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Good morning, hope everyone is staying warm this week wherever you are. Here in Chicago, we’re expecting an Arctic blast to hit this afternoon, which is karma for me saying how much I missed this city while I was gone.
Let’s get into the news today.
Eli Lilly will finally test obesity drugs in addiction
Eli Lilly will start studying its obesity products as treatments for alcohol, nicotine, and drug abuse, making it the first major drugmaker to do so, CEO David Ricks said yesterday at an event.
Emerging research suggests that GLP-1 drugs not only reduce food cravings but may also suppress desires for other substances. Yet, so far, no pharma companies have tested the therapies specifically in addiction.
“These medicines, we think and we’ve aimed to prove, can be useful for other things we don’t think about connected to weight. These are often called anti-hedonics, so they are reducing that desire cycle,” Ricks said.
Another merger in gene-editing field as funding drops
Two prominent gene-editing startups, Chroma Medicine and Nvelop Therapeutics, said this morning that they will merge, forming a new company called nChroma.
The merger will combine molecular machines Chroma was developing to modify genes without cutting DNA and technology Nvelop was developing to deliver DNA-modifying machinery to precise tissues in the body.
Leadership for the combined company argued it was a natural fit, but it’s also an abrupt turnabout for the companies, both of which were founded by elite academics and investors with grand ambitions.
Read more from STAT’s Jason Mast.
BioNTech bispecific shows promising early data
A bispecific compound from BioNTech that targets the PDL-1 and VEGF proteins showed positive results in patients with triple negative breast cancer, suggesting it could be a promising candidate among the next generation of immunotherapy drugs.
In the trial, 42 patients with advanced or metastatic triple negative breast cancer received the compound, called BNT-327, plus chemotherapy as their first treatment. Seventy-four percent of patients responded to the treatment, and the median progression-free survival was 13.5 months. At 12 months, the overall survival was 80.8%. The drug also had a manageable safety profile, researchers said.
The potential of this type of bispecific antibody captured the attention of oncology researchers recently when Summit Therapeutics released data showing that their PD1 and VEGF antibody outperformed Keytruda in a head-to-head Phase 3 trial in advanced lung cancer.
Read more from STAT’s Angus Chen.
Mantle cell lymphoma patients no longer need stem cell transplant
A new study finds that mantle cell lymphoma patients who go into deep remission from a first therapy may not get any benefit from a follow-up transplant of their stem cells.
The results help shore up a growing consensus that most of these patients simply no longer need to undergo the intense and sometimes dangerous procedure now that there are safer and effective treatments like targeted and immune therapy.
Read more from STAT’s Angus Chen.
An unexpected partnership between Lilly and Ro
Earlier this year, Eli Lilly launched lower-priced vials of its obesity drug Zepbound, but only made the vials available to patients who were ordering through Lilly’s online portal.
Now, Lilly has partnered with major telehealth company Ro, allowing patients to order the vials through Ro’s app — a sign the pharma company is trying to expand its direct-to-consumer presence and shift more patients onto the vials.
A growing number of pharma companies, including Pfizer and AbbVie, have launched direct-to-consumer platforms, partnering with telehealth providers and online pharmacies. Some experts have voiced concerns that these practices may push patients toward virtual providers that are more favorable to the drug companies and lead to over-prescribing.
In an interview, Ro CEO Zachariah Reitano said that Ro and its clinicians are not compensated by Lilly offering the Zepbound vials. “Providers are able to maintain their independent medical decision-making process,” he said.
An interesting facet of the new partnership is that Ro has been offering compounded copies of obesity drugs during shortages of the branded drugs, while Lilly has harshly criticized the cheaper products made by compounding pharmacies — going so far as to petition the FDA to bar pharmacies from making Zepbound copies. (The FDA permits compounders to make copies as long as branded drugs are on the FDA’s shortage list.)
Ro had specifically offered compounded tirzepatide, the ingredient in Zepbound, for several weeks during the fall, but stopped offering it to new patients once FDA pulled Zepbound off its shortage list in October. Although the FDA, in a sudden about-face, said it would reconsider its decision and allow compounders to continue the sale of the copycat drugs, Ro still has not offered compounded tirzepatide to new patients.
When asked whether Lilly asked Ro to stop providing compounded tirzepatide as part of the new partnership, Reitano did not answer directly but maintained that Ro’s clinicians are independent and make their own decisions about prescribing.
“From Ro’s perspective, as it relates to compounding, we will continue to follow applicable laws and continue to fight for our patients to have access to the most effective products at the most affordable prices,” Reitano said.
Meanwhile, Lilly said in a statement that “Ro has assured Lilly that it is committed to following the law and will only offer compounded versions of FDA-approved medicines if the medicine is on the FDA shortage list.”