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Hiya! As we speak, we discuss an Illumina competitor’s latest inflow of funding, Adam weighs in on Pfizer’s plan for a once-a-day GLP-1 capsule, and extra.
What analysts make of Pfizer’s new GLP-1 plans
From STAT’s Adam Feuerstein: Pfizer’s choice yesterday to maneuver forward with a once-daily GLP-1 capsule for weight problems was met with a mixture of cautious reward and skepticism from Wall Avenue wags.
The oral drug, referred to as danuglipron, belongs to the identical class of injectable weight problems medicines as Wegovy and Zepbound. Final December, Pfizer shelved a twice-daily model of the drug as a result of its weight-loss and tolerability profile wasn’t aggressive. Now, Pfizer mentioned it has chosen a “modified launch formulation” of danuglipron that may permit for once-daily dosing, pending the end result of a dose-optimization research.
Evercore ISI’s Umer Rafat referred to as Pfizer’s choice to conduct extra preliminary work on “danu” — with out committing to bigger Part 3 research simply but — the “proper transfer.” However he famous that Pfizer may additionally be shopping for time whereas it susses out different backup oral GLP-1 medication from its labs.
David Risinger of Leerink identified that Pfizer’s dose-exploring research for the brand new model of danu, even when optimistic in early 2025, received’t yield any information on weight reduction or uncomfortable side effects in sufferers. “We predict the corporate might want to subsequently provoke a Part 1b in an effort to consider efficacy and tolerability,” he wrote, including that these information will not be prepared till 2026 on the earliest.
Raymond James analyst Steven Seedhouse has a powerful purchase score on Viking Therapeutics, which is creating its personal weight problems drug, and as such, has grow to be a broadly mentioned takeover goal for pharma giants like Pfizer which might be falling behind Lilly and Novo Nordisk.
Commenting on the Pfizer information, Seedhouse titled his analysis observe: “Do Unhealthy BID Medication Make Good QD Medication? Pfizer Seemingly Thinks So, We Say Unlikely.”
CAR-T’s issues, and advantages, grow to be clearer
Final 12 months, the FDA started finding out whether or not new lymphomas had been linked to CAR-T remedy — a shock, given the truth that the remedy is used as a potent remedy for blood cancers. Regardless of a number of research, scientists haven’t but discovered strong proof that CAR-T straight causes these new cancers.
It appears extra doubtless that sufferers’ present danger elements and prior remedies contribute to those instances. The danger of creating a brand new most cancers after CAR-T stays low, and the advantages of the remedy nonetheless far outweigh the dangers, researchers say. And the largest concern for CAR-T sufferers stays infections, not new cancers.
Learn extra.
Biotech layoffs and a giant pharma exit
Why are pharmaceutical firms chopping extra workers than cash-strapped biotechs? And who will Pfizer scout out as its subsequent science chief? STAT’s West Coast biotech reporter Jonathan Wosen joins “The Readout LOUD” to debate what’s driving workforce cuts.
We additionally talk about a giant change in Pfizer’s management and the talk over a brand new facet impact tied to the diabetes drug Ozempic. Plus, entrepreneurs Alexis Borisy and Zach Weinberg name in to debate their biotech incubator Curie.Bio and the way they hope to “free the founders.”
Hear right here.
Component Biosciences raises one other large spherical
Component Biosciences, a San Diego-based rival to Illumina, just raised $277 million in Collection D enterprise funding. The funding will assist Component commercialize its Ativi benchtop genomic analyzer, and launch its subsequent technology Ativi24 system, which is able to embrace cell profiling and multi-omics.
In Could, STAT’s Jonathan Wosen spoke with Component CEO Molly He, who talked about that even when the corporate was elevating its earlier spherical in 2021, they weren’t able to go public — and nonetheless aren’t.
“We needed to have the ability to exactly predict what we’re going to do by way of income … that takes work and takes an understanding of our prospects, of the market, and the way our know-how has been perceived by the market,” she mentioned. “We’re getting higher and higher in our forecast capabilities. However we’re nonetheless not fairly there.”
The case for adaptive trial design
Well being care is shifting towards customized, patient-focused care, and medical trials should comply with go well with with adaptive designs, opine two consultants on this house. These trials modify based mostly on real-time information, dashing up entry to new remedies, decreasing publicity to ineffective therapies, enhancing affected person security, and enhancing understanding of drug results.
Collaboration between tech and affected person advocacy can additional speed up medical analysis and innovation, the consultants say. Regardless of their complexity, developments in machine studying are making adaptive trials extra manageable. Regulatory our bodies just like the FDA are supporting these designs, recognizing their potential to make drug growth extra environment friendly and patient-centric.
Learn extra.
Extra reads
- Akebia unveils IRA-driven price ticket for kidney illness drug Vafseo, ends CSL collab, FiercePharma
- Novartis closes technical R&D website in San Diego as a part of ongoing restructure, FierceBiotech
- Roche’s gene remedy biotech Spark is shedding staff, ending some early-stage packages, Endpoints
