Today, a brief rundown of news involving Eli Lilly and Novartis, as well as updates from Astellas Pharma, Pfizer and Bolt Biotherapeutics that you may have missed.
Patrik Jonsson will retire from Eli Lilly at the end of 2026, completing a 36-year run at the Indianapolis-based drugmaker. Jonsson started at Lilly as a sales representative in Sweden in 1990 and rose through the ranks to eventually lead the company’s global pharmaceutical business, “Lilly International.” Once he steps down, Lilly’s U.S. and international divisions will combine into an entity called “Lilly Global Markets” and be headed by Ilya Yuffa, a Lilly executive vice president and head of global customer capabilities. The new structure will “accelerate decision-making, increase scalability” and help broaden access to medicines globally, Lilly said. — Ben Fidler
Novartis will take a $1.9 billion impairment charge after seeing an experimental drug it acquired in a $12 billion buyout of Avidity Biosciences fail a late-stage trial in August. The Swiss drugmaker revealed the write-off in its latest quarterly earnings report Tuesday, which included sales figures that topped Wall Street’s expectations and news that the company hiked its 2026 financial forecasts. Novartis is facing multiple key patent expirations in the near future and is looking to key drugs in its late-stage pipeline, like Avidity’s del-desiran, to spur future growth. Though that drug fell short in a study in a rare muscle-wasting disease, the company hasn’t given up on its approval chances. An open-label extension to that trial is ongoing, and executives told analysts Tuesday that they assume Novartis will need to run an additional Phase 3 study. — Delilah Alvarado
Astellas Pharma has secured from Australian biotech Audax Biosciences an option to license an experimental cancer immunotherapy nearing human testing. Called DAX-044, the therapy is an “antibody-cytokine fusion” designed to deliver the immune protein IL-12 into cancer cells. In a statement, Astellas said DAX-044 has “best-in-class” potential. The deal involves $285 million in up front and future option payments, and could include another $1.05 billion in additional consideration if certain milestones are met. Phase 1 testing should begin in 2027, Astellas said. — Ben Fidler
The Food and Drug Administration has expanded use of a two-drug regimen involving Pfizer’s cancer medicine Talzenna and the hormone therapy Xtandi. The combination was first approved in 2023 for certain patients with metastatic prostate cancer who’d stopped responding to hormone treatments. The new clearance makes treatment available earlier, when the benefits might be greater. The approval was based on study results showing the regimen cut the risk of cancer progression or death by more than half when compared to Xtandi and a placebo. — Delilah Alvarado
Prana Therapeutics is going public through a reverse merger with Bolt Biotherapeutics. The stock-for-stock deal announced Friday came alongside a $120 million private financing that’ll help fund the company through 2027 and into the following year. Prana is developing multi-pronged antibody drugs designed to last longer and require infrequent dosing. Its lead asset, PRA-216, zeroes in on the proteins TSLP and IL-4Rα and is in mid-stage testing for atopic dermatitis, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. A second prospect is also being developed for atopic dermatitis but aims at a different target, IL-31. Data from first-in-human studies are expected next year. — Delilah Alvarado
