| |   | Salutations! It's Meghana. Before we kick off our biotech week, I'd like to remind STAT+ subscribers to sign up for a live chat at 11 a.m. ET today with STAT's Matt Herper about "biology's century." I reckon it'll be riveting. | | | Muscular dystrophy patient meant to receive n-of-1 therapy dies Terry Horgan, a 27-year-old man with Duchenne muscular dystrophy who was waiting to receive a first-of-its-kind experimental gene therapy tailored for his specific form of the disease, has died.
The treatment had been developed thanks to the nonprofit Cure Rare Disease, which was founded and led by his older brother, Richard Horgan, as the Boston Globe's Ryan Cross reports. Terry was supposed to receive the treatment at UMass Chan Medical School this fall; the nonprofit had received FDA clearance to run the bespoke trial just shy of two months ago. It’s still unclear how he died, or whether or not he even received the experimental CRISPR-based treatment. Though Cure Rare Disease and Richard Horgan are not providing comment, the organization said in a statement that “multiple teams across the country” are working to understand what happened, but said it “could take up to four months” to have an answer. Read more. | Lilly employees ask for transfers due to Indiana abortion proposal Some Eli Lilly staffers have asked to transfer away from the company’s base in Indiana in light of an anti-abortion law passed in the state, the Financial Times reports. CEO David Ricks told the FT that some employees asked to relocate even though an Indiana judge has temporarily halted the proposed abortion ban. Ricks didn’t indicate how many employees had requested to leave the state — but about 10,000 of Lilly’s 36,000 employees are based in Indiana.
“No doubt over time, if we have a top scientist, for instance, who is uncomfortable living in Indiana because of the law, we have opportunities to point them at other sites where there are different laws,” Ricks said. | In-depth analysis of biopharma and the life sciences Sign up for STAT+ to access in-depth analysis of biopharma, inside intelligence from Capitol Hill, the latest on medicine tech, and more. Subscribe today to and start your free 30-day trial. | Supreme Court gives Amgen a chance with PCSK9 The Supreme Court said Friday that it would evaluate an Amgen patent case regarding injectable cholesterol treatments. Amgen has been in legal fisticuffs with Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, which developed their own PCSK9 drug, since 2014. Amgen claimed that the other companies infringed on its patents — but the debate’s been both murky and also highly important for the future patentability of biologic drugs. Last year, a federal appeals court ruled in Sanofi and Regeneron’s favor, saying Amgen’s arguments were “unpersuasive.” That’s now up for Supreme Court deliberation. The case could ultimately help settle debates over how deeply a company must describe its newly invented medications — particularly the lucrative, and costly, biologics. Read more. | More reads - Bill to boost antibiotic development blasted as a ‘flawed’ giveaway to pharma, STAT
- Pfizer, BioNTech report new Covid booster is more protective against recent Omicron variants than original vaccine, STAT
- Flagship-founded Repertoire cuts 45% of its staff, FierceBiotech
| Thanks for reading! Until tomorrow,  | | | |
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