Obesity
The FDA is asking Eli Lilly to submit cardiovascular and liver safety data from an ongoing Phase 3 trial of Foundayo by July.
Johnson and Johnson kicked off first-quarter earnings season with a “modest” beat and an ambitious goal; Replimune failed again to gain approval for its advanced melanoma therapy, as analysts tout increased accountability brought by the FDA’s new policy of publicizing complete response letters; and Revolution Medicines’ pancreatic cancer candidate doubled survival in one of cancer’s most intractable foes.
With many overseas patients preferring orals to injectables, Eli Lilly has filed for approval of orforglipron in more than 40 countries and is building manufacturing capacity to support the obesity drug.
Kailera Therapeutics is advancing a pipeline of obesity drugs, led by the GLP-1/GIP dual agonist ribupatide, which the biotech is developing both as an injectable and as a pill.
Novo Nordisk’s oral Wegovy has a few months’ head start on Eli Lilly’s newly approved pill. While the Indianapolis pharma has come from behind the Danish rival in the weight loss space before, last time it clearly had the better drug.
The approval of Eli Lilly’s oral obesity drug officially ignites an intense competition with Novo Nordisk’s oral Wegovy; Gilead Sciences and Neurocrine Biosciences keep the M&A train chugging; Trump hits pharma with his long promised tariffs, and the FDA proposes many changes with 2027 budget.
After Eli Lilly achieved the milestone approval of the weight loss pill Foundayo, Novo Nordisk launched a full-court press to defend oral Wegovy, which has been enjoying a record-breaking launch since January.
The FDA approved Eli Lilly’s orforglipron—to be known as Foundayo—on Wednesday, officially igniting what analysts believe will be a fierce rivalry with Novo Nordisk’s oral Wegovy.
While peptides are currently the dominant approach to GLP-1 agonism, Ambrosia Biosciences is pursuing a small-molecule approach.
The FDA has some big verdicts lined up in the second quarter, including one for a closely watched obesity drug that many anticipate will further intensify competition in weight loss.
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