Gardasil’s China woes haunt Merck in Q3

Today’s Big News

Oct 31, 2024

The 2024 Biotech Graveyard


It’s a monster MASH for Madrigal as Rezdiffra has caught on in a flash


Gardasil's China troubles haunt Merck in Q3, with execs warning of more obstacles ahead


Non-invasive brain stimulation slows Alzheimer’s disease progression in year-long trial


FDA removes Novo's Wegovy from shortage list, marking end of semaglutide supply rout in US


Boehringer Ingelheim drops obesity drug from Gubra partnership


Roche collects more data to support blood tests for diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease

 

Featured

The 2024 Biotech Graveyard

Last year, biotech shutdowns spiked. Thankfully, 2024’s numbers are a little lower, dropping from the 27 closures in 2023 to 22 this year.
 

Top Stories

It’s a monster MASH for Madrigal as Rezdiffra has caught on in a flash

Forget about the “bumpiness” analysts expected from Madrigal Pharmaceuticals’ launch of potential blockbuster Rezdiffra. In its second full quarter on the market, the fatty liver disease drug racked up sales of $62 million, which routed Wall Street's expectations and triggered a 16% surge in Madrigal's share price.

Gardasil's China troubles haunt Merck in Q3, with execs warning of more obstacles ahead

Despite the China growth woes, Merck is still confident it can achieve its $11 billion sales goal for the HPV vaccine by 2030.

Noninvasive brain stimulation slows Alzheimer's disease in yearlong trial

As the world of neurodegenerative disease drug development continues to be roiled by controversies, one company has taken a different, noninvasive approach to treating Alzheimer’s disease.

FDA removes Novo's Wegovy from shortage list, marking end of semaglutide supply rout in US

The FDA this week revised its shortage list to note that the .25 mg starter dose of Novo’s semaglutide-based obesity med Wegovy is now available in the U.S. The .25 mg presentation of the popular metabolic medicine was the last dose of either Wegovy or its type 2 diabetes sibling Ozempic to be listed as in shortage by the FDA.

Boehringer Ingelheim drops obesity drug from Gubra partnership

Boehringer Ingelheim has halted development of an obesity drug from Gubra that it originally pledged to advance back in 2017.

Roche collects more data to support blood tests for diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease

The two plasma-based, in vitro tests scan for specific proteins linked to changes in the brain to help rule out the chances of Alzheimer’s among people showing cognitive decline.

Paragon spinout Jade casts reverse merger spell with Aerovate

Paragon Therapeutics’ spinout Jade Biosciences has entered a reverse merger with Aerovate Therapeutics that will allow Jade to start trading on the Nasdaq.

Amgen ghosts lung disease program after missing all 14 endpoints

Amgen is discontinuing a lung disease program after its investigational small molecule failed to hit any of the primary or secondary endpoints in a midstage study.

Patient groups feel their influence growing among regulators, media and more healthcare stakeholders: survey

Patient groups typically form around specific disease areas with an aim of advocating for improved treatments and therapies for patients who fall into those categories—and they’re feeling the widespread impacts of that work.

Alnylam boots Type 2 diabetes asset from haunted house

Alnylam is suspending further development of a clinical-stage RNAi therapeutic designed to treat Type 2 diabetes among participants with obesity.

Boehringer, Amgen, Novartis sweep corporate reputation rankings among cardiovascular patient groups

A new survey shows that three Big Pharmas have stolen the hearts of patient groups representing nearly 1 million people with cardiovascular conditions.
 
Fierce podcasts

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‘The Top Line’: the pulse of the medtech industry

This week on "The Top Line," Fierce Medtech's Conor Hale dives into EY's 18th annual Pulse of the MedTech Industry report and chats with EY's John Babbitt about the team's findings and the pace of M&A, venture capital funding and recent IPOs. 

 

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Strategies to Optimize Expression Challenges of Multi-chain and Bispecific Antibodies

Take a brief journey through some of the efforts that Lonza has made to optimize the manufacturability of bsAbs and other formats, and take a glance towards future directions with an emphasis on the upstream aspects.
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Communicating the Value of Biopharma Assets to Potential Investors

How can an emerging company attract the right partner for a therapeutic asset (& optimize its value in a transaction)? This paper offers some insights.
 

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