STAT+: Pharmalittle: We’re reading about a setback for Pfizer, a boost for Novo Nordisk, and much more
Good morning everyone, and welcome to another working week. We hope the weekend respite was relaxing and invigorating, because that oh-so familiar routine of deadlines, online meetings, and phone calls has predictably returned. But what can you do? The world, such as it is, continues to spin. So time to give it a nudge in a better direction by brewing cups of stimulation. Our choice today is maple cinnamon French toast. Goes well with a hearty breakfast, as you might imagine. Meanwhile, here are a few items of interest to start you on your journey, which we hope is meaningful and productive. Best of luck, and do keep in touch. …
In the latest setback for Pfizer, an experimental sickle cell anemia treatment failed to meet the main goal in a late-stage trial for patients aged 16 and older, Reuters notes. The trial results showed no significant difference in the number of vaso-occlusive crises — or painful events common in sickle cell disease — among people who took the drug versus those who took the placebo. This makes the drug, known as inclacumab, the second drug from Pfizer’s 2022 acquisition of Global Blood Therapeutics to yield unfavorable results. Oxbryta — the centerpiece of the $5.4 billion buyout — was withdrawn last September over risks of painful complications and deaths. The previously estimated $3 billion in revenue contributions from the deal now seems unlikely to materialize, according to BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman. Pfizer said it will keep working on its sickle cell treatments, including Oxbryta and osivelotor, another therapy secured from the Global Blood deal.
Novo Nordisk’s obesity drug Wegovy was cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat an increasingly common liver disease, adding to the list of conditions for which the blockbuster therapy is now approved, STAT writes. The agency granted accelerated approval to Wegovy for patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH, with moderate to advanced liver scarring. The decision was based on Phase 3 results showing that the drug helped improve liver scarring, or fibrosis, and resolve symptoms. Many people with obesity develop fatty liver disease, which can then progress to a severe form that is MASH. MASH causes fibrosis, which can then advance to even more serious scarring called cirrhosis, which then leads to liver cancer or the need for a liver transplant. Many MASH drugs in development directly target the liver, but Novo and other companies have been hoping that new GLP-1 weight loss therapies, which are thought to reduce fat in the liver and have anti-inflammatory effects, could also be beneficial for MASH.
Ed Silverman
Go to statnews