Good morning, Jason Mast here filling in for Ed. Today, we’re sipping a hot cup of caffeinated black, while mulling the rise and fall and, apparently (!), rise again of Luckin Coffee, a chain whose cashless kiosks and discount lattes were once seen as China’s answer to Starbucks, before allegations emerged of widespread accounting fraud. This Bloomberg story has the best quote I’ve read all week, from a former executive (who was not accused of wrongdoing): “Obviously, it was wrong and unlawful to fabricate data. But you still have to acknowledge the great design that was its business model.” Anyway, here’s some news:
The FDA has questions about Eli Lilly’s experimental Alzheimer’s drug, STAT tells us. Documents released in advance of Monday’s advisory committee hearing show regulators are mulling whether donanemab, which slowed cognitive decline in a large study, should be limited to a subset of patients with a key biomarker, called tau, used to screen patients for Lilly’s trial. They also want to know if the drug’s benefits justify the risk of severe brain swelling and bleeds seen in the study.
The FDA took the rare step of publicly explaining why it rejected a drug, Endpoints relays. The agency put out a notice about the application to approve Vanda Pharmaceuticals’ sleep disorder drug Hetlioz as an insomnia medication, saying the company “does not provide substantial evidence of effectiveness” and didn’t show the drug was safe. It asked for a new “well-controlled” trial. Vanda is currently suing the FDA, while facing pressure to accept a takeover bid from Cycle Pharmaceuticals.
