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September 22, 2017

Welcome to FierceLifeSci Weekly Digest, your roundup of the biggest and most popular stories from each of our publications.

Featured Story

GlaxoSmithKline, needing a sales surge, wins FDA nod for $1B-plus prospect Trelegy

Ahead of generic competition for its top-selling Advair, GlaxoSmithKline nabbed an FDA approval for the "closed-triple" COPD therapy Trelegy Ellipta. It's the latest addition to GSK's lung-med lineup—and it's expected to kick in blockbuster sales.

Top Stories Of The Week

Alnylam’s patisiran hits all endpoints in critical phase 3

A phase 3 trial of Alnylam’s patisiran has hit all of its primary and secondary endpoints. The clean sweep is a big win for Alnylam and the Sanofi-partnered gene silencing drug, which is now set to be put before regulators around the end of the year.

Will Amazon really get into drug sales? It's in talks with PBMs already, report says

Rumors that Amazon is looking to parachute into the drug field are getting louder. Amazon is already in talks with pharmacy benefits managers, an analyst reports, and that poses a larger threat to the pharma industry than some might realize.

Ex-GlaxoSmithKline CEO Witty joins Hatteras as venture partner

Sir Andrew Witty has joined Hatteras Venture Partners. The former GlaxoSmithKline CEO is taking up a venture partner position at the VC shop, setting him up to offer advice on the positioning of its portfolio companies.

Severe hypoglycemia multiplies death risk up to fourfold in diabetes, Novo Nordisk finds

LISBON, Portugal—Drugmaker after drugmaker has touted data showing next-gen diabetes meds lower hypoglycemia risks—and new studies from Novo Nordisk show why. Type 2 diabetes patients who suffer severe hypoglycemia are four times more likely to die within 15 days—and twice as likely to die, period.

Fresh from FDA approval, Optinose files for $100M IPO

Optinose has filed to raise $100 million in an IPO. The filing comes days after the FDA approved the intranasal delivery specialist’s treatment for nasal polyps, the commercialization of which will be the focus of a post-IPO spending spree.

Novartis plant in New York bought for $18M, then resold for $30M

The vacant Novartis manufacturing facility in Suffern, New York, that had been on the auction block for more than two years was sold for $18 million to a buyer who turned around and resold the property to a Manhattan-based developer for $30 million.

Sanofi and NIH chart early success with 3-part antibody against HIV

When it comes to combating HIV, three virus-killing antibodies should be better than one, scientists at French pharma giant Sanofi have long believed. Now they have compelling preclinical evidence that the approach might work, not only to prevent the virus that causes AIDS in healthy people, but also to treat patients facing the risk of developing resistance to current antiretroviral treatments.

Johnson & Johnson, BARDA join forces to prep for pandemic flu, inking deal for vaccine and drug R&D

After deadly outbreaks that caught scientists and providers off guard, vaccine experts may be happy to see Johnson & Johnson and a U.S. development agency collaborate on pandemic flu. In a novel agreement, they've paired up to focus on a vaccine program and potential flu drugs from J&J.

Silicon Valley vet to run new Roivant trial AI company

The new "Vant" added to the Vivek Ramaswamy family, with its aim of improving trials with artificial intelligence, announced its new CEO this week.

Resources

[Webinar] Five ways to make your patient support program a success

Join this webinar to learn how to design, deliver, and measure a successful patient support program. Presented by Nareda Mills, Ashfield's SVP of Patient Services in the US, you’ll discover how to improve adherence and improve patient outcomes using 5 key methods.

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