Biopharma financings in 2023 – at $49.3 billion raised through the third quarter (Q3) – are tracking ahead of, or only slightly behind, several years since 2011, except for the two outlier years of 2020 and 2021 when there was a flurry of investments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While Ventyx Biosciences Inc.’s oral S1P1 receptor modulator, VTX-002, achieved primary and secondary endpoints in a phase II ulcerative colitis (UC) trial, the company’s shares (NASDAQ:VTYX) fell 25.9%, or $7.78, closing Oct. 10 at $22.22, possibly due to a higher-than-expected placebo response and a clinical remission rate that was similar to Pfizer Inc.’s etrasimod.
A discovery-stage company founded 10 years ago and focused on developing a PINK1 activator for Parkinson’s disease and other indications is now under the umbrella of Abbvie Inc. through an acquisition potentially worth $655 million. North Chicago-based Abbvie paid $110 million at closing for San Francisco-based Mitokinin Inc., but the deal also includes up to $545 million in potential payments upon hitting development and commercial milestones related to the PINK1 (PTEN-induced kinase 1) program. On top of that, Mitokinin shareholders are entitled to tiered royalties based on net sales.
Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists have brought significant weight loss to patients, catching the attention of investors, but drug developers are continually seeking new therapies with different mechanisms to enhance the effects and improve the tolerability.
Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. agreed to acquire Point Biopharma Global Inc. for $12.50 per share in cash, or about $1.4 billion, in a deal that would bring the pharma company a pipeline of preclinical and clinical radioligand therapies for cancer. The purchase price is an 87% premium to Point’s closing stock price on Oct. 2, and a 68% premium to the 30-day volume-weighted average price. Shares (NASDAQ:PNT) of Point, also of Indianapolis, rose 84.9%, or $5.67, to close at $12.36 on Oct. 3.
The ability of obesity medications to impact co-morbidities, reducing the symptoms and costs associated with down-the-road disease, has attracted significant attention throughout the biopharma industry.
The multibillion-dollar market potential for obesity medications that analysts expect in the next decade signifies change is afoot for a patient population historically plagued with unsafe options and generally dismissed by investors and insurers. While glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists have paved the way – offering hope-filled patients the first significant non-surgical weight loss benefit upwards of 15% – only a small portion of the obesity population and certain overweight patients are treated with medication, and even a smaller percentage receive insurance reimbursement.
Three years after Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. gained U.S. FDA approval of the first treatment for rare disease primary hyperoxaluria type 1 (PH1), Novo Nordisk A/S solidified its own marketing clearance for RNAi therapy Rivfloza (nedosiran).
The multibillion-dollar market potential for obesity medications that analysts expect in the next decade signifies change is afoot for a patient population historically plagued with unsafe options and generally dismissed by investors and insurers. While glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists have paved the way – offering hope-filled patients the first significant non-surgical weight loss benefit upwards of 15% – only a small portion of the obesity population and certain overweight patients are treated with medication, and even a smaller percentage receive insurance reimbursement.
Structure Therapeutics Inc.’s stock climbed 34.6% following a readout of what analysts call “competitive” and “exceptional” phase Ib data at 28 days of oral small-molecule glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist GSBR-1290 in healthy overweight or obese individuals. Shares (NASDAQ:GPCR) rose $12.95 to close Sept. 29 at $50.42. At the same time as the data readout, the San Francisco-based company agreed to a $300 million private placement with several large health care institutional and mutual fund investors, extending Structure’s runway through the end of 2026.
