Drug companies and organizations challenging the Medicare drug negotiations have yet to convince a U.S. court that the process, mandated by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, violates the Constitution. The most recent decisions came this week when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled Aug. 7 against Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH and the Sixth Circuit ruled Aug. 6 against a challenge filed by the Dayton, Ohio, Chamber of Commerce, the U.S. Chamber, and the Ohio and Michigan Chambers.

K36 Therapeutics Inc. has obtained IND clearance from the U.S. FDA for KTX-2001, a selective, oral, small-molecule inhibitor of nuclear receptor-binding SET domain protein 2 (NSD2), a histone methyltransferase and oncogene that activates gene expression in some cancers.

Proteinqure Inc. has received regulatory clearances from the U.FDA and Health Canada to initiate a phase I trial of lead candidate, PQ-203. The trial will begin in Canada and expand to U.S. sites later in 2025. The FDA also granted PQ-203 fast track designation for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).

A federal appeals court opened the door Aug. 6 for an amended class-action lawsuit alleging that Astrazeneca plc, Eli Lilly and Co., Novo Nordisk A/S and Sanofi SA engaged in a horizontal price-fixing conspiracy involving insulin products and GLP-1 drugs indicated in diabetes when they each adopted similar policies in 2020 to impose restrictions on 340B discounts to an unlimited number of contract pharmacies.

Location, location, location. While location is as important in manufacturing as it is in buying a home, it could become even more so for drug companies when, and if, the global biopharma sector tariff U.S. President Donald Trump continues to tease becomes a reality. In the shadow of the impending tariff, the FDA is working on a draft framework, the two-phase FDA PreCheck, to make it faster and easier for biopharma companies to relocate their manufacturing to the U.S.

With half-year industry financings down 59% from last year, and a U.S. administration supportive of cryptocurrencies, biopharma companies are building treasuries of digital assets to secure future R&D efforts and operational runways. Companies such as Artelo Biosciences Inc., MEI Pharma Inc., Windtree Therapeutics Inc. and 180 Life Sciences Corp. and have entered crypto deals in recent weeks, with the latter noting the potential to “unlock value outside traditional biotech milestones.”

Starlight Therapeutics Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Lantern Pharma Inc., announced that the FDA has cleared STAR-001 (LP-184) in combination with spironolactone for patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) at first progression.

The U.S. FDA has staked out a position on the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in medical devices, declaring that the evidence offers no reason to restrict their continued use in med-tech products.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc is prepped and ready for launch following U.S. FDA accelerated approval of dordaviprone as the first systemic therapy for H3 K27M-mutant diffuse glioma. Branded Modeyso, the orally administered first-in-class imipridone was acquired via Jazz’s acquisition earlier this year of Chimerix Inc. in a deal valued at about $935 million.

Cancel culture continues at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as it observes National Immunization Awareness Month with another strike against vaccines. This time, a $500 million strike specifically targets 22 mRNA vaccine R&D programs at the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), marking the beginning of the end of BARDA’s funding for mRNA vaccines.