Key Facts
- Weight-Loss Pill Success: Eli Lilly’s oral GLP-1 drug orforglipron delivered up to a 10.5% body weight reduction (approx. 23 lbs) in a Phase 3 trial for obese patients with diabetes fiercebiotech.com fiercebiotech.com. All tested doses met their primary endpoints, significantly improving weight, blood sugar, and heart risk factors over 72 weeks fiercebiotech.com fiercebiotech.com. A high-dose group saw 28% of patients lose at least 15% of body weight, approaching results of leading injectable therapies fiercebiotech.com fiercebiotech.com. Lilly plans regulatory filings based on these results. Company scientists are optimistic – calling the pill’s efficacy “as good as it gets for GLP-1 monotherapy…in the once-a-day small molecule space” 1 .
- Historic FDA Approval for Rare Disease: The FDA granted full approval (no confirmatory trial required) to Precigen’s gene therapy Papzimeos (zopapogene imadenovec) – the first-ever treatment for adult recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP), a rare airway tumor disease cgtlive.com cgtlive.com. Administered as four injections over 12 weeks, Papzimeos triggers an immune attack on HPV-6/11-infected cells, reducing the need for repeated throat surgeries cgtlive.com cgtlive.com. “Today marks a historic turning point…all adult RRP patients are now eligible for access to the first and only therapy that targets the root cause of the disease,” said Precigen CEO Helen Sabzevari cgtlive.com. FDA’s Dr. Vinay Prasad noted the broader significance: “Randomized trials are not always needed to approve medical products and this approval is proof of that philosophy” 2 .
- Big Pharma’s Psychedelic $1.2B Bet: AbbVie struck a deal worth up to $1.2 billion to acquire bretisilocin, an experimental fast-acting psychedelic-based depression drug from partner Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals reuters.com reuters.com. The move thrusts AbbVie into the nascent psychedelic therapeutics field, which analysts peg as a potential $50B market reuters.com reuters.com. “Large Pharma has been less active exploring psychedelic compounds due to potential regulatory concerns…making today’s deal more significant,” observed BMO analyst Evan Seigerman reuters.com. Bretisilocin, a short-acting 5-HT2A agonist, aims to provide the therapeutic benefit of psilocybin-like drugs with a shorter hallucinogenic experience reuters.com. AbbVie will advance it into late-stage trials.
- Cancer & Rare Disease Trial Milestones: A bispecific antibody immunotherapy that targets PD-1 and VEGF (Akeso & Summit’s ivonescimab) became the first of its class to show improved overall survival in a Phase 3 lung cancer trial fiercepharma.com fiercepharma.com. Used with chemotherapy in EGFR-mutated lung cancer patients after TKI therapy, ivonescimab significantly extended patients’ lives, validating hopes that its tumor control benefits would translate into a survival gain fiercepharma.com fiercepharma.com. “Meeting the gold-standard overall survival endpoint is an important accomplishment,” wrote Evercore analysts, noting skepticism had lingered until this final analysis fiercepharma.com. In another win, Regeneron announced its RNAi drug cemdisiran hit Phase 3 goals in generalized myasthenia gravis, reducing symptom scores by 2.3 points vs placebo – a result the company had earlier said “anything in the 2s…would be a great result” fiercebiotech.com. Regeneron is now gearing up for FDA filing to challenge rivals in the competitive neuromuscular disease market fiercebiotech.com 3 .
- Global Regulatory Roundup: Beyond the Papzimeos approval, regulators saw other notable actions. In Europe, Abbott’s dissolving stent (Esprit BTK) for below-the-knee peripheral artery disease earned CE Mark clearance, after U.S. approval last year 4 5
