Eli Lilly, JPM, Novo Nordisk, Bain
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Good morning, everybody. Damian right here with an in-depth preview of a sure annual biotech convention, a have a look at the chopping fringe of weight problems drug growth, and 12 months’s first IPO submitting.
The necessity-to-know this morning
- Eli Lilly issued an “open letter” warning towards the usage of its GLP-1 medicine Mounjaro and Zepbound for “beauty weight reduction.”
- A decide really helpful the dismissal of a defamation lawsuit filed by Cassava Sciences towards two neuroscientists, Geoffrey Pitt and David Bredt, who had petitioned the FDA to halt the event of the corporate’s experimental Alzheimer’s drug.
- It’s an enormous morning for “2024 company replace” press releases from biotech firms — too many to listing right here.
Your information to #JPM24
Will there be offers? Why is Nvidia right here? And may biotech’s good vibes survive?
We rounded up all of the burning questions heading into the 2024 iteration of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Convention, which begins Monday in San Francisco. That features a listing of the company displays which may truly be fascinating, a have a look at how enterprise capitalists are feeling in regards to the new 12 months, and the way the specter of a pugilistic FTC would possibly forged a shadow over the entire affair.
Learn extra.
And talking of JPM, beginning Sunday, this text will change into your one-stop supply for all of STAT’s reporting from the convention, delivered to your inbox every afternoon.
A gentler strategy to genome modifying
CRISPR genome modifying, for all its utility, depends on chopping into strands of DNA, a prospect that may restrict its advantages for sure illnesses and result in problematic off-target edits. Feng Zhang, the Broad Institute’s resident CRISPR pioneer, co-founded an organization to push ahead a much less violent strategy to tinkering with the genome.
As STAT’s Allison DeAngelis reviews, the corporate is named Moonwalk Therapeutics, and the thought is epigenetic modifying. The place most genome modifying applied sciences are geared toward DNA itself, Moonwalk is concentrating on the encompassing chemical compounds that influence gene expression, crafting medicines which may change genes on and off with out making everlasting modifications to DNA.
Amongst Zhang’s co-founders is Alex Aravanis, who helped begin the blood testing agency Grail and can function CEO. The corporate’s funding syndicate contains Alpha Wave Ventures, Arch Enterprise Companions, and Khosla Ventures.
Learn extra.
Novo is in search of weight-loss medicine on the innovative
Novo Nordisk, maker of the blockbuster weight problems therapy Wegovy, has a long-term imaginative and prescient of revolutionizing the therapy of metabolic illness. Getting there’s going to require turning some speculative science into efficient medicines.
In weight problems, which means turning to genome modifying. Novo mentioned at this time that it has partnered with Omega Therapeutics, a Flagship Pioneering firm, to develop a novel remedy that may manipulate an individual’s DNA to successfully flip up the warmth and burn power, thereby resulting in weight reduction. In MASH, the prevalent, obesity-related liver illness, Novo is working with one other Flagship startup referred to as Cellarity seeking a small-molecule drug.
Every deal is comparatively small, including as much as a possible $1 billion if each firms hit sure milestones. However every provides to Novo’s rising mosaic of potential medicines which may succeed Wegovy and Ozempic, together with RNA-based remedies, cannabinoid-targeting therapies, and medicines designed to protect muscle mass throughout weight reduction.
Learn extra.
The primary take a look at of 2024’s IPO waters
Final 12 months’s biotech rebound introduced a lift in dealmaking, positive aspects for biotech shares, and some huge enterprise capital rounds for newfangled startups. However IPOs, an integral a part of the business’s monetary ecosystem, bought left behind in 2023, which noticed the fewest biotech firms go public in a decade.
We’ll quickly discover out whether or not 2024 will likely be totally different. First up is CG Oncology, which filed its IPO paperwork with the SEC yesterday. The corporate, headquartered in Irvine, Calif., is in Section 3 with a therapy for bladder most cancers, enrolling sufferers who’ve already tried the usual of care. The drug, referred to as cretostimogene, is CG’s solely pipeline asset.
CG doesn’t precisely have the markings of a bellwether biotech IPO. The corporate’s listing of buyers doesn’t embrace any of the business’s name-brand VCs, and it had simply $10 million in money as of Sept. 30. However its success or failure going public will present a probably instructive datapoint in a 12 months that’s prone to see many extra startups making an attempt IPOs.
