This Week in Biotech #24
Catch up on the latest biotech breakthroughs and upcoming trends (Oct 30-31).
Welcome to the Friday edition of This Week in Biotech by Biotech Blueprint! 🎃
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MARKET UPDATES
🔸 Matinas BioPharma (MTNB) announced the termination of partnership negotiations for MAT2203, its oral formulation of amphotericin B, leading to an immediate 80% workforce reduction, affecting 15 positions, including three senior executives. The company has ceased all product development activities to conserve cash and is considering the potential sale of MAT2203, as well as other alternatives like winding down or dissolving the company. The company’s stock tanked 68% today.
🔸 Equillium (EQ) announced that Ono Pharmaceutical has opted to let its option to acquire rights to itolizumab expire, allowing Equillium to retain all commercial rights to the drug. This decision was strategic and unrelated to any safety concerns. The company is taking operational steps to extend its cash runway into Q4 2025 and is focusing on itolizumab as a top priority in its pipeline. EQ’s stock fell 37% following the announcement.
🔸 Biogen (BIIB) shares fell over 3% on Oct. 31 after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock from Overweight to Equal Weight, lowering its price target from $285 to $204. This downgrade comes in response to the underwhelming launch of Biogen’s Alzheimer’s drug, Leqembi, prompting the firm to cut its revenue projections for the drug by 50%, estimating worldwide sales of $2.4B by 2033 instead of the previously anticipated $5.6B.
🔸 Compass Pathways (CMPS) announced its Q3 2024 financial results, revealing that top-line data for its COMP360 program in treatment-resistant depression is now expected in Q2 2025, with COMP006 data anticipated in the second half of 2026. To streamline operations and focus on the COMP360 program, the company will reduce its workforce by approximately 30% and discontinue non-related preclinical activities. Despite a cash position of $207M, Compass reported a net loss of $38.5M for the quarter. Following these announcements, the company’s stock is down 22% yesterday.
🔸 On Oct. 31, Aerovate Therapeutics (AVTE) and Jade Biosciences announced a merger agreement aimed at advancing Jade’s innovative therapies for autoimmune diseases. The merger, which will be an all-stock transaction, will lead to the creation of a new company operating under Jade Biosciences. The merger is backed by approximately $300M in funding from a group of healthcare investors. In response to the merger announcement, Aerovate’s stock jumped 17% yesterday.
🔸 AstraZeneca confirmed that its China President, Leon Wang, is under investigation by Chinese authorities, though the reason and whether Wang is detained remain unclear. This development follows AstraZeneca’s September detentions of several current and former employees, reportedly questioned on potential illegal activities, including data collection practices. Chinese media reports suggest AstraZeneca has been under investigation since 2021 for issues like allegedly fabricating genetic test results for the cancer drug Tagrisso and possible insurance fraud. The connection between these probes, Wang’s investigation, and other recent legal inquiries involving former AstraZeneca executives, including those now with other companies, remains unknown. The situation has impacted AstraZeneca’s stock, which fell by 2.8% following the announcement.
🔸 AnaptysBio (ANAB) stock dropped over 20% on Oct. 30, falling from $30 to $23 per share, after Eli Lilly’s Q3 2024 financial report revealed plans to remove peresolimab from its pipeline. AnaptysBio is developing a comparable arthritis therapy.
BIOTECH NEWS
🔸 Argenx reported strong financial results for Q3 2024, achieving $573M in global net product sales, primarily driven by its innovative therapy, Vyvgart. The company is actively expanding its CIDP market presence with regulatory approvals pending in multiple countries. Argenx showed significant growth compared to the previous year, with a net income of $91M, contrasting with a loss in the same period last year. The company also reported a solid cash position of $3.4B as of Sept. 30, 2024.
🔸 On Oct. 31, Gubra and Boehringer Ingelheim announced the discontinuation of their partnership to develop obesity drug BI 1820237. According to the statement, “No further information has been made available to Gubra.” However, the company confirmed that the other three ongoing projects in their collaboration with Boehringer are unaffected and will proceed as planned, including a potential first-in-class triple agonist obesity treatment that entered phase 1 clinical research in July 2024, as well as two pre-clinical assets.
🔸 On Oct. 31, AbbVie and EvolveImmune Therapeutics announced a collaboration to combine AbbVie’s oncology expertise with EvolveImmune’s T cell engager platform to create novel multispecific therapeutic antibodies targeting various cancers. EvolveImmune will receive $65M upfront with potential milestones and royalties totaling up to $1.4B.
🔸 AbbVie’s Q3 2024 results surpassed analyst expectations, with revenue growing by 3.8% to $14.46B, fueled by robust performance in its immunology segment. Humira, facing heavy competition from biosimilars, saw a significant 37% revenue decline to $2.2B. However, newer drugs Skyrizi and Rinvoq more than offset this decline, with Skyrizi reaching $3.2B and Rinvoq at $1.6B. In addition, AbbVie completed the acquisition of Cerevel, expanding its neuroscience portfolio. The company raised its full-year EPS guidance and announced a dividend increase for 2025, further demonstrating its confidence in long-term growth.
