STAT+: Pharmalittle: We’re reading about a Roche deal for an obesity drug, a Gilead HIV drug and more
Germany's financial markets watchdog is looking at whether Bayer fairly disclosed plans for shareholder approval of a capital increase.
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Looking to expand its obesity offerings, Roche has partnered with Zealand Pharma to license an experimental weight loss drug for $1.65 billion in upfront cash, STAT writes. The agreement covering Zealand’s compound petrelintide, signals renewed efforts by Roche to catch up with obesity market leaders Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. The companies will now work together to develop petrelintide, aiming to test it on its own and in combination with Roche’s experimental CT-388. Petrelintide is a once-weekly injection that is in Phase 2 studies and works on amylin, which has emerged as a key target for many drugmakers looking to go beyond GLP-1, the current widely prescribed type of medicine aimed at obesity and diabetes. Roche has been making the case that the obesity market is large enough for it to enter the field, if a bit later than other players, and that its pipeline could offer benefits over other medications. Zealand and Roche will jointly commercialize petrelintide in the U.S. and Europe. Roche will obtain exclusive commercialization rights elsewhere.
The European Commission has proposed new legislation to safeguard the supply of critical medicines in the European Union by boosting manufacturing within the bloc and reducing dependency on suppliers from other parts of the world, Pharmaphorum says. The Critical Medicines Act has been proposed at a time when the EC has become increasingly concerned about shortages, which have been rising since 2013 and peaked during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as variable access to drugs between EU member states leading to accusations that some are stockpiling to the detriment of others. There is no indication yet about the medicines that will come under the scope of the CMA, which has alarmed industry groups over concerns that problems may arise if it is too broad and disrupts existing national pricing and reimbursement pathways. A patient group argued the CMA leaves serious gaps that must be addressed to ensure its effectiveness, questioning for example how the initiatives will be financed in the longer term.
