Don Tracy, Associate Editor Company cites potential safety risks for patients who ignore the intended indication of Mounjaro and Zepbound. In a letter to the public, Eli Lilly and Company warned against the use of its medicines for cosmetic weight loss. Citing the fact that neither Mounjaro or Zepbound are indicated for cosmetic purposes, the pharma company stressed that both are intended to treat serious diseases, with Mounjaro focusing on type 2 diabetes and Zepbound for obesity in specific BMI ranges of a BMI of 30 kg/m2 or greater or those who are overweight with a BMI ≥ 27 kg/m2 or greater. Additionally, caution is advised for patients with severe gastrointestinal conditions and the medications should only be prescribed by licensed healthcare professionals. “Patients should consult with their healthcare providers to determine whether Mounjaro or Zepbound is right for them,” the company stated in a press release. “Mounjaro and Zepbound ...
BY SEAN WHOOLEY Nalu Medical announced today that it closed a $65 million equity financing to support its minimally invasive neurostimulation product. Carlsbad, California–based Nalu had its round led by new investor Novo Holdings. All existing significant investors — including Gilde Healthcare, MVM Partners, Endeavor Vision, Decheng Capital, Longitude Capital, Advent Life Sciences, Pura Vida and Aperture Venture Partners — participated, too. Nalu plans to use the proceeds to accelerate commercial growth and expand clinical and health-economic evidence. It also wants to use the funds to continue product development and scale operations. The company’s FDA-cleared spinal cord stimulation and peripheral nerve stimulation technology treats patients with chronic neuropathic pain. It delivers gentle electrical pulses to the nervous system to modulate pain signals before they reach the brain. Nalu system includes a fully featured, battery-free, miniaturized implantable pulse generator (IPG). An externally worn therapy disc wirelessly powers the IPG and ...
Despite competitive pressure from a buzzy CRISPR therapy, bluebird bio keeps striding forward with its sickle cell disease gene therapy Lyfgenia. The Massachusetts biotech has signed a second outcomes-based reimbursement agreement for Lyfgenia, according to a securities filing. The deal pushes Lyfgenia’s coverage range to nearly 200 million people in the U.S., up from the previous 100 million when bluebird signed the first agreement three weeks ago. Bluebird pulled off the feat within a month of winning FDA approval for Lyfgenia in SCD patients who have a history of the painful blood flow blockade episodes known as vaso-occlusive events. And it comes despite the company pricing Lyfgenia at a wholesale acquisition cost that’s about 40% higher than Vertex and CRISPR Therapeutics’ rival gene therapy Casgevy. Under these outcomes-based agreements, bluebird is offering a discount if a patient is hospitalized because of vaso-occlusion events within three years after treatment. In addition ...
BIO-THERA Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd (SSE: 688177), a global science-based and innovative biopharmaceutical company based in Guangzhou, China, hereinafter referred to as “BIO-THERA” or the “Company”, today announced that it has entered into a license and commercialization agreement with Macter International Limited (“Macter”) for BAT1706, an Anviva reference product. The Company announced today that it has entered into a license and commercialization agreement with Macter International Limited (“Macter”) for BAT1706, a biosimilar developed with reference to Avastin® bevacizumab. Under the terms of the agreement, Macter will have exclusive distribution and marketing rights for BAT1706 in Pakistan and Afghanistan. BAT1706 has completed global Phase III clinical studies, demonstrating a high degree of safety, efficacy, and immunogenicity similarity to the originator, and BAT1706 (PuperChi®) has been approved for marketing by the National Drug Administration (NMPA) of China in November 2021, and BAT1706 (Avzivi®) has been approved for marketing by the U.S. Food and ...
Novartis is paying Voyager Therapeutics $100 million up front to collaborate on gene therapies for Huntington’s disease and spinal muscular atrophy. The deal builds on a relationship the companies started in 2022. By FRANK VINLUAN Novartis is committing $100 million to Voyager Therapeutics to see if the biotech’s technology can lead to new gene therapies for Huntington’s disease and spinal muscular atrophy. According to deal terms announced Tuesday, the sum is an upfront payment that includes a $20 million equity investment in Voyager. Milestone payments could bring the Lexington, Massachusetts-based biotech up to $1.2 billion more. If the partnership leads to commercialized therapies, Voyager would also receive royalties from sales. Gene therapies reach their bodily destinations carried aboard an engineered virus. The therapy’s genetic cargo is enveloped by a protein shell called a capsid. Voyager’s TRACER technology platform discovers capsids that can target particular types of tissue. In addition to ...
