The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit didn’t change a thing in a trio of rulings stemming from Eli Lilly and Co.’s inter partes review challenges of several patents protecting Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.’s migraine drug, Ajovy (fremanezumab).
Eli Lilly and Co.’s $1.1 billion acquisition of Dermira Inc. early last year is looking like a smart move after the company’s atopic dermatitis (AD) drug, lebrikizumab, hit all its targets in two phase III trials. Lebrikizumab is an interleukin-13 antagonist and is part of Lilly’s strategy to build a dermatology portfolio to compete in a market dominated by Sanofi SA and Regeneron Pharmaceutical Inc.’s Dupixent (dupilumab), which was the first injected antibody drug available for AD in 2017. Lilly picked up Dermira, of Menlo Park, Calif., along with lebrikizumab in January last year shortly after the FDA granted lebrikizumab fast track status, paving the way for a potential six-month review.
New top-line results from the phase IIb/III Allegro trial of Pfizer Inc.'s once-daily oral JAK3 inhibitor, ritlecitinib, have met the trial's primary efficacy endpoint of improving scalp hair regrowth in patients with alopecia areata vs. placebo. The new data, to be paired with long-term trial results from Pfizer's long-term Allegro-LT study, move the program one step closer to an expected early 2022 NDA filing.
Eli Lilly and Co. has established a multiyear collaboration with Kumquat Biosciences Inc. for the discovery, development and commercialization of new small molecules for stimulating tumor-specific immune responses. Kumquat will receive $70 million up front, including an equity investment, and is eligible for more than $2 billion in potential milestone payments plus royalties on any marketed products.
Eli Lilly and Co. has established a multiyear collaboration with Kumquat Biosciences Inc. for the discovery, development and commercialization of new small molecules for stimulating tumor-specific immune responses. Kumquat will receive $70 million up front, including an equity investment, and is eligible for more than $2 billion in potential milestone payments plus royalties on any marketed products.
For the first time this year, BioWorld’s Biopharmaceutical Index is showing signs of life with an increase of 5.6%, boosted primarily by Alzheimer’s disease efforts from Biogen Inc. and Eli Lilly and Co. Biogen’s stock (NASDAQ:BIIB) is up about 36.4% this year and has been front and center due to its controversial FDA approval for Aduhelm (aducanumab) in June. Lilly’s stock (NYSE:LLY) has climbed by more than 44%, and it was granted breakthrough therapy designation a month ago for its Alzheimer’s candidate donanemab.
More than a decade after the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act became law and nearly six years after the first biosimilar launched in the U.S., the country’s first potential interchangeable is on deck awaiting an FDA decision.
Following November’s equity investment that brought it a 14% ownership in Protomer Technologies Inc., Eli Lilly and Co. has acquired the privately held company engineering protein and peptide therapeutics that sense molecular activators. If development and commercial milestones are met, the deal could be worth more than $1 billion.
U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) came out swinging against the biopharma industry’s innovation talking point July 8 when she released a House Oversight Committee staff report on U.S. drug prices and the games drug manufacturers play to delay competition.
Recent findings with the sodium glucose transporter-2 inhibitor Jardiance (empagliflozin) from Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH and Eli Lilly and Co. drew more attention to the cardiovascular space.
