A month after besting rival Novo Nordisk A/S in a bidding war for obesity drug developer Metsera Inc., Pfizer Inc. is again adding to its GLP-1 arsenal, this time via a $2 billion licensing and collaboration agreement with Yaopharma, a subsidiary of China’s Fosun Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.
With new results from Wave Life Sciences Ltd., Structure Therapeutics Inc. and Ascletis Pharma Inc., obesity management drugs continue to move forward in producing weight loss and move the market.
CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Ltd. has obtained IND clearance from the FDA to conduct clinical trials in the U.S. with SYH-2069 for weight management in individuals with obesity or overweight and at least one weight-related comorbidity.
Neurimmune AG has expanded its transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) collaboration with Alexion, Astrazeneca Rare Disease by entering into an exclusive global collaboration and license agreement to develop NI-009, a fibril depleter for light chain (AL) amyloidosis.
Junevity Inc. has raised $10 million in new funding, bringing its seed financing to a total of $20 million. The new funding will enable Junevity to advance JUN-01, its lead siRNA program for type 2 diabetes and obesity, through IND-enabling and initial clinical studies.
Apichope Bio Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Apichope Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Guangzhou Lianrui Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and Guangzhou Runlin Pharmaceutical Technology Co. Ltd. have synthesized xanthine dehydrogenase/oxidase (XDH; XOR) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of hyperuricemia, gout, arthritis and heart failure.
Hightide Therapeutics Inc.’s berberine ursodeoxycholate (HTD-1801) met the primary endpoint showing superior improvements in key cardiometabolic markers in patients with type 2 diabetes compared to Astrazeneca plc’s SGLT2 inhibitor, Farxiga (dapagliflozin), in a head-to-head phase III trial.
Apichope Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Guangzhou Lianrui Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and Guangzhou Runlin Pharmaceutical Technology Co. Ltd. have disclosed solute carrier family 22 member 12 (SLC22A12; URAT1) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of hyperuricemia, nephropathy and gout.
Protego Biopharma Inc. closed an oversubscribed $130 million series B financing that will be used to advance PROT-001, the company’s treatment for amyloid light (AL) chain amyloidosis. a plasma cell disorder where the cells produce abnormal, misfolded immunoglobulin light chain proteins.
Q32 Bio Inc. handed off rights to phase II-stage complement inhibitor ADX-097 in a deal with Akebia Therapeutics Inc. that helps the former extend its cash runway to focus on lead candidate bempikibart in alopecia areata and bolsters the latter’s efforts to build a rare kidney disease pipeline.