Bristol Myers celebrates a big win with FDA approval of $13B cardio drug mavacamten

Samit Hirawat, Bristol Myers Squibb CMO (Bristol Myers)

April 28, 2022 08:29 PM EDTUpdated 08:32 AM

Bristol Myers celebrates a big win with FDA approval of $13B cardio drug mavacamten

Nicole DeFeudis

Editor

After getting hit with an FDA delay back in November, Bristol Myers Squibb is finally celebrating a win for mavacamten, the centerpiece of the company’s $13 billion MyoKardia buyout back in 2020.

Regulators approved mavacamten on Thursday to treat symptomatic obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or oHCM: a condition in which the muscular wall between the two bottom chambers of the heart becomes thicker than normal, blocking blood flow out of the heart.

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Vas Narasimhan (Photographer: Jason Alden/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

June 28, 2022 12:50 PM EDTUpdated 04:26 PM

R&D

Novartis details plans to axe 8,000 staffers as Narasimhan begins second phase of a global reorg

John Carroll

Editor & Founder

We now know the number of jobs coming under the axe at Novartis, and it isn’t small.

The pharma giant is confirming a report from Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger that it is chopping 8,000 jobs out of its 108,000 global staffers. A large segment will hit right at company headquarters in Basel, as CEO Vas Narasimhan axes some 1,400 of a little more than 11,000 jobs in Switzerland.

The first phase of the work is almost done, the company says in a statement to Endpoints News. Now it’s on to phase two. In the statement, Novartis says:

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June 28, 2022 07:17 AM EDT

Pharma

In Focus

How prepared is biopharma for the cyber doomsday?

Amber Tong

Senior Editor

One of the largest cyberattacks in history happened on a Friday, Eric Perakslis distinctly remembers.

Perakslis, who was head of Takeda’s R&D Data Sciences Institute and visiting faculty at Harvard Medical School at the time, had spent that morning completing a review on cybersecurity for the British Medical Journal. Moments after he turned it in, he heard back from the editor: “Have you heard what’s going on right now?”

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June 29, 2022 06:00 AM EDT

Pharma

Sanofi to cut insulin prices for uninsured from $99 to $35, matching the insulin cap coming through Congress

Zachary Brennan

Senior Editor

As the House-passed bill to cap the monthly price of insulin at $35 nationwide makes its way for a Senate vote soon, Sanofi announced Wednesday morning that beginning next month it will cut the monthly price of its insulins for uninsured Americans to $35, down from $99 previously.

The announcement from Sanofi, which allows the uninsured to buy one or multiple Sanofi insulins (Lantus, Insulin Glargine U-100, Toujeo, Admelog, and Apidra) at $35 for a 30-day supply effective July 1, follows House passage (232-193) of the monthly cap in March, with just 12 Republicans voting in favor of the measure.

ENDPOINTS CAREERS

Director of Quality Assurance

ImmunityBio

Dunkirk, NY, USA

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Bob Nelsen (Lyell)

June 29, 2022 07:05 AM EDT

People

Financing

As bear market continues to beat down biotech, ARCH closes a $3B early-stage fund

Max Gelman

Senior Editor

One of the biggest names in biotech investing has a whole lot of new money to spend.

ARCH Venture Partners closed its 12th venture fund early Wednesday morning, the firm said, bringing in almost $3 billion to invest in early-stage biotechs. The move comes about a year and a half after ARCH announced its previous fund, for almost $2 billion back in January 2021.

In a statement, ARCH managing director and co-founder Bob Nelsen appeared to brush off concerns about the broader market troubles, alluding to the downturn that’s seen several biotechs downsize and the XBI fall back to almost pre-pandemic levels.

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Hank Safferstein, Generian CEO

June 29, 2022 07:00 AM EDT

Deals

R&D

Astellas subsidiary to partner with Pittsburgh upstart in search for 'undruggable' proteins

Tyler Patchen

News Reporter

As Astellas continues its drive to build out its gene therapy portfolio and capabilities, a subsidiary of the Japanese pharma company has entered into a collaboration with a little-known Pittsburgh biotech.

Astellas-owned Mitobridge and Generian Pharmaceuticals announced on Wednesday that they will work together in a new deal for “undruggable” protein targets. Generian will net an undisclosed upfront payment and could get up to $180 million in milestones, should anything from its platform prove successful, as well as single-digit royalties on global net sales.

Adam Simpson, Icosavax CEO

June 29, 2022 06:56 AM EDT

R&D

Reeling from Covid flop, Icosavax says its RSV candidate passed early test. But investors need some more convincing

Amber Tong

Senior Editor

Three months separated from a disappointing readout of its Covid-19 vaccine, Icosavax is back with what it calls positive topline data for a different VLP vaccine candidate — although investors aren’t impressed.

IVX-121, a vaccine candidate for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), appeared to generate “robust” immune responses among both young and older adults, as measured by neutralizing antibodies, and appeared generally well-tolerated, Icosavax reported.

Lina Gugucheva, NewAmsterdam Pharma CBO

June 28, 2022 08:00 AM EDT

Deals

Pharma group bets up to $1B-plus on the PhIII resurrection of a once dead-and-buried LDL drug

John Carroll

Editor & Founder

Close to 5 years after then-Amgen R&D chief Sean Harper tamped the last spade of dirt on the last broadly focused CETP cholesterol drug — burying their $300 million upfront and the few remaining hopes for the class with it — the therapy has been fully resurrected. And today, the NewAmsterdam Pharma crew that did the Lazarus treatment on obicetrapib is taking another big step on the comeback trail with a €1 billion-plus regional licensing deal, complete with close to $150 million in upfront cash.

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ENDPOINTS CAREERS

Product Sales Manager

ImmunityBio

Remote

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(AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

June 28, 2022 02:27 PM EDTUpdated 04:38 PM

Pharma

Some pharma companies promise to cover abortion-related travel costs — while others won't go that far yet

Nicole DeFeudis

Editor

As the US Department of Health and Human Services promises to support the millions of women who would now need to cross state lines to receive a legal abortion, a handful of pharma companies have said they will pick up employees’ travel expenses.

GSK, Sanofi, Johnson & Johnson, BeiGene, Alnylam and Gilead have all committed to covering abortion-related travel expenses just four days after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and revoked women’s constitutional right to an abortion.

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Aurobindo Pharma co-founders P. V. Ram Prasad Reddy (L) and K. Nityananda Reddy

June 28, 2022 02:22 PM EDTUpdated 03:44 PM

Pharma

FDA+

Manufacturing

Aurobindo Pharma receives warning letter from India's SEC following more FDA question marks

Tyler Patchen

News Reporter

Indian-based generics manufacturer Aurobindo Pharma has been in the crosshairs of the FDA for several years now, but the company is also attracting attention from regulators within the subcontinent.

According to the Indian business news site Business Standard, a warning letter was sent to the company from the Securities Exchange Board of India, or SEBI.

The letter is related to disclosures made by the company on an ongoing FDA audit of the company’s Unit-1 API facility in Hyderabad, India as well as observations made by the US regulator between 2019 and 2022.