In the 1970s, scientists from several countries proposed to reconstruct, one by one, all the neurons in the brain as they appear under an electron microscope. They started with a small worm. Caenorhabditis elegans has only 302 neurons. It took 16 years. How much time would be required to repeat this arduous task for the 100 billion neurons in the human brain?
First, the good news about pandemics – and in 2024, there was big “good news.” Science Magazine named lenacapavir (Gilead Sciences Inc.) as the Breakthrough of the Year. In two separate trials, lenacapavir prevented HIV transmission with 100% efficacy in cisgender African women and 99.9% efficacy in men and gender-diverse persons when administered twice a year.
SK Bioscience Co. Ltd. won €50 million (₩75.5 billion, US$52.03 million) up front from Sanofi SA to expand an earlier agreement to develop and commercialize novel pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs). The first deal resulted in GBP-410 (SP-0202), its pediatric 21-valent PCV candidate that moved into phase III study last week.
The U.S. FDA approved 10 drugs in November, down from 15 in October, 24 in September and 22 in August. Four new molecular entities were approved by the agency in the month, bringing the year-to-date total to 42.
China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) approved Innovent Biologics Inc.’s NDA for Dovbleron (taletrectinib), a next-generation ROS1 tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), for treating adults with locally advanced or metastatic ROS1-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have been previously treated with ROS1 TKIs.
As if the uncertainties surrounding an incoming administration weren’t enough, a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision and a potential new avenue of liability for drug and device manufacturers could bring an added level of unpredictability to the sector for 2025.
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