Can New US FDA Commissioner Makary Calm Agency During Turbulent Times?

 

Stakeholders are pleading for newly confirmed FDA Commissioner Martin Makary to stand up for the agency's high scientific standards and staff as he begins his term.

Deal Watch: Eyenovia Looks At New Direction In Proposed Merger With Betaliq

 
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Plus deals involving Relmada/Trigone, Alvotech/Xbrane, OPKO Health/Entera, iOncologi/TargImmune and more.

Wave Aspires To Accelerated Approval In DMD With 48-Week Data

 
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With its exon 53-skipping candidate already showing promise in 24-week data, Wave now has 48-week data showing improvements in muscle health and functional outcomes.

Stock Buyback Is Vote Of Confidence From Genmab Board

 
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The Danish firm is spending nearly $580m to repurchase up to 2.2 million shares


Japan T-Reg Venture RegCell Raises New Funds, Relocates To US

 
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Kyoto-based venture moves HQ to California to expand R&D and business outreach for its regulatory T-cell technology, as it raises around $46m in public and private funding.

Merck Doubles Down On Oral Lipid-Lowering Drugs With Hengrui’s Lp(a) Asset

 
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Merck & Co., which already has an oral PCSK9 inhibitor in Phase III, licensed Hengrui’s Lipoprotein(a)-lowering small molecule HRS-5346 outside of Greater China for $200m up front.

Sanofi Nabs Priority Review For MS Drug Tolebrutinib

 
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A decision from the FDA is due by 28 September.

Stock Watch: Are Gene Therapy Prices Too High For Success?

 
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The promise of innovative therapies seems to have been constrained not by efficacy or safety concerns, but because the high price of treatments is incongruous with the reimbursement of short-course therapies.


Generative AI In Drug Discovery And India’s Potential To Leapfrog

 
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Heads of Novartis Biomedical, World Economic Forum and Indian majors like Sun Pharma’s SPARC, among others, discuss generative AI in drug discovery along with pointers for India to leapfrog the R&D process

Mounjaro In India: Price Differential, Window Of Opportunity

 

Lilly’s Mounjaro arrives in India, with the 2.5mg vial priced at under $41 in a market that has over 100 million diabetics and increasing obesity rates. Will the product see sharp demand like in China, carving out a chunk of the pie ahead of the potential arrival of semaglutide generics and could there be concerns of ‘suitcase' exports?

LigaChem Eyes Future Acquisition Of IKSUDA Following 26.6% Stake

 
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South Korea's LigaChem is kickstarting a growth and globalization drive through a potential future acquisition of UK ADC player IKSUDA.

Deloitte Sees Rising Industry ROI, But Challenge In Sustaining It

 
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Projected return on investment for the 20 pharmas with the highest R&D spend is expected to rise for the second straight year, Deloitte says. How to get there is less clear.


Ultragenyx CEO Emil Kakkis: ‘Our Future Is In Our Hands’

 

The founder and CEO of Ultragenyx talked with Scrip as the company approaches a pivotal data readout and awaits US FDA action on its first gene therapy.

Novo Gets Its Own ‘Triple G’ Obesity Drug To Rival Lilly

 

The obesity market leader is teaming up with China’s United Bio-Technology to develop a product they believe could beat Lilly’s late-stage same-class candidate retatrutide.

Crunch Time Close For Abivax’s IBD Ambitions

 
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Obefazimod has been heralded as a potential blockbuster for ulcerative colitis and there will be great interest in the readout of Phase III induction trials in the third quarter of this year.

Major Cash Injection Advances Augustine’s HDAC6 Hopes

 
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The Belgian firm banks nearly €77.7m to push its Charcot-Marie-Tooth to proof-of-concept.


Quick Listen: Scrip’s Five Must-Know Things

 
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In this week's episode: Pfizer tops pharma leaderboard; AstraZeneca buys into in vivo cell therapy; Almirall looks to dominate derma spectrum; Incyte’s HS contender looks approvable; and MSD’s Williams says pharma should shorten tech adoption cycles.

AstraZeneca Expands Emphasis On China, Already A Key Market

 
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UK pharma will invest $2.5bn in Beijing R&D hub, build a vaccine manufacturing site with BioKangtai, and partner in chronic disease with Syneron and in oncology/immunology with Harbour BioMed.

J&J Joins Pharma Peers With $55bn In Manufacturing And Other US Spending

 
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J&J followed in the footsteps of Lilly and Merck, which have announced multibillion-dollar investments in US manufacturing since Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Stelara Biosimilars Storm US Market With 85% Discounts Ahead Of Price Drop In Medicare

 
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The development could highlight the power of competitive market forces over government price controls or suggest Medicare price negotiation is enhancing competitive market forces.