Respiratory

Scrip Asks... What Does 2025 Hold For Biopharma? Part 6: Therapeutic Area Advances

 

Over 140 biopharma leaders share their views on developments to watch for in key therapeutic areas this year. Advances in multiple scientific fields are opening up new avenues for treatment.

2025’s Biggest New Launches

 

Big pharma once again fails to dominate the top 20 expected best sellers from products due for launch this year. Small-to-medium pharma account for nearly half the list, while Vertex has two products in the top five.

Spotlight On IPF Successors To Esbriet And Ofev

 

Only two drugs have been approved for the progressive fibrosing interstitial lung disease but the pipeline is full of promising, and hopefully more tolerable, candidates.

Bridge Biotherapeutics Confident In IPF Contender As It Seeks Global Partner

 
• By 

The CEO of Korean biotech Bridge Biotherapeutics shares progress and strategy for its lead candidate for IPF, along with thoughts on what Trump and the ongoing Korean political crisis might mean for the industry.


Vertex Is Firing On All Cylinders But New Drug Launches Remain Challenging

 

As the architect of the company’s hugely successful business model, Stuart Arbuckle, departs, he hands over a portfolio expanding beyond its cystic fibrosis base, but one that might be slow to build revenues for Casgevy and Journavx.

Boehringer Plans Filing For Nerandomilast After Second Phase III Hits

 

The PDE4B inhibitor showed improvement in lung function in patients with progressive pulmonary fibrosis in a second positive Phase III trial in pulmonary fibrosis.

Mystery Surrounds Pliant IPF Trial Pause As Stock Sinks

 
• By 

The US company has voluntarily halted enrolment in BEACON-IPF of bexotegrast on the recommendation of the trial’s independent data safety monitoring board, leaving analysts puzzled over the drug's prospects for the lung disease.

10 Clinical Trials To Look Out For In 2025

 

Scrip surveys some of the more interesting Phase III clinical trial readouts expected this year.


GSK’s Walmsley Keeps Focus On Long Term Amid Trump And Tariffs Chatter

 
• By 

The CEO has trumpeted the UK giant’s pipeline and potential growth as it aims for £40bn of sales in six years’ time.

Meiji Seika Pharma Files Japan Lawsuit Over Kostaive Misinformation

 
• By 

The Japanese pharma firm has sued a politician claiming defamatory actions on social media around its novel COVID-19 vaccine.

Stellar Launch Of COPD Drug Puts Verona In Strong Partnering Position

 
• By 

The UK biotech has a potential blockbuster on its hands with Ohtuvayre and its strong sales showing so soon after launch could led to a lucrative licensing deal or possible takeover.

10 Clinical Trials Of 2024 – Hits, Misses And Some In Between

 

While quieter than some recent years, 2024 did produce several clinical trial readouts destined to have an impact on their respective markets. Here, in roughly chronological order, Scrip takes a look at the 10 clinical stories that got readers clicking the most over the past 12 months.


Vertex New CF Combo Addresses More Patients, With Daily Dosing

 
• By 

Vertex hopes to convert CF patients to new combo Alyftrek from Trikafta with once-daily dosing. Approved on 20 December, the new triplet has longer patent protection and 7% higher US pricing.

ELEVATE Data Raise PureTech’s IPF Prospects

 
• By 

The company’s deupirfenidone, a selectively deuterated version of Roche's Esbriet, has bested the original in a Phase IIb trial in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients. Now, PureTech can finalize the Phase III program and decide how to finance it.

Blow For Keros’s PAH Candidate As Dreams Of Surpassing Winrevair Fade

 

The Lexington, MA-based firm lost three quarters of its value after it voluntarily halted dosing in two arms of a Phase II trial of its lead product, cibotercept, on safety concerns. Some observers think the reaction was overblown, however.

UK Urged To Protect R&D Tax Credits, The Lifeblood Of Biotechs

 
• By 

Verona Pharma is rising high with the newly-launched chronic obstructive pulmonary disease drug Ohtuvayre but its development would have been severely compromised if it had not been for government benefits, non-executive chair David Ebsworth tells Scrip.


The Scrip Awards Podcast, Ep2: 2024 Awards Preview & Verona Pharma Interview

 

The second podcast in our series marking 20 years of the Scrip Awards and their recognition of biopharma innovation looking back at some of the trends that have shaped the sector in that time.

Tezspire Phase III Nasal Polyp Data May Lead To Second Indication

 
• By 

AstraZeneca and Amgen’s first-in-class anti-TSLP agent Tezspire, already approved for severe asthma, has shown an ability to reduce the size of nasal polyps and improve congestion.

Verona’s Ohtuvayre Off To Flying Start

 

Sales of its novel COPD therapy in its first quarter on the market were more than double consensus estimates, and Verona sees more to come.

AstraZeneca Leads The Way In Clinical Trials

 

The UK group began more clinical trials last year than any other company, a new report from Citeline has found.