November 14, 2025

The need-to-know this morning

Belgian drugmaker Lundbeck made an unsolicited, $23-per-share offer for Avadel Pharmaceuticals. The new bid tops the $20-per-share acquisition offer made by Alkermes last month. Alkermes said it is considering its options for Avadel in light of the higher Lundbeck offer.
Anavex Life Sciences said advisers to the European Medicines Agency issued a "negative trend vote" on blarcamesine, the company's treatment for Alzheimer's disease. A formal recommendation against the drug's approval was expected in December, after which Anavex will request a re-examination.
A closely watched next-generation blood thinner being developed by Bristol Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson failed in one of three late-stage trials.

M&A

Pharma can't stop buying biotechs

The deals keeps coming. Merck this morning said it will acquire Cidara Therapeutics, the maker of an experimental flu therapy, for $9.2 billion, as the pharma giants widens its pipeline to counter the impending revenue hit as its mega-blockbuster Keytruda loses patent protection.

The transaction values Cidara at $221 per share. The stock was trading near $20 in June, right before it reported positive Phase 2 study results for its flu treatment, aimed at providing protection for people who don't mount robust responses to vaccines, including older people and those with compromised immune systems.

In June, Merck acquired Verona Pharma, the maker of a COPD drug, for $10 billion.

cancer

Kura wins FDA nod for AML drug

The FDA yesterday approved Kura Oncology's first drug, Komzifti, a once-daily oral therapy for relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia driven by NPM1 mutations — a genetically defined subset that accounts for roughly a third of AML cases and is notoriously hard to treat.

"We're thrilled," Kura CEO Troy Wilson told STAT's Adam Feuerstein, reacting to the approval of the company's first drug. "In the relapsed and refractory setting, we now make 30% of AML cases actionable."

The decision puts Kura in direct competition with Syndax's recently cleared therapy Revuforj, with both agents showing similar efficacy. The labels for both carry black-box safety warnings.

obesity

Pfizer closes $10 billion Metsera deal

Pfizer has finalized its acquisition of Metsera, at a price of up to $10 billion, winning shareholder approval and securing a long-sought re-entry into the booming obesity drug market after a heated contest with Novo Nordisk.

"We are a company that knows how to run massive vaccine trials ... we are a company that knows how to manufacture at scale," Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said during a Yahoo Finance conference yesterday. He added that if Pfizer moves fast on development, he sees Metsera's new GLP-1 products hitting the market in 2028.

The deal gives Pfizer control of MET-097i, a once-monthly GLP-1 injection that produced up to 14% weight loss in mid-stage studies and is now heading into late-stage trials — a potential rival to Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Eli Lilly's Zepbound.

The move marks a strategic pivot as Pfizer seeks to counter a shrinking Covid franchise and looming patent expirations that could erase up to $18 billion in annual revenue.

glp-1 drugs

KFF poll: 1 in 8 adult Americans have used GLP-1s

A new KFF poll finds that GLP-1 drug use continues to climb, with 12% of adults — about one in eight — currently taking medications like Ozempic or Wegovy for weight loss or chronic conditions. Overall, nearly 1 in 5 adults have taken one of these drugs at some point, the report points out. KFF polled 1,350 people across the country just a few weeks ago.

These figures are up from 18 months ago, even as half of users say the drugs are hard to afford. Current use is highest among women, as well as adults between 50 and 64 years old. Meanwhile, there's been lower uptake among older people, but that reflects Medicare's ban on weight loss coverage — which could soon change for many beneficiaries.

Use is especially common among people with chronic disease: 57% of adults with diabetes have taken a GLP-1, including 45% who are using one now. Despite the surge, most Americans doubt the Trump administration will lower drug costs, though three-fourths of Republicans expect it will.

podcast

Merck's heart disease win and the FDA's new drug regulator

What does Rick Pazdur's new role mean for the FDA? Has Merck solved the PCSK9 access issue? And how much credit can the president take for lowering GLP-1 drug prices?

Dean Li, the head of R&D at Merck, joins us to discuss the long-awaited trial results for the company's oral medicine targeting PCSK9 to lower cholesterol. These types of treatments have proven effective at addressing heart disease, but making them into more accessible pills has proven tricky.

We also discuss the latest news in the life sciences, including the resolution of Pfizer and Novo Nordisk's bidding war over Metsera, Pazdur's new role at the FDA, and the end of a decade-long longevity venture.