Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA
March 20 (Reuters) – EyePoint filed a lawsuit on Friday accusing rival Ocular Therapeutix of spreading false or misleading information about EyePoint and its lead experimental eye drug. The complaint was filed in Middlesex County Superior Court for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The two companies are rivals in the race to develop longer-lasting treatments for serious retinal diseases, including wet age-related macular degeneration, or wet AMD, a leading cause of vision loss in older adults. EyePoint said Ocular Therapeutix made statements that misrepresented the company and the clinical results of the drug, Duravyu. The company is accusing Ocular Therapeutix of…
March 23 (Reuters) – Kali Therapeutics said on Monday it has entered into a licensing agreement with French drugmaker Sanofi to develop the privately held firm’s experimental treatment for several autoimmune diseases. Here are the details: * Under the deal, Sanofi will obtain global rights to KT501,a tri-specific antibody utilizing Kali Therapeutics’ proprietarydiscovery and research platform. * Kali Therapeutics will receive $180 million in upfront andnear-term payments and is eligible for up to $1.05 billion indevelopment and commercial milestone payments. * If the drug is approved, the company will also receivetiered royalties on product sales ranging from the high-singledigits to…
March 24 (Reuters) – Shares of ImmunityBio fell 20% on Tuesday after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning letter that said a television advertisement and podcast promoting its cancer therapy were false or misleading and violated federal law. ImmunityBio’s Anktiva was approved for a type of bladder cancer in April 2024. “These violations are concerning from a public health perspective because the promotional communications create a misleading impression that Anktiva, a treatment for a certain type of bladder cancer, can cure and even prevent all cancer,” the FDA said in the letter issued to the company on…
ATLANTA (AP) — Belgian pharmaceutical company UCB announced Tuesday that it would invest $2 billion to build a drug-making plant in suburban Atlanta. The rapidly growing drugmaker said the plant, which would employ about 330 people upon completion, would anchor its effort to sell more drugs in the United States. “This decision reflects our confidence in UCB’s long-term growth and our deep-rooted commitment to the United States,” company CEO Jean-Christophe Tellier said in a statement. UCB had announced in June that it wanted to build a new U.S. factory, as well as hire more U.S.-based contract manufacturers to make drugs.…
March 25 (Reuters) – Merck said on Wednesday it would buy biotech Terns Pharma in a deal valued at up to $6.7 billion, as the drugmaker races to bolster its cancer pipeline ahead of the looming patent loss for its blockbuster therapy Keytruda. Merck has offered $53 per share for Terns, representing a premium of 6% to the stock’s last close. Terns stock jumped 5.5% before the bell. The deal gives Merck access to Terns’ experimental drug TERN-701, which is being tested to treat chronic myeloid leukemia, a cancer that starts in the bone marrow and causes the uncontrolled growth…
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that more than half people over age 65 will need help with daily activities such as bathing, dressing or eating at some point, either for an extended period or the rest of their lives. Some research suggests that share may be as high as two-thirds. Yet relatively few older Americans have private long-term care coverage. AHIP, a trade association representing the U.S. health insurance industry, estimates that only 3% to 4% of Americans over 50 have an active policy that covers extended care. Medicare, the main health insurance program for older…
Merck is buying oncology company Terns Pharmaceuticals in a deal valued at approximately $6.7 billion as the pharmaceutical giant works on beefing up its cancer portfolio before a key patent on its cancer drug Keytruda expires in two years. Merck received accelerated approval for Keytruda from the Food and Drug Administration in September 2014 to treat advanced or unresectable melanoma. The drug has since been approved to treat more than 15 types of cancers and has been a key contributor to Merck’s revenue. Terns of Foster City, California, is currently developing a drug to treat certain patients with chronic myeloid…
March 25 (Reuters) – Corcept Therapeutics shares jumped more than 32% to nearly a two-month high on Wednesday after the U.S. health regulator approved its lead drug for treating an aggressive form of ovarian cancer that no longer responds to standard treatment. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved relacorilant, brand name Lifyorli, for use in combination with the chemotherapy drug nab-paclitaxel. The therapy is cleared for adults with platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian cancer, a type that returns or progresses within about six months of platinum-based chemotherapy. Lifyorli works by blocking cortisol-related stress signals in the body, a mechanism that can…
By Nqobile Dludla JOHANNESBURG, March 25 (Reuters) – Novo Nordisk is cutting South African prices of its weight-loss drug Wegovy for a second time since it launched in August, local executives said on Wednesday, pointing to fierce competition in a market led by rival Eli Lilly. The Danish drugmaker launched Wegovy in South Africa in August, when reference pricing was uncertain due to talks with the U.S. administration on its proposed “most-favoured nation” policy linking U.S. drug prices to those in peer countries. “We were of the view that the prices at the time were not conducive for the South…
It’s official: Elon Musk is combining SpaceX and xAI as he overhauls his sprawling business empire.Musk told workers in a Monday memo that SpaceX has acquired xAI, his AI company, sources familiar with the matter confirmed to Business Insider.The CEO wrote that the deal would create “the most ambitious, vertically-integrated innovation engine on (and off) Earth, with AI, rockets, space-based internet, direct-to-mobile device communications and the world’s foremost real-time information and free speech platform.”SpaceX, which Musk founded in 2002, is reportedly gearing up for an initial public offering this year that could value the Starship maker at $1.5 trillion.In the…