Biotech indices have witnessed a lot of volatility throughout 2022 and 2023. Just when they were beginning to look up, the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in mid-March dragged them down once again. The bank's fall left many biotech firms uncertain about their future, as life sciences and healthcare accounted for 12 percent of SVB’s deposits of US$ 173 billion.The indices regained some ground by the end of the month — the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index (NBI) increased by 0.6 percent to US$ 4,125, but the S&P Biotechnology Select Industry Index (SPSIBI) and the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI) both registered declines, falling by 8.3 percent to US$ 5,898 and 8.2 percent to US$ 76.21, respectively. In February, the NBI had fallen by 6 percent, while the SPSIBI and XBI had both experienced declines of 7 percent and 8 percent, respectively.Several mega and large cap companies, such as Sanofi, Eli Lilly, Novartis, AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk, GSK and Moderna, posted gains in March.Access the Pipeline Prospector Dashboard for March 2023 Newsmakers (Free Excel)Sanofi’s Dupixent succeeds in COPD trial, buys Provention Bio for its diabetes drug The biggest mega cap gainer on the bourses was Sanofi (its stock rose 17
percent in March). Its blockbuster anti-inflammatory drug Dupixent, developed along
with Regeneron, succeeded in a late-stage clinical trial for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a
disease that causes a progressive decline in lung function. If approved, Dupixent would become the first biologic
treatment for COPD. Analysts estimate the label expansion to add US$ 3.5 billion in peak sales for Dupixent. In a further boost, the European Commission approved Dupixent for children aged six months to five years with severe atopic dermatitis. Regeneron’s stock was up 6 percent.In mid-March, Sanofi said it
will purchase US-based Provention Bio (up 167 percent) for
US$ 2.9 billion. The deal builds on an existing co-promotion agreement between the two companies, with Sanofi gaining full ownership of Provention Bio’s type 1 diabetes therapy Tzield. Also, Sanofi and partner Sobi’s treatment for severe
hemophilia A (a hereditary bleeding disorder) in
previously treated patients under 12 years, efanesoctocog alfa, met its primary endpoint in a phase 3 pivotal study.Access the Pipeline Prospector Dashboard for March 2023 Newsmakers (Free Excel) Novartis’ Kisqali proves effective in breast cancer trial; Astra’s Enhertu posts gainsNovartis (10 percent) and AstraZeneca (8 percent) were the other mega cap gainers in March. Novartis’ breast cancer drug Kisqali plus
endocrine therapy following surgery proved to be
effective in a phase 3 trial in treating patients with hormone
receptor-positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HR+/HER2-)
early breast cancer who are at risk of recurrence. The Swiss pharma also shared
positive long-term data for its gene
therapy, Zolgensma, as a treatment for spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic
disease that affects muscle movement. Its subsidiary Sandoz received FDA approval for Hyrimoz, a biosimilar of adalimumab.AstraZeneca and partner Daiichi Sankyo (up 15 percent) announced positive results from a mid-stage
trial of their blockbuster cancer drug Enhertu in multiple
HER2-expressing advanced solid tumors. Astra and Merck’s Lynparza received
authorization in the UK as a treatment for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC).Similarly, AbbVie’s blockbuster drug
Skyrizi achieved a win in a late-stage trial for adults with
moderate-to-severe active ulcerative colitis, a type of bowel disease that
affects the large intestine. The drug also showed positive results in a late-stage
trial in adults with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis who still experience
symptoms after six months of treatment with Novartis’ Cosentyx (secukinumab) and Lilly’s Taltz (ixekizumab).But AbbVie also faced a setback — FDA denied approval to AbbVie’s Parkinson’s therapy ABBV-951 and requested for more information on the device used to administer the medication. Overall, AbbVie’s stock rose 3 percent last month.In
good news for Roche, a panel of
external advisers to the FDA voted 11-2 in favor of
expanding the use of its med Polivy in combination with
other drugs for adults with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Roche also joined forces with Lilly
to develop a blood test that can detect early signs of Alzheimer’s disease.Meanwhile, a combination of Roche’s immunotherapy Tecentriq and Exelixis’ cancer drug Cabometyx failed a late-stage trial in advanced renal cell carcinoma. Roche’s stock remained unchanged in March. Similarly, Merck’s anti-TIGIT therapy vibostolimab, in combination with
