Alzheimer’s disease
A slow launch for Alzheimer’s medicine Leqembi, a lackluster pipeline and a challenging drug launch environment are just a few of the factors that have sent Biogen’s shares down this year.
With Eisai and Biogen’s Leqembi and Eli Lilly’s Kisunla launching onto the market, the 2024 Clinical Trials of Alzheimer’s Disease conference focused on the role these drugs might play, as well as combination therapies and innovative new treatment options.
Leqembi’s sales continue to be underwhelming, according to analysts, who contend the companies’ Alzheimer’s disease therapy is being held back by barriers such as coverage, infusion centers and time to diagnosis.
This year has seen several biopharma companies drop Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease programs, but experts say plenty are still chasing these multi-billion-dollar markets.
Biogen touted strong Q3 sales of its Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi a day after announcing a deal worth up to $1.45 billion with Neomorph to discover and develop molecular glue degraders.
Approved by the FDA in July to treat adults with early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease, Eli Lilly’s Kisunla reduced the brain swelling of patients in a late-stage trial following an adjusted dosing regimen.
The acquisition of Aliada Therapeutics gives AbbVie access to a Phase I anti-amyloid antibody as well as the biotech’s novel platform engineered for efficient blood-brain barrier transport.
Researchers have linked Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide to a 40% to 70% reduction in the risk of Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis in a study of medical records from 1 million patients.
Roche drops a third Alzheimer’s candidate this year, terminating a partnership with UCB just four years after agreeing to work together on new treatments for the neurological disease.
Johnson & Johnson is cutting several programs—most of which are in neurology and psychiatry—as the company also pulls back from the infectious diseases market.
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