September 13, 2024

The need-to-know this morning

Three biotech IPOs priced last night: Bicara Therapeutics, Zenas Biopharma, and MBX Biosciences.

oncology

A new brain cancer pill inspires hope for more breakthroughs

For patients with brain cancer, the standard treatment has been to first undergo surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible, after which they typically have a number of years before their tumors start growing again and doctors have to turn to toxic regimens of chemo and radiation.

But now, patients have a new option. Regulators last month approved a daily pill called Voranigo, developed by the privately held French firm Servier, in the first major brain tumor breakthroughs in decades. The treatment was shown to delay tumor progression, meaning patients could get more years to work and be with their families before subjecting themselves to the rigors of the more aggressive treatments.

Doctors hope that this new pill signals to other pharma companies that success in this field is possible. "Our patients have not been spoiled with successful drug development," one doctor said. "This is a bit of a glimmer of hope that we've now cracked the code to develop drugs for these types of tumors."

GLp-1s

Can GLP-1 drugs help with type 1 diabetes?

A growing number of people with type 1 diabetes are becoming overweight or obese, in part because insulin can cause weight gain. This has led many type 1 patients to try GLP-1 drugs (approved for type 2 diabetes and obesity) off-label. A group of researchers set out to study these patients and found that the GLP-1 drugs appeared to help, according to an abstract at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes.

In the observational study of around 100 patients, those on Novo Nordisk's semaglutide (Ozempic/Wegovy) and Eli Lilly's tirzepatide (Mounjaro/Zepbound) lost 9% and 21% of their weight over one year, respectively, compared with a 0.4% weight gain in the control group. People on semaglutide and tirzepatide also saw A1C decreases of 0.42 and 0.62, respectively, compared with a 0.02 increase in the control group.

The researchers said that there were no reported hospitalizations from severe low blood sugar or ketosis during the trial.

These are early, observational data, though, and the researchers said that larger, prospective trials are needed to better understand the efficacy and safety of GLP-1 drugs in this population.

infectious disease

Gilead's long-acting antiviral succeeds again

Gilead's twice-yearly antiviral, called lenacapavir, reduced the risk of HIV infections by 96% compared to an expected rate of infection.

This study — which enrolled cisgender men, transgender women, transgender men, and gender nonbinary individuals who have sex with partners assigned male at birth — was the second pivotal trial the company was waiting for to file for the drug to be used in pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP.

This first trial was also positive, showing that the antiviral protected women against HIV.

podcast

What's next for Summit after its immunotherapy win?

Who's the iconoclastic outsider behind Summit's success? Why can't Moderna turn a profit? And should we be giving weight loss drugs to kids?

We discuss all that and more on this week's episode of "The Readout LOUD," STAT's biotech podcast. Our colleague Matt Herper joins us to break down this week's tumultuous week in cancer immunotherapy, including his up-close look at Summit co-CEO Bob Duggan.

We also chat about the latest news in biotech, including Moderna pruning its pipeline, plus results from a study that tested a GLP-1 drug in children.

Listen here.

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