Life sciences and healthcare
25th November 2024
- Trump names Johns Hopkins researcher Marty Makary to lead the US FDA; also names CDC, Surgeon General picks – Endpoints
- Biotechs test IPO market despite concerns over Robert Kennedy’s health role – Financial Times
- US FDA approves BridgeBio’s drug for rare heart condition – Reuters
- Halozyme withdraws proposal to buy Evotec, citing ‘unwillingness to engage’ – Scrip
- ATB’s €54m Series A among largest ever in Belgium – BioCentury
- Life-changing drug for families with illness that causes rickets – The Times
| Max Bayer of Endpoints reports that President-elect Donald Trump has selected Marty Makary to lead the US FDA, choosing a Johns Hopkins University surgeon who has called the US government the “greatest perpetrator of misinformation during the pandemic.” Trump said Makary would “properly evaluate harmful chemicals poisoning our Nation’s food supply and drugs and biologics,” tackle chronic disease, and “cut the bureaucratic red tape at the Agency.” Trump’s choice to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was announced as former congressman Dave Weldon, a Florida Republican. Endpoints >> Oliver Barnes of the Financial Times reports that two drug developers are pressing ahead with public listings in the coming months despite fears that Robert F Kennedy Jr’s nomination as the top US health official will suppress biotech valuations, in a test of the market’s willingness for risk. Autoimmune disease-focused biotech Odyssey Therapeutics, valued at $640m in its latest private funding round, and cancer drug developer Aktis Oncology have been holding meetings with potential investors in recent weeks to gear up for initial public offerings. Financial Times >> Chandni Shah, Mariam Sunny and Bhanvi Satija of Reuters report that the US FDA has approved BridgeBio‘s drug for a rare and deadly heart condition, making it the first new treatment in a market dominated by Pfizer‘s blockbuster Vyndaqel. The oral drug, branded as Attruby, was approved to treat adult patients with transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy, in which faulty transthyretin proteins accumulate in the heart and can cause the organ to fail. Reuters >> Alaric DeArment of Scrip reports that Halozyme Therapeutics is pulling back from its attempt to acquire Evotec after the company appeared uninterested in the offer, though Halozyme remains convinced that the two firms are an attractive match. Halozyme said that it would withdraw its nonbinding proposal to acquire Evotec for €2bn because Evotec was “unwilling to engage” with it, with the firm stating publicly that its goal is to remain an independent company. Scrip >> Paul Bonanos of BioCentury reports that EQT and Merck’s venture arm joined local Belgian investors in a round for antibody developer ABT Therapeutics that ranks as the fourth-largest Series A for a biotech start-up in Belgium. The €54m round will allow ABT to develop of a pipeline of “weaponised” antibodies that incorporate targeting and killing domains. Unlike traditional antibody-drug conjugates, the company’s ATBody products deploy peptide payloads rather than chemotherapy molecules to destroy cancer cells; they can also be designed to treat autoimmune diseases. BioCentury >> Eleanor Hayward of The Times reports that families with a rare and painful genetic disease that causes rickets are set to receive a “life-changing” drug on the NHS. Hundreds of patients with the genetic condition XLH (X-linked Hypophosphatemia) will be prescribed a revolutionary injection called burosumab through specialist NHS centres. The new drug is the first to target the root cause of the condition by suppressing the hormone that causes low levels of phosphate. It has been available to children with XLH since 2018, but not for adults. The Times >> |
Upcoming events
- Citi Global Healthcare Conference, Miami (3-5 December)
- Piper Sandler 36th Annual Healthcare Conference (3-5 December)
- American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition (ASH), San Diego (7-10 December)
- J.P. Morgan 43rd Annual Healthcare Conference (13-16 January)ember)
