Astrazeneca plc will pay up to $2 billion for Eccogene Co. Ltd.’s oral weight loss candidate, ECC-5004, as big and small pharma players alike work to gain ground in the burgeoning obesity market where Eli Lilly and Co. scored the latest U.S. FDA approval of Zepbound (tirzepatide).
Orsobio Inc., already in the clinic with three candidates, has completed its $60 million series A financing. The company, CEO Mani Subramanian told BioWorld, has taken its time to find the right programs, put them together and only raised capital when it saw the programs had legs. Even the series A is a measured step, as Subramanian called the financing “modest.”
A year-and-a-half after Eli Lilly and Co.’s Mounjaro (tirzepatide) gained U.S. FDA approval for adults with type 2 diabetes, the GLP-1 and GIP dual agonist was cleared for chronic weight management in adults who are obese or overweight and who also have one related condition.
After a delay caused by the April complete response letter from the U.S. FDA for Eli Lilly and Co.’s Omvoh (mirikizumab-mrkz), regulators cleared the drug for moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis (UC) in adults. Given by infusion (300 mg/15 mL)/injection (100 mg/mL), Omvoh stands as the first and only interleukin (IL)-23p19 antagonist for the treatment of moderately to severely active UC in adults – as well as the pharma giant’s first drug approval in the space.
Novartis AG’s radioligand therapy, Pluvicto, a bestseller for the company that has been restructuring itself, continues to show strong growth in the third quarter of 2023, according to its most recent financial results. Sales were up 217% from the same quarter in 2022 at $256 million. Analysts are predicting blockbuster sales. Adding to the momentum were new data from the phase III PSMAfore study of Pluvicto (lutetium [177Lu] vipivotide tetraxetan), in second-line cancer, hitting its primary endpoint of radiographic progression-free survival in treating prostate-specific membrane antigen-positive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer after treatment with androgen receptor pathway inhibitor therapy.
Researchers from Loxo Oncology at Eli Lilly and Co. recently reported the discovery and preclinical evaluation of a new highly potent and selective pan-KRAS inhibitor, LY-4066434, being developed for the treatment of cancer.
KRAS is a GTP-binding protein involved in cell growth control that requires post-translational farnesylation to be active. KRAS G12D mutations are mostly associated with pancreatic, colorectal and non-small-cell lung cancers and occur less commonly in other cancers. There are currently no therapies approved to specifically target this mutation.
Drug discovery in Japan has been steadily declining, and it has reached a crisis point where swift action is needed or pharma companies will leave Japan or stop listing products here, said speakers at the BioJapan 2023 meeting held Oct. 10 to 13 in Yokohama, Japan.
Drug discovery in Japan has been steadily declining, and it has reached a crisis point where swift action is needed or pharma companies will leave Japan or stop listing products here, said speakers at the BioJapan 2023 meeting held Oct. 10 to 13 in Yokohama, Japan.