Wish to keep on high of the science and politics driving biotech at the moment? Join to get our biotech publication in your inbox.
Hiya! Did you catch each final vital bit of reports that emerged from this 12 months’s JPM convention? Be part of STAT’s Tara Bannow, Damian Garde, Matthew Herper, and Allison DeAngelis at the moment for a digital debrief on how the week went.
Oh, and a programming be aware: The publication is taking a break on Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We’ll be again in your inbox vibrant and early Tuesday.
Is biotech again from its downturn?
Can Nvidia remedy biology? And is it smart to do a deal on a celebration bus? We cowl all that and extra this week on “The Readout LOUD,” STAT’s biotech podcast.
Recording from the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Convention, we focus on how a spate of offers and a few intermittent sunshine appear to have brightened the outlook for biotech on the outset of 2024. We additionally speak concerning the newest twist within the Sarepta Therapeutics saga, a ubiquitous dealmaker, and life on the social gathering circuit.
Hear right here.
FDA: GLP-1 medicine not linked to suicidal ideas
A preliminary FDA evaluate didn’t discover proof that GLP-1 medicine like Wegovy and Ozempic trigger suicidality. The company will proceed to probe the problem; it’s additionally inspecting whether or not these weight problems and diabetes medicine trigger hair loss or aspiration, wherein meals or liquid enter the airway.
The European Medicines Company can be learning anecdotal situations of suicidal ideas stemming from GLP-1 medicines; final month that company, too, stated it hadn’t discovered a hyperlink.
Many weight-loss medicine through the years have carried some psychiatric danger, therefore the companies’ warning. For instance, rimonabant was pulled from European markets in 2008 due to considerations that it triggered suicidal ideas. A latest observational examine in Nature Medication did discover, nevertheless, that there was a decrease danger of suicidal ideation in GLP-1 medicine in comparison with different diabetes and weight problems therapies.
Learn extra.
Novartis reportedly decides to cross on Cytokinetics
Novartis has determined it gained’t purchase Cytokinetics in spite of everything, The Wall Street Journal writes — a report that despatched the guts drug-maker’s shares down 16% on the day. The Swiss pharma big has been pursuing Cytokinetics for a number of months, however within the final couple days backed down, in response to the Journal. Cytokinetics is alleged to have been courted by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson as properly.
The corporate, whose market cap practically hit $10 billion this week, reported profitable information final month for its experimental drug, aficamten, that treats hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Its shares soared 60% on that information. Some analysts say the drug would possibly generate as much as $3.6 billion in gross sales by 2032, the Wall Street Journal writes. Novartis CEO Vasant Narasimhan informed CNBC earlier this week that its “general M&A technique… is de facto to deal with sub-$5 billion belongings.”
DSM-5 contributors obtained $14 million from {industry}
The DSM-5, usually known as the bible of psychiatry, could have a little bit of a battle of curiosity downside. A brand new examine reveals that 55 of the 92 physicians who contributed to the compendium acquired funds from {industry}, totaling $14 million. Of those physicians with pharma ties, 91% accepted meals and drinks, 69% acquired compensation for journey and consulting, and half acquired analysis funding.
One member of the medication-induced motion issues job power was significantly egregious, the examine identified. This particular person acquired $683,700 in 2019 — getting 202 funds for meals and beverage, and 402 funds for journey and lodging.
“There’s a wealth of analysis demonstrating that industry-funded analysis and researchers draw industry-friendly outcomes and conclusions,” the examine’s writer informed STAT. “Within the case of the DSM, this results in the medicalization of emotional misery, over-diagnosis and over therapy, and the seek for magic bullets.”
Learn extra.
