This week's sponsor is Accenture. | | [Webinar] Embracing Emerging Technology in Drug Development Wednesday, March 27 | 10am ET / 7am PT
During this webinar, attendees will learn how organizations can rapidly adopt digital solutions while maintaining a focus on the patient, harmonize a rapidly transforming workforce with new technological capabilities, and align new technologies with an organization's R&D strategy and goals for profitable growth. Register Now! |
Welcome to FierceLifeSci Weekly Digest, your roundup of the biggest and most popular stories from each of our publications. Biogen and Eisai threw in the towel on their key Alzheimer’s asset, aducanumab, after experts said it wouldn’t make the grade. Biogen's phase 3 programs now join the 99% of Alzheimer’s trials that have failed over the past 15 years, despite its hype and hope. So what happens now? With analysts describing the result as a “transformative failure” for the big biotech’s pipeline—and Biogen’s stock price dropping nearly 30% over the day—some investors are saying now's the time to “buy or be bought.” | |
| Featured Story | Thursday, March 21, 2019 Biogen and partner Eisai are throwing in the towel on late-stage tests for their key Alzheimer’s drug as independent experts reveal that it just won't make the grade. |
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Top Stories Of The Week Thursday, March 21, 2019 Biogen’s worst fears have come true with the failure of its phase 3 Alzheimer’s prospect aducanumab. And with one of its key blockbusters under threat, it may be “buy or be bought” time for the Big Biotech. Tuesday, March 19, 2019 The level of interest in gene therapies has been laid bare by a report on Biogen’s pursuit of Nightstar Therapeutics. Biogen ultimately landed its target with an $877 million (€772 million) all-cash offer, but only after seeing off interest from three other companies. Monday, March 18, 2019 It's been a tumultuous four years for Olivier Brandicourt at Sanofi, marked by restructuring, cost cuts, an asset swap and two rare disease buyouts. What happens over the next four years is anybody's guess, but the company's deciding now who'll be at the helm, a spokeswoman said. Friday, March 15, 2019 Outgoing FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., has criticized the “continued reluctance” of sponsors and CROs to adopt innovative approaches to clinical trials. Gottlieb challenged industry and academia to invest in new approaches and realign incentives to make clinical research more agile and effective. Tuesday, March 19, 2019 AbbVie and Roche are looking to move key oncology drug Venclexta deeper into the blood cancer arena, but their ambitions just took a hit. After flagging deaths in a phase 3 multiple myeloma trial, the FDA put all of Venclexta's studies in that disease on partial hold. Monday, March 18, 2019 After canvassing more than 400,000 people across all 50 states in just eight months, Apple has finished a virtual investigation of its smartwatch’s ability to alert users to irregular heart rhythms possibly linked to atrial fibrillation. It was one of the largest studies of its kind. Wednesday, March 20, 2019 Scientists have been working on new ways to increase the sensitivity of blood tests for detecting cancer, known as liquid biopsies. Now, three top U.S. cancer research institutions, along with Illumina and Grail, have developed a new assay that could detect multiple targetable cancer mutations with a high degree of accuracy. Friday, March 15, 2019 Merck & Co.’s Keytruda is already the best-selling immuno-oncology drug on the market, but as one group of analysts sees it, the drug still has one key upside opportunity that’s not yet calculated into forecasts: the Chinese market. Tuesday, March 19, 2019 Mylan and Hospira are both recalling injected medications because potentially dangerous particulate has been discovered in them. Mylan is recalling a chemotherapy drug, while Hospira is recalling a solution often used to treat diabetes. Resources Sponsored by: AlphaSense From new regulations to drug pricing and the latest M&A deals, learn how AI is making it easier for competitive intelligence to uncover the insights they need to stay ahead of the curve. Sponsored by: Patheon, part of Thermo Fisher Scientific The Right Partner Can Improve Flexibility and Mitigate Risks from Forecast Inaccuracy in Biomanufacturing. Sponsored by: Patheon, part of Thermo Fisher Scientific Download this whitepaper to learn more. Sponsored by: ON24 Which HCP Touchpoints and channels are yielding the best results in today’s digital world? Sponsored by: Blue Matter White paper outlining the key types of cell-based immunotherapies in oncology, as well as the development and commercial outlook for each. Sponsored by: Biotech Primer The Biopharma industry is moving at lightning speed and it can be a challenge to keep pace. Here at Biotech Primer we spend hours each week researching, writing, and editing original content for the Biotech Primer WEEKLY with one goal in mind: to help everyone better understand the latest science and technology driving today’s healthcare industry. | |