Metabolic Disorders

Poxel’s shift to new therapeutic areas may be necessary despite Japan’s approval for its diabetes drug. Twymeeg looks set to be hamstrung by placebo-controlled studies without outcomes data.

After investing in the California biotech, Lilly buys the company in search of safer insulin products. The pharma sees these candidates as pairing with tirzepatide to improve diabetes therapy overall.

The company, which set a list price of $19 per day, sees awareness of diagnosing chronic kidney disease in type 2 diabetes patients as the top challenge for newly approved finerenone in the US.

Lilly outlined its tirzepatide-led pipeline of incretin agonists and highlighted its once-weekly basal insulin during a post-ADA event. The company hopes to grow the GLP-1 market overall rather than shift patients from Trulicity.

This quarter has already seen a complete response letter for Iterum Therapeutics’ antibiotic sulopenem but a raft of other products are expecting approval decisions from the US Food and Drug Administration in the next three months. With the help of analysts at Biomedtracker, Scrip takes a look at 10 of the more interesting ones.

Novo Nordisk’s once-weekly injected basal insulin icodec could be a boon to the many people with type 2 diabetes who are reluctant to start on insulin therapy due to the need for daily injections, the Danish group’s head of development tells Scrip.

Reductions in blood glucose seen in the SUSTAIN FORTE study using a higher dose of Ozempic may help type 2 diabetes patients further improve their diabetes control, with comparable tolerability to currently approved Ozempic 1.0 mg.

Arrowhead and Horizon Therapeutics have inked a deal to develop an investigational RNA interference therapy for uncontrolled gout, under which Arrowhead stands to get $40m upfront and up to $660m in milestones.

With US FDA approval of Wegovy for obesity, Novo Nordisk prices the weekly injectable at par with its other obesity brand Saxenda. Ramping up sales will require patient, clinician and payer education, the company says.

Novo Nordisk has initiated its Phase III trial assessing its oral GLP-1 semaglutide in early Alzheimer’s disease patients. The firm’s veteran GLP-1 agonist pioneer Lotte Bjerre Knudsen explains its promise to Scrip.

Novo Nordisk at its Q1 update lifted full-year guidance and voiced confidence it can double sales of innovative treatments for obesity by 2025.

AstraZeneca’s SGLT2 inhibitor produced 50% growth in Q1, and its new chronic kidney disease approval will give it an edge over Lilly and Boehringer’s Jardiance.