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U.S. prices for obesity-treatment pills that Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk aim to launch next year likely will be on par with their weight-loss injections, analysts and investors say, in a departure from the usual practice of charging more for new medicines despite pressure to cut prices. Neither drugmaker has disclosed pricing plans for their new daily oral medications. With regulatory approvals and launches still months away, pricing plans could change. Denmark-based Novo expects approval later this year and to launch soon after, while Indianapolis-based Lilly expects to launch by August 2026. Novo's Wegovy and Lilly's Zepbound, administered as weekly injections, are the only highly effective weight-loss drugs targeting the GLP-1 hormone, and the United States is their biggest market. U.S. list prices are about $1,000 per month or more, with both companies offering a monthly supply for $499 to customers paying cash rather than using health insurance. Both companies have said they developed oral weight-loss drugs to meet patient needs and widen access to the market, mindful that some people are averse to injections. The pills, however, are not more effective than the injections. Lilly said this month its pill orforglipron cut weight by 12.4% after 72 weeks in a trial. That...

Novo Nordisk's weight-loss treatment Wegovy gained U.S. approval to treat a progressive liver condition on Friday, as the Danish drugmaker looks to boost sales and widen insurance coverage. Eli Lilly's blockbuster diabetes drug Mounjaro and related weight-loss therapy Zepbound, and Novo's rival medicines Ozempic and Wegovy brought in combined sales of over $40 billion last year, which is expected to rise to $60 billion in 2025. Here are some of the other conditions the drugs are being used and tested for: Alcohol addiction * A study conducted by the University of Copenhagen's Psychiatric Centre Rigshospitalet is investigating whether semaglutide - the main ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic - can help reduce alcohol intake in 108 patients diagnosed with alcohol use disorder and obesity. Alzheimer's disease * Novo Nordisk is testing semaglutide in a late-stage trial in patients with early Alzheimer's disease. The study, which will enroll 1,840 patients, could have an initial data readout as early as later this year. Cardiovascular disease * Eli Lilly was testing tirzepatide - the main ingredient in Mounjaro and Zepbound - for patients with heart failure and obesity. Lilly had said it would enroll about 700 people in the study, but the company said in May that it has withdrawn its...

Shares in Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO), opens new tab rose on Monday, after it got U.S. approval for its weight-loss drug Wegovy to treat a serious liver condition, positive news for the drugmaker that lost more than one-third of its market value in recent weeks. Novo's shares rose as much as 5% at opening and were trading 3.5% higher by 0711 GMT. Keep up with the latest medical breakthroughs and healthcare trends with the Reuters Health Rounds newsletter. Sign up here. Three weeks ago, investors wiped $70 billion off its market value, after Novo - which became Europe's most valuable listed company following the launch of Wegovy in 2021 - issued a profit warning and named a company veteran as new CEO. On Friday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval for Wegovy to treat metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH, making it the first GLP-1 class therapy cleared for the progressive liver condition that affects around 5% of adults in the United States. Rival Eli Lilly (LLY.N), opens new tab has published encouraging MASH data in a mid-stage trial with tirzepatide - the active ingredient in its popular diabetes drug Mounjaro and weight-loss treatment Zepbound. "It is expected that this market exclusivity will only...

Pharmaceutical research and development firms in China are increasingly interested in procuring critical supplies known as reagents from local manufacturers, industry executives and managers said, as they seek to cut costs and delivery times. Western reagent suppliers including U.S.-based Thermo Fisher Scientific and Germany's Merck (MRCG.DE), opens new tab have profited in the world's second-largest pharmaceutical market from the compounds used in lab tests for analysis and quality control. But rising Chinese import tariffs due to the trade war with the U.S. and longer-term concerns about costs or access are spurring Chinese companies to request products from local rivals like Shanghai Titan Scientific (688133.SS), opens new tab and Nanjing Vazyme Biotech (688105.SS), opens new tab instead, the executives and managers said. The five who spoke to Reuters work at Chinese firms involved in the purchase or supply of reagents and their comments are an early sign of an expected industry shift toward more Chinese purchases. China's reagent market for lab and diagnostic use has been to some extent supplied by imports, which were valued at $5.76 billion in 2024, down slightly from $5.83 billion in 2023, according to U.N. Comtrade data. "It is actually more advantageous (for reagents to be local) because the timeliness...

Doctors advise most patients on GLP-1 obesity drugs such as Wegovy and Zepbound to stay on them to keep the weight off, but as more U.S. insurers restrict coverage people are trimming costs by stretching doses or forgoing expenditures like vacations to pay for the medication out of pocket. A half dozen doctors who spoke with Reuters said insurance coverage has tightened in 2025 as many employers drop it for the expensive GLP-1 drugs. While patients on these medications are counseled on proper diet and exercise, clinical trials show that people who stop taking these drugs are apt to regain weight, opens new tab. Get a quick look at the days breaking legal news and analysis from The Afternoon Docket newsletter. Sign up here. Novo Nordisk's (NOVOb.CO), opens new tab Wegovy and Eli Lilly's (LLY.N), opens new tab Zepbound are weekly injections with U.S. insurer list prices of more than $1,000 a month. For customers willing to pay cash, both drugmakers will ship directly for $499 a month if refills are purchased at fixed intervals. "A significant number of my patients now pay cash," said Dr. Nidhi Kansal, an obesity specialist at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago. "People find a way to scrounge up...

Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO), opens new tab said on Friday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted accelerated approval for its weight-loss drug Wegovy to treat a serious liver condition called metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, strengthening its presence in the metabolic disease market. The approval makes Wegovy the first GLP-1 class therapy cleared for MASH, a progressive liver condition that affects around 5% of adults in the United States, according to the American Liver Foundation. Keep up with the latest medical breakthroughs and healthcare trends with the Reuters Health Rounds newsletter. Sign up here. "There really (have) not been good treatments in this space. We're only the second FDA-approved treatment for MASH, and we really need better medications that have better overall benefit-risk profiles, that really can also prevent the progression of the disease," Jason Brett, principal U.S. medical head at Novo Nordisk, said in an interview with Reuters. So far, the only available FDA-approved treatment for MASH is the Madrigal Pharmaceuticals drug (MDGL.O), opens new tab Rezdiffra, which was approved in 2024. The FDA's decision was based on part one of an ongoing two-part study that showed Wegovy helped improve the organ's condition in more patients with MASH and liver scarring, compared to a...

Eli Lilly has signed a deal worth $1.3 billion with privately held Superluminal Medicines to discover and develop small-molecule drugs through AI to treat obesity and other cardiometabolic diseases. Lilly currently dominates the obesity treatment market, which is estimated to be worth $150 billion by the next decade, and is trying to strengthen its foothold in the space through the development of next-generation drugs, acquisitions and partnerships. The deal gives Lilly access to Superluminal's proprietary artificial-intelligence-driven platform to rapidly discover potential drug candidates targeting G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) - a class of proteins that can influence a range of physiological processes including metabolism, cell growth and immune responses - the drug developer said on Thursday. In a similar move, Danish rival Novo Nordisk struck a $2.2 billion deal with U.S. biotech Septerna in May to develop oral small-molecule medicines targeting GPCRs for obesity and other cardiometabolic diseases. Lilly has been capitalizing on the overwhelming popularity of the GLP-1 class of medicines, which includes its blockbuster drug Zepbound as well as Novo's Wegovy. It is also developing a keenly watched oral GLP-1 drug, orforglipron, which has failed to meet investors' lofty expectations. The drugmaker teamed up with Hong Kong-listed biotech Laekna last year to develop an...

German pharmaceutical group Bayer (BAYGn.DE), opens new tab announced on Tuesday a deal worth up to $1.3 billion with Kumquat Biosciences to develop the U.S.-based oncology specialist's potential new cancer drug. Under the agreement, Kumquat will be responsible for initiating and completing a phase-Ia study into the drug, a KRAS G12D inhibitor, while Bayer will complete development and commercial activities. Bayer said the deal complements its precision oncology development portfolio in the areas of pancreatic, colorectal and lung cancer. KRAS mutations occur in nearly 25% of human cancers, with the variant targeted by Kumquat's experimental drug still lacking effective treatment options, according to a company statement. Bayer said it has agreed to pay Kumquat up to $1.3 billion, including upfront, clinical and commercial milestones, and additional tiered royalties on net sales. Kumquat, which since its launch in 2019 has also signed agreements with Eli Lilly (LLY.N), opens new tab and Takeda (4502.T), opens new tab, retains an exclusive option to negotiate for participating in profit-loss sharing in the United States under the deal with Bayer. "This collaboration provides Kumquat the financial resources to accelerate its broader clinical pipeline for long-term value," Kumquat CEO Yi Liu said in a statement shared by Bayer.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Insmed's (INSM.O), opens new tab oral drug for a type of lung disease, the company said on Tuesday, making it the first treatment for the chronic condition. Shares of the New Jersey-based drugmaker rose 6% in afternoon trade. Insmed's drug, branded as Brinsupri, targets non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis, a chronic lung condition characterized by permanently damaged airways, leading to persistent cough and excessive mucus production. The condition affects 350,000 to 500,000 adults in the U.S., according to the American Lung Association. Brinsupri works by blocking certain inflammatory enzymes in white blood cells, preventing them from becoming overactive and damaging the lungs. Earlier treatments for the condition focused on controlling symptoms by using antibiotics, surgery or devices such as flutter valves to clear the airways. Insmed's application was based on a late-stage trial involving 1,680 adult and 41 adolescent patients, with the drug significantly reducing the frequency of respiratory symptoms such as chronic cough. The drug was found to be safe and well-tolerated at the two tested doses of 10 milligrams and 25 milligrams. The FDA and the company agreed to make both doses available, leaving the choice to the prescribing physician, CEO William Lewis told Reuters. Both doses will be priced...

Pfizer (PFE.N), opens new tab said on Tuesday its cancer drug Padcev, in combination with Merck's (MRK.N), opens new tab Keytruda, significantly improved survival rates in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer when administered before and after surgery. The interim results from an ongoing late-stage trial of the combination therapy showed significant improvement in event-free survival – which measures how long a patient remains free from disease recurrence – and overall survival when compared to surgery alone, the company said. "These latest results underscore the practice-changing potential of this combination in earlier stages of bladder cancer, where it has the potential to improve outcomes for even more patients," said Johanna Bendell, Pfizer's oncology chief development officer. In muscle-invasive bladder cancer, the tumor extends beyond the inner lining and penetrates the muscular wall of the organ. It accounts for about 25% of all newly diagnosed bladder cancers and is a particularly aggressive form with a high risk of spreading, according to the National Institutes of Health. Pfizer said it plans to discuss the trial results with global health authorities for potential regulatory filings. The combination therapy leverages anti-PD-1 treatments that block the PD-1 protein to help the immune system combat cancer, where Padcev, an antibody-drug conjugate,...