Lemonaid Health Biotech founder, MIT researcher Sabatini alleges sexual harassment claims against him are false FDA greenlights Genentech's eye implant for macular degeneration. Will it be a tough sell? With Sanofi still on board, Click Therapeutics closes $52M series B for digital therapeutics in depression, chronic pain and more UnitedHealthcare will reimburse providers for COVID-19 vaccine underpayments UPDATE: Agenus withdraws cervical cancer application, and a behind the scenes David vs. Big Pharma regulatory battle is revealed Ocular’s insert for dry eye disease misses primary endpoint in phase 2 trial Novartis has negotiated Zolgensma access for half of the European SMA population, exec says. How'd it get there? HCA posts $2.2B profit after 'most intense surge' of COVID-19 in Q3, higher labor costs Lilly breached a contract by not paying royalties on big-selling diabetes meds, court finds Medtronic taps TikTok-famous physician as first chief medical officer of GI business Athira CEO Kawas officially out after investigation found she did alter grad research Featured Story | By Kevin Dunleavy Because its drug for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma may increase the risk of death, Swedish biotech Oncopeptides has sidelined Pepaxto in the U.S., a move that will require the company to undergo a radical restructure. The company will shut down its business units in the U.S. and Europe and return to its R&D-focused roots. read more |
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Top Stories By Heather Landi Consumer genetic testing company 23andMe plans to buy Lemonaid Health, a virtual care and pharmacy provider, to integrate its personalized genetics service more deeply into primary care. read more By Kyle LaHucik Repeat biotech founder and MIT professor David Sabatini is biting back against sexual harassment claims that led to his ouster at the Whitehead Institute in August. In a lawsuit filed this week, Sabatini claims the allegations were false and is requesting damages. read more By Kevin Dunleavy The FDA has approved Genentech’s port delivery system for Roche’s Lucentis in patients with wet age-related macular degeneration. Now the trick could be to get patients to accept an implant the size of a grain of rice placed under the upper eyelid that delivers doses of Lucentis and is refilled every six months. read more By Andrea Park With its third multimillion-dollar influx of funding in barely a year, another medtech developer’s plans to create digital therapeutics to treat a wide range of illnesses are clicking into place. read more By Paige Minemyer UnitedHealthcare will adjust claims for COVID-19 vaccines in response to providers who said they were paid sub-Medicare rates to administer the shots. read more By Annalee Armstrong Agenus’ cervical cancer drug balstilimab seemed on its way to FDA approval, but the biotech is now pulling the application after the agency granted full approval to Merck’s Keytruda in the same indication. Agenus Chairman and CEO Garo Armen, Ph.D., has urged the FDA’s Richard Pazdur, M.D., to intervene and allow the company’s therapy to be reviewed under the accelerated pathway, according to a document seen by Fierce Biotech. read more By Andrea Park The phase 2 clinical trial of Ocular Therapeutix’s drug-eluting insert didn’t end in tears, but in this case, that translated to the opposite of success for the proposed treatment for dry eye disease. read more By Eric Sagonowsky When Novartis reported first-half Zolgensma sales a few months ago, the company said its spinal muscular atrophy gene therapy was growing thanks to "expanding access" in Europe. This week at the Fierce Biotech Cell & Gene Therapy event, an exec outlined what's driving the uptake. read more By Robert King HCA Healthcare posted a $2.26 billion profit in the third quarter even as the system weathered an "intense surge" of COVID-19 and higher labor costs. read more By Eric Sagonowsky Eli Lilly has generated billions of dollars from its diabetes drugs over the years, but now the company could be on the line for serious damages by failing to pay royalties on those medicines. read more By Andrea Park Gastroenterologist Austin Chiang, M.D., uses TikTok to bust myths about colonoscopies and normal bowel function. Since joining the social media platform just over two years ago, he has amassed nearly 500,000 followers and a whopping 17.4 million likes on his videos. read more By Kyle LaHucik Athira CEO Leen Kawas altered images in research she conducted while a graduate student at Washington State University in the early 2010s. The altered research did not impact Athira Pharma's lead candidate, but the CEO is officially out after an independent investigation, and COO Mark Litton will replace her. read more |