🔸 On Oct. 30, Eli Lilly reported Q3 2024, with a 20% revenue increase driven by the growth of new products Mounjaro and Zepbound, and a 42% revenue rise excluding prior divestiture impacts. Key achievements included FDA approval of Ebglyss for atopic dermatitis and Japanese approval of Kisunla for early Alzheimer’s. Clinical successes featured tirzepatide’s 94% reduction in diabetes risk in a 176-week study, and modified titration results in Alzheimer’s trials that improved amyloid plaque reduction with fewer side effects. Strategic expansions continued with a $4.5B R&D facility in Indiana, a $1.8B investment in Ireland, and the opening of the Lilly Seaport Innovation Center. The company cut arthritis therapy peresolimab and IL-17 psoriasis candidate DC-806 that Lilly acquired for $2.4B from Dice Therapeutics in June 2023.
🔸 In its Q3 2024 report, Sage Therapeutics announced $11M in revenue from its postpartum depression drug Zurzuvae (zuranolone), a 49% increase over Q2. Together with Biogen, Sage decided to end zuranolone development for major depressive disorder due to high costs and lengthy timelines, shifting focus instead to establishing Zurzuvae as a first-line treatment for PPD. Efforts are underway to expand sales, ensure insurance coverage, and increase prescriber adoption. Financially, Sage reported $569M in cash reserves, expected to support operations into 2026 following recent restructuring.
CLINICAL TRIAL UPDATES
🔸 Anavex Life Sciences (AVXL) announced positive results from its phase 2b/3 trial for Blarcamesine, an oral medication for early Alzheimer’s disease. The data, presented at the CTAD Conference 2024, showed that Blarcamesine significantly slowed clinical decline by 36.3% over 48 weeks, with even stronger effects (49.8%) observed in patients with the common SIGMAR1 gene variant. The drug demonstrated a good safety profile, with no neuroimaging adverse events reported. Following the announcement, Anavex’s stock surged nearly 16%. This promising development positions Blarcamesine as a potentially effective treatment option, with plans for regulatory submission in Europe by the end of 2024.
SCIENCE/PUBLIC HEALTH SPOTLIGHT
🔸 A case of mpox, formerly called monkeypox, linked to the clade 1b outbreak in parts of Africa, has been identified in the UK. This strain, declared a global health emergency by WHO, spreads more easily between people, often through close physical contact. The UK patient, who had recently traveled to an affected African country, developed flu-like symptoms on Oct. 22 and a rash shortly after. They are currently being treated at London’s Royal Free Hospital. Clade 1b, milder but more transmissible than Clade 1a, has been reported this year in the DRC, Kenya, Burundi, and Rwanda. Other countries, including Sweden, India, and Germany, have detected similar cases linked to travel.
🔸 The U.S. detected H5N1 bird flu in a pig on a small farm in Oregon, marking the first such case in swine domestically, according to the USDA. This finding is notable because pigs can host both bird and human flu viruses, potentially allowing for gene mixing that might lead to a strain capable of infecting humans more easily. Although the USDA emphasized that the risk to the public and pork supply remains low, the discovery has led to quarantines and culling of pigs and poultry on the farm to prevent further spread. The infection likely came from wild birds rather than a poultry source, and it has prompted expanded bird flu monitoring across U.S. dairy herds. Animal health experts warned that if the virus were to spread among pigs, it could heighten risks for future outbreaks. This year’s spread of bird flu has already infected 36 humans, primarily farm workers, and led to mass culling of over 100 million poultry birds in the U.S.
ON THE HORIZON
🔸 Obesity Week 2024 conference will be taking place in San Antonio, TX, from Nov. 3 to 6 , 2024. This annual event, hosted by The Obesity Society, will feature over 800 presentations covering a wide array of topics related to obesity science, including metabolic health, clinical interventions, and health policy.
Viking Therapeutics will present results from two studies related to their lead candidate, VK2735.
Rhythm Pharmaceuticals is set to present five posters related to their lead asset, setmelanotide, which is an MC4R agonist designed for treating hyperphagia and severe obesity.
🔸 Nov. 2024 FDA PDUFAs:
Nov. 4: Journey Medical is expecting decision on DFD-29, a modified-release capsule of minocycline hydrochloride, aimed at treating inflammatory lesions and erythema in adults with rosacea.
Nov. 13: PTC Therapeutics is awaiting FDA decision on its biologics license application for Upstaza (eladocagene exuparvovec), a gene therapy for AADC deficiency. The application has been granted Priority Review.
Nov. 29: BridgeBio Pharma’s acoramidis, an investigational treatment for transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy, has a set target action date of Nov. 29. The FDA has indicated that no advisory committee meeting is planned for this application.
Nov. 29: Jazz Pharmaceuticals is awaiting FDA’s decision on zanidatamab, a bispecific antibody targeting HER2, for the treatment of metastatic HER2-positive biliary tract cancer. The FDA has granted the application priority review.
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