Today, a brief rundown of news from Novo Nordisk and Merck & Co., as well as updates from Pfizer, Camp4 Therapeutics and Chai Discovery that you may have missed.
Novo Nordisk on Thursday said it filed an application for U.S. approval of CagriSema, its weekly injectable for obesity. Earlier this year, the Danish drugmaker disappointed investors when the drug, a combination of an amylin-targeting medicine and semaglutide, missed the mark in a closely watched late-stage study. Still, its application is based on data from that trial, which found that patients shed an average of 23% of their body weight over 68 weeks, as well as a secondary study. Novo hopes to position CagriSema as a follow-up to the success of Wegovy, and to take the edge off the threat of its competitor Eli Lilly, which recently submitted an application for approval of its oral GLP-1 orforglipron. It would be the first amylin-targeting and GLP-1 combination on the market if approved. — Gwendolyn Wu
Camp4 Therapeutics, an RNA-targeting biotechnology company, has inked a deal with GSK worth as much as $440 million to make medicines for neurodegenerative and kidney diseases. In a Thursday announcement, Camp4 said GSK would hand over $17.5 million in upfront costs, and could pay tiered royalties if any of the programs that emerge from the collaboration are commercialized. The partnership is focused on antisense oligonucleotide drugs that boost gene expression, which could be beneficial in genetic disorders caused by loss of function. Camp4 also announced the pricing of a $30 million public stock offering on Thursday. — Gwendolyn Wu
A San Francisco-based AI drugmaker, Chai Discovery, has raised $130 million in a Series B financing to support its ambitions of speeding up the drugmaking process. The company claims its technology can predict how biochemical molecules interact with one another and find new ways to pursue “hard-to-drug” targets. Its investor syndicate included Oak HC/FT and General Catalyst, which co-led the round, as well as others such as Thrive Capital, OpenAI and Yosemite. Chai raised its $70 million Series A funding just four months ago. — Gwendolyn Wu
A combination of Merck & Co.’s immunotherapy Keytruda and the Pfizer/Astellas antibody-drug conjugate Padcev succeeded in another bladder cancer study, helping people who are otherwise eligible for chemotherapy live longer than those who got chemo, the companies said Wednesday. Trial enrollees had muscle-invasive bladder cancer that hadn’t spread outside the bladder, and were undergoing surgery with curative intent. Participants were randomized to receive either Keytruda and Padcev before and after surgery or platinum-based chemo before surgery. Trial investigators then measured event-free survival, overall survival and remission rates. Beyond stating that the Keytruda-Padcev combination had a “statistically significant and clinically meaningful” benefit on those three measures, the companies didn’t release specifics but said they will disclose data at a coming medical meeting. The combination has also improved survival for those who can’t receive chemotherapy as well as those whose disease spread beyond the bladder. — Jonathan Gardner
Adaptive Biotechnologies said Monday it has signed two non-exclusive licenses with Pfizer to use its T cell receptor technology for discovery of potential therapeutic targets in people with rheumatoid arthritis. Under one deal, Adaptive will lead target discovery activities and Pfizer will be responsible for development and commercialization of any drugs that emerge from the research. Adaptive said the deal includes an unspecified upfront payment and will be eligible for additional payments based on achievement of specific data delivery, development, regulatory and commercial goals, all worth a potential total of $890 million. The second agreement will give Pfizer access to Adaptive’s T cell receptor-antigen dataset to accelerate its own research and drug discovery. That deal involves an unstated upfront payment and annual licensing fees. — Jonathan Gardner
