Rare diseases
Ebvallo, which Pierre Fabre Pharmaceuticals and Atara Biotherapeutics are proposing to treat a posttransplant complication, joins a wave of rejected or discouraged therapies on which the FDA has reversed previous guidance after the exit of former Commissioner Marty Makary.
Summit Therapeutics scores a $2 billion equity investment from AstraZeneca to support ivonescimab’s late-stage development; uniQure crashes after four-year data from its Huntington’s disease gene therapy failed to impress; Kyverna Therapeutics brings new light to a struggling CAR T space in autoimmune disease.
The approval of Mirum Pharmaceuticals’ ALK2 inhibitor for fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva on Friday adds a third option for patients who had long been without any treatments, joining Regeneron’s recently approved Pasatru and Ipsen’s Sohonos.
The recent FDA approval of Fayuvi for a rare, childhood neurodegenerative disease was “particularly special” for Ultragenyx CEO Emil Kakkis. It could also, along with an August nod for another gene therapy, help offset recent challenges brought on by two asset failures.
Ulefnersen, an RNA-targeted therapy being developed by Ionis Pharmaceuticals and Otsuka Pharmaceutical, improved measurements of functional impairment and survival in patients with a rare, genetic ALS subtype in a Phase 3 trial. The partners plan to approach the FDA with the results to determine potential pathways for approval.
Novo plans to hit $23B in revenue by 2035, has further reduced its workforce by 4,000 and is boosting manufacturing capacity for its Wegovy pill, but investors are unconvinced it will be enough to turn things around; Viking Therapeutics and Roche report positive results for their weight loss assets; Ultragenyx snags FDA approval for its Sanfilippo syndrome gene therapy; IPOs keep on coming.
Newly permanent CBER and CDER directors Karim Mikhail and Michael Davis are widely expected to continue the FDA’s efforts toward an adaptive framework for rare disease therapies. If approved by the Senate, will commissioner nominee Heidi Overton stay the course?
The market approval for Fayuvi, which was rejected in 2025 due to manufacturing problems, comes shortly after Ultragenyx got the FDA nod for its first gene therapy last month.
Big Pharma needs more—not fewer—bold bets on rare and difficult diseases after Novartis’ efforts to invest in muscular dystrophy and ALS hit major roadblocks this month.
With just over $10 million in cash available to fuel operations through the end of the year, Longeveron is undertaking a strategic review after the failure of a cardiovascular study.
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