As another antibiotics biotech sinks into a crisis, warnings of a sector ‘collapse’

June 13, 2019 06:44 AM EDTUpdated 08:11 AM

As another antibiotics biotech sinks into a crisis, warnings of a sector ‘collapse’

John Carroll

Editor & Founder

Another antibiotics company is scrambling to survive today, forcing the company’s founding CEO to exit in a reorganization that eliminates its research capabilities as the survivors look to improve on minuscule sales of their newly approved treatment. And the news — on top of an alarming series of failures — spurred at least one figure in the field to warn of a looming collapse of the antimicrobial resistance research field.

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Healthcare Disparities and Sickle Cell Disease

Frank Lee

CEO of Forma Therapeutics

In the complicated U.S. healthcare system, navigating a serious illness such as cancer or heart disease can be remarkably challenging for patients and caregivers. When that illness is classified as a rare disease, those challenges can become even more acute. And when that rare disease occurs in a population that experiences health disparities, such as people with sickle cell disease (SCD) who are primarily Black and Latino, challenges can become almost insurmountable.

David Meek, new Mirati CEO (Marlene Awaad/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

September 20, 2021 07:55 AM EDT

People

Fresh off FerGene's meltdown, David Meek takes over at Mirati with lead KRAS drug racing to an approval

Kyle Blankenship

Managing Editor

In the insular world of biotech, a spectacular failure can sometimes stay on any executive’s record for a long time. But for David Meek, the man at the helm of FerGene’s recent implosion, two questionable exits made way for what could be an excellent rebound.

Meek, most recently FerGene’s CEO and a past head at Ipsen, has become CEO at Mirati Therapeutics, taking the reins from founding CEO Charles Baum, who will step over into the role of president and head of R&D, according to a release.

September 20, 2021 11:30 AM EDT

R&D

FDA+

Exelixis pulls a surprise win in thyroid cancer just days ahead of final Cabometyx readout

Nicole DeFeudis

Editor

Exelixis added a thyroid cancer indication to its super-seller Cabometyx’s label on Friday — months before the FDA was expected to make a decision, and days before the company was set to unveil the final data at #ESMO21.

At a median follow-up of 10.1 months, differentiated thyroid cancer patients treated with Cabometyx (cabozantinib) lived a median of 11 months without their disease worsening, compared to just 1.9 months for patients given a placebo, Exelixis said on Monday.

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Brass Tacks Health

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Volker Wagner (L) and Jeff Legos

September 20, 2021 10:12 AM EDTUpdated 10:27 AM

R&D

In Focus

As Bayer, Novartis stack up their radiopharmaceutical data at #ESMO21, a key debate takes shape

Amber Tong

Senior Editor

Ten years ago, a small Norwegian biotech by the name of Algeta showed up at ESMO — then the European Multidisciplinary Cancer Conference 2011 — and declared that its Bayer-partnered targeted radionuclide therapy, radium-223 chloride, boosted the overall survival of castration-resistant prostate cancer patients with symptomatic bone metastases.

In a Phase III study dubbed ALSYMPCA, patients who were treated with radium-223 chloride lived a median of 14 months compared to 11.2 months. The FDA would stamp an approval on it based on those data two years later, after Bayer snapped up Algeta and christened the drug Xofigo.

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Dave Lennon, former president of Novartis Gene Therapies

September 20, 2021 11:09 AM EDT

Cell/Gene Tx

Zolgensma patent spat brews between Novartis and Regenxbio as top Novartis gene therapy exec departs

Zachary Brennan

Senior Editor

Regenxbio, a small licensor of gene therapy viral vectors spun out from the University of Pennsylvania, is now finding itself in the middle of some major league patent fights.

In addition to a patent suit with Sarepta Therapeutics from last September, Novartis, is now trying to push its smaller partner out of the way. The Swiss biopharma licensed Regenxbio’s AAV9 vector for its $2.1 million spinal muscular atrophy therapy Zolgensma.

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September 20, 2021 07:30 AM EDT

R&D

Mirati triumphs again in KRAS-mutated lung cancer with a closely watched FDA filing now in the cards

Kyle Blankenship

Managing Editor

After a busy weekend at #ESMO21, which included a big readout for its KRAS drug adagrasib in colon cancer, Mirati Therapeutics is ready to keep the pressure on competitor Amgen with lung cancer data that will undergird an upcoming filing.

In topline results from a Phase II cohort of its KRYSTAL-1 study, adagrasib posted a response rate of 43% in second-line-or-later patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer containing a KRAS-G12C mutation, Mirati said Monday.

September 18, 2021 09:05 AM EDTUpdated 20 minutes ago

R&D

AstraZeneca, Daiichi Sankyo's ADC Enhertu blows away Roche's Kadcyla in second-line advanced breast cancer

Kyle Blankenship

Managing Editor

AstraZeneca and Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo think they’ve struck gold with their next-gen ADC drug Enhertu, which has shown some striking data in late-stage breast cancer trials and early solid tumor tests. Getting into earlier patients is now the goal, starting with Enhertu’s complete walkover of a Roche drug in second-line breast cancer revealed Saturday.

Enhertu cut the risk of disease progression or death by a whopping 72% (p=<0.0001) compared with Roche’s ADC Kadcyla in second-line unresectable and/or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer patients who had previously undergone treatment with a Herceptin-chemo combo, according to interim data from the Phase III DESTINY-Breast03 head-to-head study presented at this weekend’s #ESMO21.

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ENDPOINTS CAREERS

Senior Scientific Research Analyst

American Association for Cancer Research

Philadelphia, PA, USA

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September 20, 2021 10:59 AM EDT

News Briefing

Denmark's Gubra to collaborate with Bayer on peptides; Samsung and Biogen receive FDA approval for Lucentis biosimilar

Paul Schloesser

Editorial Intern

Danish biotech Gubra announced a research collaboration and license agreement with Bayer to develop peptide therapeutics to treat cardiorenal diseases. The collaboration will utilize Gubra’s peptide drug discovery platform to identify potential candidates.

This is not the first time Gubra has partnered with a company on peptide therapeutics — they partnered with Boehringer Ingelheim back in 2017 to create peptide therapeutics to treat obesity.

September 20, 2021 10:34 AM EDT

Pharma

Ex-Mylan employee pleads guilty to insider trading, illegally dealing on FDA approvals, earnings and Upjohn merger

Max Gelman

Editor

A former Mylan IT executive pleaded guilty Friday to an insider trading scheme where he bought and sold stock options on another executive’s advice.

Prosecutors secured the plea from Dayakar Mallu, Mylan’s former VP of global operations information technology, after uncovering the plan. Mallu collaborated with an unnamed “senior manager,” the SEC said, to trade options ahead of Mylan public announcements regarding FDA approvals, revenue reports and its merger with the Pfizer generics subsidiary Upjohn. The two subsequently shared profits.

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