On January 2, 2024, AstraZeneca and Sanofi announced that the long-acting monoclonal antibody Beyfortus® (Nirsevimab/nisevizumab) has been officially approved for marketing by the State Drug Administration of China (SDA) for the prevention of Lower Respiratory Tract Infections (LRTIs) caused by Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) in newborns and infants. The drug is indicated for newborns and infants who are entering or born during the first season of RSV infection. Nisevizumab is expected to be available in China during the 2024-2025 RSV infection season. Nisevizumab is the first and only* approved prophylaxis in China to protect the broader infant population against RSV infection, covering healthy term infants, preterm infants, and infants vulnerable to serious RSV infection due to specific health conditions. Nisevizumab was approved in China based on the results of three pivotal clinical trials and the Chinese clinical development program. For all clinical trial endpoints, a single injection of nisevizumab demonstrated ...
Here is a selection of recent executive hires, promotions and layoffs occurring across the healthcare industry. By KATIE ADAMS This roundup will be published monthly. It is meant to highlight some of healthcare’s recent hiring news and is not intended to be comprehensive. If you have news about an executive appointment, resignation or layoff that you would like to share for this roundup or the MedCity Moves podcast, please reach out to moves@medcitynews.com. Here is a selection of recent executive hires, promotions, departures and layoffs occurring across the healthcare industry. Hires Aledade, an independent primary care network focused on value-based care, brought Rosemary Weldon onto its team as its new chief product officer. She spent the last decade at CVS Health, where she most recently served as vice president of digital health product management. Amgen welcomed James Bradner to its C-suite, where he now serves as chief scientific officer and ...
(Reuters) – A U.S. court on Friday upheld a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) order to block IQVIA’s acquisition of DeepIntent, a healthcare advertising firm, as it may harm competition. DeepIntent, owned by Propel Media, a digital media and advertising company, entered into an agreement with U.S. headquartered IQVIA in 2022 with the intent to facilitate seamless communication between patients and healthcare providers. Earlier this year, the FTC intervened to block IQVIA and DeepIntent’s proposed merger so as to prevent increased concentration in health care programmatic advertising. The merger would harm competition and would lead to increased prices for consumers, and hurt patients, FTC had said. DeepIntent’s chief executive officer previously in an open letter said that the company would walk away from the deal and would remain an independent company had the regulator won the block. The financial terms of the deal are not known. Speaking in favor of the ...
Armed with a new victory over Viatris in a patent dispute, Regeneron can knock off one contender in the Eylea biosimilar race. A West Virginia judge ruled that Viatris’ proposed biosimilar violates a Regeneron patent that covers ophthalmic formulations of a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-specific fusion protein antagonist suitable for intravitreal administration to the eye. That patent is expected to expire in June 2027. Viatris, a generic and biosimilar specialist created by Pfizer through the combination of its Upjohn business with Mylan back in 2020, was the first to file for a coveted Eylea biosimilar in 2021. Regeneron struck back with its suit in 2022, arguing that the proposed copycat steps on 24 of its patents. The complaint was later trimmed to three, according to Bloomberg. Viatris has since offloaded its biosimilars unit to Biocon Biologics in a $3.33 billion cash-and-stock deal. Amgen tried to get into the litigation ...
Shanghai and Suzhou, TOKYO, December 28, 2023 – Elpiscience Biopharma, Ltd. (Chairman and CEO: Darren Ji, MD, Ph.D., “Elpiscience”) and Astellas Pharma Inc. (TSE: 4503, President and CEO: Naoki Okamura, “Astellas”) today announced a research collaboration and license agreement for novel bi-specific macrophage engagers, ES019 and another program. The two companies will collaboratively conduct early-stage research for these two programs. Elpiscience will also grant Astellas the right to add up to two additional programs to be included in the collaboration. If Astellas exercises its option, Elpiscience will grant Astellas the exclusive right to further research, develop, manufacture and commercialize the products for each program. Elpiscience is a privately held, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing next-generation immuno-oncology therapies for cancer patients worldwide. Their Bispecific Macrophage Engager Platform (BiME®) is anti-tumor associated antigen (TAA) and anti-signal-regulatory protein α (SIRPα) bispecific antibody-based platform to activate Tumor Associated Macrophage (TAM) phagocytosis killing towards ...
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