Want to stay on top of the science and politics driving biotech today? Sign up to get our biotech newsletter in your inbox. Good morning. Here in Chicago, residents are reeling over the removal of the famed rat hole, a rat-shaped indentation on a piece of sidewalk that drew crowds, fans, and even a proposal and a marriage. The need-to-know this morning AstraZeneca reported first-quarter sales and profits that topped analyst estimates, buoyed by its blockbuster cancer drugs. It’s a busy day for pharma earnings: Merck, Sanofi, Daiichi Sankyo,&nb ..read more

This is the online edition of Adam’s Biotech Scorecard, a new subscriber-only newsletter. STAT+ subscribers can sign up here to get it delivered every Thursday to their inbox. Last night, we held our 2024 STATUS List dinner, honoring 50 influential people shaping the future of health, medicine and life sciences. It was an amazing evening, and a chance to eat and chat with some brilliant and engaging honorees. At dinner, to my left, was Biogen CEO Chris Viehbacher; to my right, Avoro Capital’s Behzad Aghazadeh. I sat directly across from Novo Nordisk scientist Lotte Knudsen. AstraZeneca’s ..read more

Christopher Boerner, 53, took over as the chief executive officer of Bristol Myers Squibb last November, and immediately made a big move: a series of three acquisitions totaling $24 billion that would give BMS a new schizophrenia drug, a targeted cancer medicine, and radiopharmaceuticals used to treat cancer. On Thursday, Bristol released first quarter earnings and showed the price for those acquisitions. Annual sales for the quarter were $11.9 billion, a 6% increase from last year adjusted for foreign exchange rates. Its quarterly loss was negatively impacted by costs from the deals, coming i ..read more

Biogen on Wednesday reported first-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street expectations largely on reduced expenses. Total revenue was slightly weak overall, but sales were stronger for two newly launched medicines — Leqembi and Skyclarys — that matter most to the biotech’s turnaround effort. Shares rose 5% to $202 in early trading. Here’s what you need to know from Biogen’s earnings and conference call ..read more

Want to stay on top of the science and politics driving biotech today? Sign up to get our biotech newsletter in your inbox. Good morning! Today we have some developments about Novo Nordisk’s insulin business, a side of the company that people don’t really talk about anymore, and some news about their GLP-1 business, a side that people can’t stop talking about. The need-to-know this morning A quick rundown of Biogen’s first quarter earnings: Skyclarys sales of $78 million beat expectations and should assuage concerns about a slow commercial launch. Leqembi sales of $19 mill ..read more

Spending on GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy ballooned last year and they’re set to cost the U.S. health care system and the federal government still more this year and beyond, two new reports released Wednesday show. One study from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists found that GLP-1 treatments were a main driver of the increase in overall drug spending by health entities such as pharmacies and hospitals last year. In particular, expenditures on Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide — sold as Ozempic for diabetes and Wegovy for obesity — doubled to $38.6 billion, making the drug the top ..read more

A year ago, when Novo Nordisk announced it would cut the price of multiple insulin products by up to 75%, President Biden, lawmakers, and patient groups all counted the move as a win. But several months later, Novo decided to discontinue one of those products, the basal insulin Levemir. Though the insulin won’t officially be off the market until the end of this year, patients are already running into supply disruptions and insurance cutoffs, leaving them with few options. The discontinuation, which is happening only in the U.S., has now drawn alarm from some Democratic senators, who sent a let ..read more

Day One Biopharmaceuticals said Tuesday the Food and Drug Administration approved its pill for one of the most common forms of childhood brain tumors, called pediatric low-grade glioma. The authorization is particularly notable because industry has historically developed few drugs for children with cancer, focusing instead on adults and often only years later testing their molecules in younger patients. Day One was established by Sam Blackman, a pediatric oncologist and longtime drug executive, and venture capitalist Julie Grant to try to find a model to develop drugs for children.  The ..read more

Want to stay on top of the science and politics driving biotech today? Sign up to get our biotech newsletter in your inbox. Hello! Don’t recognize the avatar above? I’m Elaine, the new co-author of this newsletter. I’m very excited to be here. Scroll down to the last item for more about me. The need-to-know this morning Novartis raised its financial outlook for the year after reporting better-than-expected sales and earnings for the first quarter. The Swiss drugmaker nominated Giovanni Caforio, the former CEO of Bristol Myers Squibb, as its new chairman to replace&nbs ..read more

Want to stay on top of the science and politics driving biotech today? Sign up to get our biotech newsletter in your inbox. Morning! Hope you had a delightful weekend. Up today: an exclusive look at the scientific mix-up behind the approval of preterm birth drug Makena. We hear from a mother of a son with Duchenne muscular dystrophy who wants to ensure the FDA’s accelerated approval pathway stays strong, and more. The mix-up behind a controversial drug for preterm birth Last year, the FDA withdrew its approval of Makena, the progesterone-based drug meant to prevent preterm birth, whe ..read more