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March 22, 2019

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

Biogen hit by 'transformative failure' as it cans aducanumab tests

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.

Top Stories Of The Week

Editor's Choice—Where can Biogen turn after mammoth Alzheimer's blow? The M&A table, analysts say

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.

Editor's Choice—Biogen-Nightstar deal sheds light on gene therapy feeding frenzy

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.

Who'll follow Sanofi CEO Olivier Brandicourt? The company's eyeing candidates now

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.

Gottlieb criticizes sponsors’ ‘continued reluctance’ to rethink clinical trials

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.

Venclexta trial deaths force AbbVie, Roche to stop recruiting myeloma patients

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.

Apple presents smartwatch results from 400,000-strong heart study

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.

A liquid biopsy that combines Illumina’s ‘ultradeep’ sequencing with Grail’s machine learning

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.

Analysts: Keytruda has a blockbuster market not factored into Merck’s forecasts—China

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.

Mylan and Hospira both recall injected drugs after particulate discovered in vials

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.

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[eBook] 2018 Weekly Compendium

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.