Immunology

The major’s attempt to break into Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis has been cut short as a highly competitive market and pipeline, intensified by the entrance of biosimilars, renders further development of brazikumab impractical.

The Swiss major should have a considerable first-to-market advantage over other IL-17 biologics from the likes of UCB and Acelyrin that are also targeting the hidradenitis suppurativa space.

Despite a troubled history of JAK inhibitors in lupus trials, AbbVie’s Rinvoq has hit the mark in a mid-stage study of the condition, shifting focus to a pivotal program that could expand the blockbuster drug’s reach.

The US Food and Drug Administration has published a report after an inspection of UCB’s Belgian facility where Bimzelx is manufactured and the findings suggest that a long-awaited approval for the psoriasis drug should not be taken for granted.

In this week's podcast edition of Five Must-Know Things: US FTC takes action on Amgen’s Horizon deal; Hassan and Jimenez share their CEO experiences; Novartis lays out Cosentyx plans; generally strong fiscal year for Japan’s pharma firms; and new Tagrisso data lift AstraZeneca.

US FDA approval in Crohn’s disease further boosts the revenue potential for Rinvoq as AbbVie navigates a period of declining sales overall due to the introduction of US biosimilars for Humira. 

New CEO Richard Francis outlined the company’s new focus on innovative brands, funded by a portion of capital reallocated from Teva’s generics business.

X4 Pharma has shown that cutting back and focusing on a lead asset can work but mavorixafor’s first-in-class status and efficacy profile is not common.

With its BTK inhibitor remibrutinib advancing through Phase III trials and work getting started on a CAR-T therapy for lupus, Novartis’s Marie-France Tschudin tells Scrip that the Swiss major’s immunology pipeline is in a healthy state.

Deal Snapshot: Already partnered on an anti-TIGIT drug and other immuno-oncology candidates, the firms will team up further on four targets in inflammatory disease.

The proceeds from the series A will be used to progress Dualyx’s preclinical program DT-001, which targets "the highly attractive TNF receptor 2 (TNFR2), widely regarded as a master control switch in immune modulation."

The Swiss behemoth’s chief commercial officer Marie-France Tschudin tells Scrip that the firm will keep expanding Cosentyx into disease areas “that have been a little bit neglected.”