A year and a half ago, when Ironwood finished splitting itself in two, they were left with just a pair of experimental medicines in the clinic: a reformulation of Linzess, their approved drug for irritable bowel syndrome, and a new drug for persistent acid reflux called IW-3718.

In May, the Linzess formulation failed a Phase II study. And now, in part two of a year-long double-whammy for the Boston pharma, IW-3718 proved ineffective in its own large study. Both programs will be discontinued, marking a major setback for Ironwood and leaving the company facing an empty pipeline, huge layoffs and, two years splitting amid pressure from Alex Denner, another restructuring.

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Welcome back to Endpoints Weekly, your review of the week’s top biopharma headlines. Want this in your inbox every Saturday morning? Current Endpoints readers can visit their reader profile to add Endpoints Weekly. New to Endpoints? Sign up here.

As you start planning for #JPM23, we hope you will consider joining Endpoints News for our live and virtual events. For those who are celebrating Thanksgiving, we hope you are enjoying the long weekend with loved ones. And if you’re not — we’ll see you next week!

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The FDA has approved the world’s first gene therapy for hemophilia B, ushering into the market a treatment that’s historic in both what it promises to do and how much it will cost.

CSL will be marketing the drug, Hemgenix, at a list price of $3.5 million — which sets a new record for the most expensive single-use gene therapy in the US.

In a statement provided to Endpoints News, the Australian company noted that the current costs of treating people with moderate to severe hemophilia B can be significant over a lifetime. By some estimates, healthcare systems could spend more than $20 million per person.

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Merck is making an acquisition, the Big Pharma announced before Monday’s opening bell. No, Seagen is not entering the fold, as had been speculated for quarters.

Folding under Merck’s wings will be Pfizer-backed Imago BioSciences. For nearly a year, Merck CEO Rob Davis has been saying the pharma giant needs to “do more” on the business development front after its 2021 $11.5 billion acquisition of Acceleron.

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The development path for Lysogene’s gene therapy for MPS IIIA has been a rocky one. After the FDA slapped a partial clinical hold on a Phase II/III study, a patient already dosed in the trial died, although it was deemed unrelated to treatment. Then earlier this year, Sarepta pulled out of their three-year partnership due to disagreements on who will handle commercial supply.

And now, Lysogene reported the trial has failed its primary endpoint.

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Dermavant Sciences has been marketing its first product, psoriasis med Vtama, to dermatologists for months, but on Tuesday it rolled out its first consumer campaign. The debut DTC effort including a streaming TV commercial encourages patients to a “Topical Uprising” in a nod to Vtama being a topical cream.

In the new commercial, a swell of people discards scarves and jacket coverings, gathering in the street to converge on a pharmacy to demand a steroid-free prescription. A moment of levity follows when a pharmacist says, “You know you can just talk to your doctor, right?” The gathered crowds collectively says, “Oh.”

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