Health

Biogen, Ionis, Johnson & Johnson News

Published

2 months ago

May 16, 2024

The must-know this morning

Biogen And Ionis pharmaceutical products Are ending their development of an experimental drug for ALS, based on results from a phase 1/2 study.
Johnson & Johnson said it would happen acquire Proteologixa private biotech targeting immune-mediated diseases, for $850 million with potential for additional milestone payments.
Novartis said it is met all conditions for a public offer to acquire the German biotech Morphosys.

Roche shares early obesity results

The Swiss pharmaceutical company reported this morning that its newly acquired obesity drug led to a placebo-adjusted weight loss of 18.8% in a 24-week Phase 1 trial.

(For context, in Phase 3 studies lasting over a year, the weight loss difference between Wegovy and placebo was 12.4 percentage points, and in the Zepbound study it was 17.8 percentage points. However, it is difficult to compare between studies , especially between different stages of development.)

The Roche drug, called CT-388, activates receptors of the GLP-1 and GIP hormones, using a similar mechanism to Eli Lilly’s Zepbound. Roche acquired this asset last year in its $2.7 billion acquisition of Carmot Therapeutics.

Roche said side effects were consistent with other drugs in this class, but did not disclose specific numbers of side effects such as nausea and vomiting.

WuXi is stepping up its efforts to combat the Chinese law

WuXi Biologics executives have now registered to lobby Congress as lawmakers advance a bill that would bar certain Chinese biotech companies from doing business in the US.

The bill, called the BIOSECURE Act, would ban the U.S. government from contracting or providing subsidies to companies that do business with Chinese “biotechnology companies of concern.” It specifically mentions WuXi.

BIO, the biotech industry’s main trade group, supports the bill but has warned that it would jeopardize the drug supply for millions of U.S. patients if passed in its current form, because many U.S. drugmakers rely on Chinese drug production businesses.

It’s Lilly versus Novo again, but not on GLP-1s

It’s not really in the news anymore, but both companies still make insulin. Lilly reported today that its experimental weekly insulin, efsitora alfa, worked as well as daily insulin products in two late-stage studies.

Lilly has three more Phase 3 trials of this drug that are expected to read out later this year. If they are all positive, efsitora will compete with the weekly insulin that Novo is developing, called icodec.

Weekly insulin would be more convenient to take and would be a good fit for patients with type 2 diabetes who are already taking weekly GLP-1 medications, such as Ozempic and Mounjaro. But some patients, especially type 1 patients, may want insulins with a shorter lasting effect that they can use more flexibly.

Galapagos opens a store next door

CAR-T maker Galapagos yesterday announced an agreement with the Blood Centers of America to open dozens of sites across the country for the production of its cell-based drugs.

CAR-Ts are powerful cancer treatments, but they are complicated to make. Immune cells must be removed from a patient, sent to specialized sites where they are engineered with cancer-killing properties, and then returned to the hospital to be reinjected into patients. The process, which can take weeks if not months, has put pressure on the number of patients companies have been able to reach.

While many other companies (such as Gilead, Bristol Myers Squibb and J&J) continue to lead the way in CAR-T, Galapagos is counting on this new deal to shorten production lead time and differentiate itself.

Blackstone wants to get in on the red-hot immunology market

Blackstone Life Sciences said yes yesterday a commitment of up to $300 million to launch a new immunology and inflammation-focused company called Uniquity Bio.

Uniquity will soon start phase 2 trials for its drug solrikitug, a monoclonal antibody directed against TSLP, in COPD and asthma.

Blackstone sees this as a fast-growing area, citing forecasts that the global immunology and inflammation market could grow from $98 billion in 2023 to $257 billion by 2032. It follows other companies that have pushed for investments this year in immunology-oriented biotechnology.

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