Today, a brief rundown of news from Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Merck & Co. as well as updates from Fibrogen, Intellia Therapeutics and Biogen that you may have missed.
The Food and Drug Administration has agreed to a speedy review of Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ closely watched pain tablet. An approval decision should come by Jan. 30. The tablet works differently than available pain medications, instead targeting a kind of microscopic cell tunnel that controls nerve cell communication. Wall Street analysts see Vertex’s drug as a valuable, non-opioid option for pain management, and expect annual sales will eventually crest $5 billion.— Jacob Bell
Merck & Co.’s prized immunotherapy Keytruda has hit a new milestone. In the company’s latest earnings report, quarterly sales of the cancer drug topped $7 billion. The three-month period also saw Keytruda notch its 40th approved indication in the U.S. — Jacob Bell
Keytruda quarterly sales surpass $7 billion for the first time
FibroGen announced Tuesday it is reducing its staff in the U.S. by 75% after disappointing results from a Phase 2/3 trial of its drug pamrevlumab for pancreatic cancer. It's the latest restructuring for the San Francisco biotechnology company, which has faced a series of trial failures and regulatory rejections in recent years. Shares of FibroGen plunged by half in Wednesday morning trading. — Gwendolyn Wu
Gene editing specialist Intellia Therapeutics has received clearance from the U.K.'s Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to start a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of its treatment NTLA-3001 for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. NTLA-3001 is administered in vivo to insert a healthy copy of the gene that encodes the AAT protein. It would be the third medicine from Intellia to enter clinical trials, following programs for transthyretin amyloidosis and hereditary angioedema. — Gwendolyn Wu
Biogen is teaming up with two diagnostics developers to identify biological markers for Alzheimer’s disease. Specifically, the collaboration aims to first find and then create tests for blood-based markers that reflect the presence of diseased “tau” in the brain. Tau is a protein that, while important to brain health, can sometimes form toxic clumps which damage neurons. Early this year, Biogen said it plans to accelerate the development of an experimental, tau-targeting therapy called BIIB080, hoping to add another asset to its portfolio of Alzheimer’s medicines. — Jacob Bell
