| | | |   | Hello, everyone. Damian here with news on a potential blockbuster, the latest in anti-cancer cell therapy, and a note on the virtues of asking nicely. | | | Lilly’s weight-loss drug looks like a blockbuster — if insurers pay for it Eli Lilly’s closely watched obesity treatment proved dramatically successful in a pivotal trial, the company said yesterday, leading Wall Street to forecast billions of dollars in future sales. But those projections will come true only if Lilly can persuade payers to shell out for what looks like a powerful medicine.
As STAT’s Matthew Herper reports, in a Phase 3 trial, patients on the lowest dosage of Lilly’s drug lost 35 pounds, or 16% of their body weight; those getting the middle dosage lost 49 pounds, or 21.4%; and patients on the top dose lost 22.5%, or 52 pounds. Each result was significantly better than placebo, which led to a loss of 5 pounds, or 2.4% of patients’ body weight.
Pharmaceutical history is dotted with promising obesity treatments that never lived up to commercial expectations, as insurance companies have regularly balked at paying brand-name prices for novel medicines. Lilly’s data might be convincing enough to break the mold, but the drug’s success will depend on pricing negotiations yet to play out.
Read more. | Do biotech stocks ever go up? Can rewired cells cure some patients' cancer? And why's it taking so long to get kids vaccinated for Covid-19?
We cover all that and more this week on “The Readout LOUD,” STAT’s biotech podcast. Immunologist Katy Rezvani of MD Anderson Cancer Center joins us to explain the massive potential of a new approach to treating wily tumors, one that repurposes human immune cells. We also discuss the latest news in the life sciences, including an interesting hire at Novartis, the pediatric Covid-19 vaccine saga, and another negative milestone for biotech.
Listen here. | The power of perseverance in neuroscience For decades, conditions of the nervous system have been some of the most complex to understand and treat. Through scientific rigor and unwavering perseverance, one biotech company is asking the tough questions of themselves, the industry and society to push the boundaries of scientific understanding and discovery. Learn more about Genentech and Roche’s commitment to scientific advancement in neuroscience. | A century-old technology is at the cutting edge of neuroscience The humble electroencephalogram, or EEG, has been used for decades to diagnose epilepsy and disordered sleep. But biotech startups are increasingly looking to the yesteryear technology for clues on how to develop new treatments for depression, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s disease.
As STAT’s Allison DeAngelis reports, at least four early-stage neuroscience companies — Athira Pharma, Alto Neuroscience, Beacon Biosignals, and Neumora Therapeutics — are using EEGs in their work. The allure, in part, is that each roughly hour-long test generates reams of data on brain activity, giving researchers ample evidence of whether a given drug is doing its job.
The risk, experts said, is that those terabytes of data might be too messy to isolate a trustworthy signal, and the evidence might not be enough to satisfy regulators.
Read more. | A new idea to lower drug prices: ask nicely Despite widespread public support, Congress’ efforts to legislate lower drug prices have largely amounted to angry tweets and stalled bills. Now, two senators are workshopping a novel approach that involves convincing manufacturers they should voluntarily charge less for insulin.
As STAT’s Rachel Cohrs reports, the idea begins from a common pharmaceutical complaint: Drugmakers blame escalating sticker prices on the middlemen who charge for favorable insurance coverage. Under a proposal from Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), Congress would ban such payments and cap patients’ out-of-pocket costs — but only if drug companies voluntarily roll back insulin prices to their 2006 levels.
At this point, the plan is just a policy outline, not even a formal bill. And even if it were to become law, there’s no telling whether a single drug company would volunteer for it. But at least in spirit, the idea is the rare congressional proposal that calls pharma’s bluff.
Read more. | More reads - Medicare’s Brooks-LaSure expects restrictions on accelerated approval drugs, like those for Aduhelm, to be ‘very rare.’ STAT+
- California fines an OptumRx pharmacy for jeopardizing patient health. Is that enough? STAT+
- Sanofi operating income up 16% on bestseller drug Dupixent. Reuters
- The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative's bold plan is already working. Medscape
| Thanks for reading! Until next week,  | | | |
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