Wegovy Maker Paid $25.8M To US Doctors, Experts Over Past Decade
A Reuters analysis finds that Novo Nordisk spent at least $25.8 million over the past decade on U.S. medical professionals to promote its two anti-obesity drugs. They money was party of the drugmaker's campaign to convince U.S. doctors to prescribe Wegovy and persuade insurers to pay for it.
Reuters:
Maker Of Wegovy, Ozempic Showers Money On U.S. Obesity Doctors
Drugmaker Novo Nordisk paid U.S. medical professionals at least $25.8 million over a decade in fees and expenses related to its weight-loss drugs, a Reuters analysis found. It concentrated that money on an elite group of obesity specialists who advocate giving its powerful and expensive drugs to tens of millions of Americans. (Terhune and Respaut, 12/1)
AP:
Pfizer Nixes More Study Of Twice-Daily Obesity Pill Treatment That Made Many Patients Nauseous
Pfizer shares sank Friday when the drugmaker said it would abandon a twice-daily obesity treatment after more than half the patients in a clinical trial stopped taking it. The pharmaceutical company said it will focus instead on a once-daily version of the pill, danuglipron, instead of starting a late-stage study of the other version. Late-stage studies are usually the last and most expensive trials a drugmaker undertakes before seeking regulatory approval. (Murphy, 12/1)
Stat:
Roche To Buy Carmot Therapeutics, Developer Of Obesity Drugs
The booming obesity market is attracting another player, as pharma giant Roche said Monday it was acquiring Carmot Therapeutics and the company’s line of weight loss drug candidates for $2.7 billion upfront. (Joseph, 12/4)
In other pharmaceutical and biotech news —
Reuters:
US FDA Gives Second Approval To Eli Lilly's Drug For Type Of Blood Cancer
Eli Lilly said on Friday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave a second approval for its drug Jaypirca, which is used to treat a form of blood cancer. The company said the health regulator gave the new approval to the drug for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a type of cancer in which the bone marrow makes too many of certain white blood cells. (12/4)
Stat:
Why Sickle Cell Disease Is Getting The First CRISPR Treatment
Nearly a decade ago, consultants delivered to Rodger Novak a kind of Sears catalog of human malady: 200 pages, listing dozens of different diseases, each annotated with — from a business standpoint — their best and worst attributes. The document was supposed to help Novak, then the chief executive of CRISPR Therapeutics, navigate a pressing quandary. His company, along with two others, were founded to commercialize the new revolutionary gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9, which promised to cure numerous genetic diseases. But which should they target first? What was the best proof-of-concept? (Mast, 12/4)
CNN:
Anthrobots: Tiny Living Robots Made From Human Cells Surprise Scientists
Scientists have created tiny living robots from human cells that can move around in a lab dish and may one day be able to help heal wounds or damaged tissue, according to a new study. A team at Tufts University and Harvard University’s Wyss Institute have dubbed these creations anthrobots. The research builds on earlier work from some of the same scientists, who made the first living robots, or xenobots, from stem cells sourced from embryos of the African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis). (Hunt, 11/30)
