STAT+: The long game for weight loss drugs
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Today, we uncover the extent of low-quality generic cancer medicines disseminated globally, see ACIP prepare to raise new questions about vaccines approved long ago, and more.
The need-to-know this morning
- Incyte announced the retirement of CEO Hervé Hoppenot after 11 years at the company. Bill Meury was appointed Incyte’s new CEO. Meury was most recently CEO of Anthos Therapeutics, which was acquired by Novartis. Prior to that, he worked at Karuna Therapeutics, which was acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb.
- Altimmune’s stock price dropped by more than half in early trading after the company announced disappointing results from a study of its GLP-1/glucagon targeted drug in MASH. The drug, called pemvidutide, failed to show a statistically significant improvement in liver fibrosis compared to a placebo.
Generic cancer drugs used around the world fail quality tests, investigation shows
A sweeping investigation has uncovered that vital generic chemotherapy drugs — used in over 100 countries to treat common cancers — are failing quality tests, leaving patients vulnerable to ineffective treatment and toxic side effects. One in five samples contained dangerously inaccurate levels of active ingredients, according to a report from The Bureau of Investigative Journalism — with some pills holding as little as a quarter of what the label promised. Others contained too much.
