News

Novartis expects net sales to rise by a low single-digit percentage this year and core operating profit to take a small dip as it faces patent expiries while accelerating work to bring new products to the market. The forecast follows net sales in the second quarter of $14.4 billion, up by 3% in US dollars from a year earlier and by 1% at constant exchange rates. By comparison, sales in the first quarter declined. Second quarter core operating profit, a non-IFRS measure excluding amortisations and impairments, was flat.

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a new oral treatment for adults with hypercholesterolaemia – a condition characterised by abnormally high levels of cholesterol which increase the risk of a heart attack or stroke. The treatment, Lipfendra (enlicitide), is a macrocyclic peptide that inhibits the enzyme PCSK9, which plays a role in cholesterol metabolism.

Venture-capital backed Mission Therapeutics Ltd is to divest a clinical asset for the treatment of acute kidney injury to Australia-based Dimerix Ltd providing it with $292 million in non-dilutive capital. This will enable it to pursue its priority treatment for Parkinson’s disease and other possible central nervous system disorders. Announced on 17 July, the deal will also deliver up to double-digit tiered royalties to Mission should the kidney product, MTX652, reach the market. It is currently poised to enter Phase 2. The small molecule drug, MTX325, for Parkinson’s is in Phase 1.

GSK Plc has stopped development of a small molecule drug for chronic cough following only limited efficacy for the product in a Phase 3 programme. However the drug will continue to be evaluated for irritable bowel syndrome. The drug, camlipixant, entered GSK’s portfolio with the acquisition of the Canadian company, BELLUS Health Inc in 2023. At the time, the acquisition was valued at $2 billion. Camlipixant is an antagonist of the P2X3 receptor, a type of receptor primarily found in sensory neurons.

Eli Lilly and Co is to enter the therapeutic arena for psychedelic medicines with the acquisition of AtaiBeckley Inc of New York City, US, giving it ownership of clinical-stage products for treatment-resistant depression and social anxiety disorder. Announced on 16 July, the deal involves an upfront cash payment of $2.8 billion. There would also be an additional $1 billion due by Lilly to the seller if certain development and regulatory milestones are met.

A two-year old biotech company based in San Francisco, US, completed a $400 million Series C financing round on 14 July to support the use of AI in discovering new molecules for drugs. Chai Discovery Inc is a private company which has been given a valuation of $3.8 billion by its investors which included Index Ventures, Kleiner Parkins, Sequoia Capital and Dimension Capital. The round was additionally supported by 15 other firms. 

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc, well-know for its cystic fibrosis therapies, has turned to endocrinology as a strategy for growth with the acquisition of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Inc of San Diego, US. Announced on 6 July, the deal is valued at $10 billion, or about $8.8 billion net of the estimated cash on Crinetics’ balance sheet.

On 6 July, Novartis announced a new acquisition – this time potentially leading to a novel class of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). The company is Myricx Pharma Ltd (Myricx Bio), located in Canary Wharf in London, UK and a spin-out of Imperial College London and the Francis Crick Institute. It has a preclinical portfolio led by two ADCs with novel payloads – small molecule inhibitors of the N-myristoyltransferase (NMTi) enzyme. 

France-based Ipsen SA is to advance its rare disease portfolio with the acquisition of Memo Therapeutics AG of Switzerland whose lead product is a monoclonal antibody directed against a virus that can harm patients receiving kidney transplants. The antibody, potravitug, is still in clinical development but has shown a potential to neutralise the BK polyomavirus which can lead to graft loss and the failure of a transplant. The BK virus, also known as the Human polyomavirus 1, is a member of the polyomavirus family. 

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a new indication for Casgevy, a cell-based gene therapy for two blood disorders, making it available to individuals as young as  two years. The disorders are sickle cell disease, a rare inherited blood disorder, and transfusion-dependent beta thalassaemia. Casgevy (exagamglogene autotemcel) was first approved by the FDA in 2023 for children with sickle cell disease from the age of 12 years.