The days of the U.S. FDA considering as trade secrets country-of-origin info for drugs and their ingredients have to end, the Senate Aging Committee was told at a Jan. 29 hearing on truth in drug labeling.
Oncology-focused Eikon Therapeutics Inc. set the terms of its IPO Jan. 28, selling 17.648 million shares at a price range between $16 to $18 per share. At the top of the range, the Millbrae, Calif.-based biopharma company would raise about $317.7 million.
The presbyopia space gained another player as Tenpoint Therapeutics Ltd. won the U.S. FDA’s go-ahead for Yuvezzi (carbachol and brimonidine tartrate ophthalmic solution, 2.75%/0.1%, previously known as Brimochol PF), the first and only dual-agent eye drop for the treatment of adult presbyopia.
In its fourth major biopharma deal since its 2019 founding, Repertoire Immune Medicines signed a partnership with Eli Lilly and Co. to develop tolerizing therapies for several autoimmune diseases, gaining an up-front payment of $85 million, with a potential $1.84 billion in development and commercial milestone payments coming later, along with tiered royalties.
En Carta Diagnostics SA's EC Pocket Lyme received FDA breakthrough device designation for its rapid, molecular diagnostic test for the early detection of Borrelia bacteria, which causes Lyme disease. The designation marks a pivotal step for the French startup as it will enable closer interaction with the agency, accelerating its route to market, and getting it to patients sooner.
A Jan. 28 report on Medicare spending on lab tests indicated that spending on many types of tests flattened between 2022 and 2024, but spending on genetic tests rose 20% between 2023 and 2024 to $3.6 billion. While the report does not specifically call out fraud as a driver of spending, the U.S. Department of Justice posted a Jan. 26 press release identifying a case of Medicare gene testing fraud that amounted to $52 million, just one of several recent examples of this kind of fraud.
Rolling out guidance to help pharma manufacturers provide direct-to-consumer drugs at lower prices, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) clarified ways to eliminate the middlemen while still abiding by the federal anti-kickback statute.
Heeding the recommendation of an independent data monitoring committee, Calcimedica Inc. said it is discontinuing the phase II study testing calcium release-activated calcium channel inhibitor Auxora in patients with acute kidney injury with associated acute hypoxemic respiratory failure.
The pressure on U.S. drug prices continues, with the CMS lining up the drugs for round 3 of negotiations, which will set maximum fair prices to go into effect in 2028. The slate includes 15 drugs and, for the first time, opens the negotiations to Part B drugs, as well as Part D. Consequently, seven of the 15 selected drugs are biologics.
Medtronic plc acted on the increase in M&A and expansion of its investment ecosystem touted at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference earlier this month with a $90 million infusion into Brisbane, Australia-based Anteris Technologies Global Corp. The investment had been contingent on a public offering of stock by Anteris, which it completed on Jan. 22. Together, the new funds for the biomimetic heart valve company totaled $320 million.
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