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Today, we see a small biotech on the verge of ending a rare-disease program thanks to FDA difficulties — and how that impacts patients. We fete the best of this year’s biopharma CEOs (hint: GLP-1s), and talk about post-doc and patient advocacy reform.
The need-to-know this morning
- Illumina, the leading maker of DNA sequencing machines, said it would divest Grail, the developer of a multi-cancer screening test, which it bought over the objections of regulators in the U.S. and Europe in August 2021.
- A GLP-1 pill made by Structure Therapeutics cut blood sugar and weight in an early diabetes study, although the results don’t quite match a competing pill from Eli Lilly.
- Point Biopharma, an acquisition target of Eli Lilly, reported results from a Phase 3 study of its radiopharmaceutical in metastatic prostate cancer.
Small biotech may abandon ultra-rare disease drug amid FDA frustrations
The FDA approval pathway is particularly challenging for small biotechs chasing ultra-rare disease treatments. Take the case of Stealth BioTherapeutics, which is developing a therapy for Barth Syndrome.
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