Peptidream Inc. has announced a new peptide radiopharmaceutical development candidate, PD-29875, a novel first-in-class highly selective macrocyclic peptide-radioisotope conjugate against Claudin 18.2 (CLDN18.2).
The European Commission approved Novo Holding A/S’ acquisition of Catalent Inc., a global contract development and manufacturing organization expected to help Novo Nordisk A/S keep up with increasing demand for its GLP-1 drug, Wegovy (semaglutide).
Although head-to-head results on tolerability were missing from the company’s data release, Eli Lilly and Co. said its U.S. FDA-approved weight-loss drug Zepbound (tirzepatide) beat the also-cleared Novo Nordic A/S compound Wegovy (semaglutide) in a phase IIIb study comparing the two.
During a busy day of dealmaking, Cour Pharmaceutical Development Co. Inc. entered a pact with Roche Holding AG’s Genentech unit to advance tolerogenic nanoparticle treatments for an autoimmune disease indication, garnering up to $940 million in up-front and milestone payments. Cour’s partnership with Genentech is its biggest to date, and the largest deal announced by a biopharma company on Dec. 3. A total of seven deals amounted to a combined single-day deal value of $3.67 billion.
Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have identified a signaling pathway that simultaneously increased energy expenditure and decreased food intake. In both human and primate studies, agonists of the tachykinin NK2 receptor (NK2R) led to both decreased food intake and increased energy expenditure. And in behavioral tests, they were not aversive, suggesting they do not cause the nausea that is a major side effect of GLP-1 agonists.
When U.S. CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure announced Nov. 26 that the agency is “reinterpreting” the law in proposing a rule allowing Medicare and Medicaid to cover obesity drugs beginning in 2026, she called it a “historic step.” The rule, if finalized, could make obesity drugs like Novo Nordisk A/S’ Wegovy (semaglutide) and Eli Lilly and Co.’s Zepbound (tirzepatide) available to millions more Americans and further invigorate development of other obesity drugs. But given the lateness of the day in the Biden administration, the proposal may be more symbolic than historic.
Startup company Pep2tango Therapeutics Inc., unveiled with backing by Versant Ventures, is advancing unimolecular multireceptor peptide agonists that target GLP-1, GIP, amylin and calcitonin receptors.
Protagonist Therapeutics Inc. has selected PN-881, an oral peptide interleukin-17 (IL-17) antagonist, as a development candidate for the treatment of immune-mediated skin diseases.
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