Today, a brief rundown of news involving Arvinas and Pfizer, as well as updates from Novo Nordisk, Lazard, Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals that you may have missed.

Arvinas and Pfizer will license out their experimental “PROTAC” breast cancer medicine, vepdegestrant, to a third party and split the economics in the resulting deal, the companies said Thursday. The two companies have been jointly developing vepdegestrant, which is being reviewed by U.S. regulators. But the smaller-than-envisioned market for the therapy led them to reevaluate their deal. The decision represents a “near reset” for Arvinas, wrote Leerink Partners’ Andrew Berens. The company is cutting another 15% of its workforce after reducing its headcount by roughly a third in May, and will focus resources on a trio of drugs in early-stage testing. — Ben Fidler

Geoffrey Porges has been named the managing director of Lazard’s healthcare advisory group. Porges, a longtime biotech analyst, is joining Lazard after a three-year stint serving as the chief financial officer of Schrödinger, which he left in May during a restructuring. In his new role at Lazard, he’ll advise on deals “across diversified pharmaceuticals,” according to a Thursday statement. — Ben Fidler

Novo Nordisk’s oral version of Wegovy delivered an average of 17% weight loss over 64 weeks, or about 13 percentage points higher than placebo recipients, according to study results published in The New England Journal of Medicine Wednesday. The results, from a Phase 3 in adults with obesity or who are overweight, are part of a package currently being reviewed by U.S. regulators. Novo could win approval of what it’s now calling “Wegovy in a pill” by the end of the year, potentially opening up another battlefront in its commercial contest with Eli Lilly, whose rival orforglipron could soon be submitted for clearance as well. — Ben Fidler

Vertex Pharmaceuticals reached a deal with the Italian Medicines Agency to cover its gene editing treatment Casgevy for eligible patients with transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia or severe sickle cell disease. In a statement, Vertex said Italy has the “largest population” of people living with transfusion-dependent thalassemia in Europe — about 5,000 people 12 years or older — and some 2,300 with sickle cell disease. Through June 30, only 29 patients had received infusions of Casgevy since its launch, but 16 occurred in the second quarter, translating to about $30 million in revenue over those three months. — Ben Fidler

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals plans to take a rare disease drug to the Food and Drug Administration for approval after the experimental medicine met its primary goal in a Phase 3 study. Treatment with the drug, called garetosmab, dramatically reduced the abnormal formation of bone lesions in people with the disease, known as fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva. A monoclonal antibody, garetosmab works by blocking a protein that in people with the disease is involved in the debilitating ossification into bone of muscles, tendons and ligaments. Based on the data, monitors overseeing the study recommended participants who were randomized to receive placebo instead switch to the drug. Regeneron plans to submit by year-end for U.S. clearance, and in 2026 for global approvals. — Ned Pagliarulo