Roche
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The failure of Roche’s Ionis-partnered tominersen in Huntington’s disease may indicate that Wave Life Sciences’ allele-specific antisense oligonucleotide candidate WVE-003 is on the right track, according to analysts at Rodman & Renshaw.
Roche’s decision to discontinue the Ionis-partnered trials came soon after the biotech sustained a late-stage failure in ATTR-CM.
With the latest round, Roche’s Genentech will have racked up nearly 450 layoffs in California over the last year amid ongoing restructuring. At the same time, the biotech is joining forces with Astex Pharmaceuticals in a deal that could surpass $490 million.
Over the past decade, Eli Lilly has bought out more biotechs than any of the other top 12 pharmas by revenue—with 10 of those acquisitions arriving just this year.
Roche and Nurix Therapeutics will advance their BTK degrader for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, as well as immunology and neurology indications.
Analysts and investors were unimpressed by Phase 2 data posted in the spring showing that an amylin analog developed by Roche and partner Zealand Pharma elicited 9% weight loss, less than Eli Lilly’s rival candidate. Executives from both companies told BioSpace that premium weight loss is not the point of petrelintide.
The American Diabetes Association’s annual congress will feature a superstar lineup, including weight loss giants Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk. But several scrappy biotechs will also present obesity candidates with the potential to match—if not outperform—their deep-pocketed competitors.
By partnering with a UN-backed body, Roche has enabled companies to make the medicine for supply in 129 countries.
Roche and Zealand Pharma announced last month that their amylin analog petrelintide elicited a 9% placebo-controlled weight reduction at 42 weeks—falling far below analyst and investor expectations.
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