Weight loss
Cell and gene therapy investment rebounds; WuXi Biologics and other companies named in BIOSECURE Act mull options; Bayer, J&J and Pfizer’s recent layoffs; updates from the weight loss space.
Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks is confident his company and peer Novo Nordisk are years ahead in the weight loss space, as biotechs press on with compelling data.
Alongside the settlement, Novo and Viatris have asked the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to terminate its review of the validity of the Danish drugmaker’s semaglutide patents.
After psychological side effects doomed the first generation of cannabinoid receptor 1–targeting drugs for weight loss, Novo Nordisk, Corbus Pharmaceuticals and Skye Bioscience are betting that a new mechanism of action will improve the safety profile.
Scaling GLP-1 manufacturing capacity remains a key priority for the pharma industry, to help supply catch up with the insatiable demand for weight loss drugs.
BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman called it “another positive indication” for Eli Lilly, whose top-selling diabetes and weight loss drugs are gaining market share as manufacturing continues to expand, while noting the drugmaker could start to benefit heading into third quarter earnings.
Venture Capital firms Atlas Venture, Bain Capital Life Sciences and RTW Investments have led a $400 million Series A for Kailera Therapeutics, the latest obesity biotech to hit the scene.
A week after it released positive early-stage data, Metsera has partnered with Amneal Pharmaceuticals in an effort to secure the development and supply of its investigational weight loss therapy MET-097.
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ aggressive targeting of Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy pricing, and not Eli Lilly’s rival drugs, is not fair.
In a Tuesday Senate hearing on Novo Nordisk’s drug pricing, CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen said he would be willing to sit down with the three largest pharmacy benefit managers who committed that they would expand coverage of Ozempic and Wegovy if Novo lowers its list prices for the blockbuster drugs.
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