Good morning, Pharmalittle fans! Adam Feuerstein here, filling in for Ed. I drink my morning coffee from a heavy, thick diner mug. I suggest you do the same. Here’s some news for your Thursday morning. …
Eisai and Biogen secured approval in the U.K. for their Alzheimer’s treatment, Leqembi, but at the same time, the U.K.’s cost-effectiveness watchdog agency issued draft guidance that said the drug’s limited benefits do not justify its costs, STAT reports. A positive review from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, or NICE, is required if Leqembi is going to become available within the National Health Service. In a statement, Eisai said it “remains committed to working with NICE to make lecanemab available to eligible patients via the NHS as soon as possible.” NICE will now take public comments on the draft guidance until Sept. 20, which it will consider before making its final decision.
The Danish biotech company Bavarian Nordic reported stronger-than-expected earnings and announced a 440,000-dose order for its mpox vaccine from an unnamed European country, CNBC tells us. The order was already accounted for in Bavarian Nordic’s previous 2024 guidance for vaccine manufacturing capacity. It comes after the World Health Organization last week declared mpox a global public health emergency due to the outbreak in Africa. On Thursday, Thailand became the first nation in Asia to detect the new, mutated strain of mpox, Bloomberg reports.