Keytruda, failed to improve progression-free survival in
patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer in a phase 2 trial. In a
separate phase 2/3 study, Keytruda and chemotherapy significantly improved overall survival in patients
with unresectable malignant pleural mesothelioma, a rapidly progressing cancer
that develops in the lining of the lungs. Merck’s stock fell 1 percent. FDA
brought out a draft guidance for accelerated approvals to
improve clinical trials of cancer drugs.Access the Pipeline Prospector Dashboard for March 2023 Newsmakers (Free Excel) GSK, Pfizer’s RSV jabs get FDA panel’s backing; Pfizer buys out Seagen for US$ 43 bnA panel of external experts to the FDA backed both GSK (6 percent) and Pfizer’s respiratory syncytial virus
(RSV) experimental vaccines, setting the stage for a race between the two
rivals to bring out the first shot in the US against the disease. The final results of a trial
published in the New England Journal of
Medicine showed that Pfizer’s experimental maternal RSV vaccine was 82 percent effective in preventing serious illnesses in children when given to pregnant
mothers.Though Pfizer announced its biggest buyout in recent times, its stock saw no change in March. It is acquiring
cancer treatment specialist Seagen (up 12 percent) for
US$ 43 billion as part of its move to mitigate a hit in revenues from declining
sales of its Covid-19 products and patent expirations of some top drugs in the
coming years. FDA approved Pfizer’s Zavzpret nasal spray for the
treatment of acute migraine. It, however, recalled 4.2 million units of its Nurtec ODT prescription migraine
drug because it failed to meet child-resistant
packaging requirements.In March, Moderna
(11 percent) and partner Merck said they will present phase 2 data of their
investigational personalized cancer vaccine, mRNA-4157, at an oncology
conference in April. The experimental drug, in combination with Keytruda, received FDA’s breakthrough therapy designation in February. Meanwhile, the vaccine maker said it will open offices in South San Francisco and Seattle as part of its plan to rapidly advance its pipeline of messenger RNA medicines amid declining Covid-19 vaccine sales.BioNTech said it expected the sale of its Covid-19 vaccine to fall from €17.3 billion (US$ 18.7 billion) in 2022 to €5 billion (US$ 5.4 billion) this year. The German mRNA company will allocate up to €2.6 billion (US$ 2.8 billion) towards R&D this year. Its stock fell 5 percent.Access the Pipeline Prospector Dashboard for March 2023 Newsmakers (Free Excel) Insulin makers cut prices by up to 75 percent; Vertex posts gains in cell therapy for diabetes March saw a lot of activity in the field of diabetes. FDA accepted Lilly’s application for Jardiance as a treatment for
children 10 years and older who are suffering from type 2 diabetes. Last month, Lilly (9 percent)
decided to slash the list prices of its commonly prescribed
insulin products, Humalog and Humulin, by 70 percent in the US. Rival Novo Nordisk (11 percent) also said it
would cut the US prices of its insulin therapies by up to 75 percent.Large cap biopharma Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ cell therapy candidate VX-264 received investigational new drug application clearance from the FDA as a potential treatment for type 1 diabetes. Vertex’s stock went up 8 percent. And small cap firm Biomea Fusion posted
positive topline data from a phase 1/2 study evaluating its lead pipeline candidate — BMF-219 — in patients with type 2 diabetes. Biomea’s stock skyrocketed 129 percent.Access the Pipeline Prospector Dashboard for March 2023 Newsmakers (Free Excel) Our viewDespite showing some signs of a revival in January, the first quarter of 2023 has been lackluster for biotech indices. In terms of M&As, the industry witnessed the Pfizer-Seagen deal and the Sanofi-Provention Bio deal. But we are expecting a lot more from 2023.In April, FDA is likely to take some important drug approval decisions — such as the one on the expanded use of Pfizer’s pneumococcal vaccine Prevnar 20 for use in infants and children, approval of Emergent BioSolutions’ anthrax vaccine and Daiichi Sankyo’s cancer drug quizartinib, which is under
priority review, among many others. These decisions are bound to have an impact
on the bourses. We are looking forward to an eventful month.Access the Pipeline Prospector Dashboard for March 2023 Newsmakers (Free Excel)
Impressions: 2317
The year 2022 was a difficult one for the biotech sector. Marked with geopolitical unrest, rising interest rates, the Russian-Ukraine war, inflation, and most of all, a stricter regulatory environment, biotech companies had a tough going. Biotech stocks were on a roller coaster ride
through the year, with the first few months witnessing bearish trends. The
sector bounced
back in the second half of 2022 due to M&A deals, strong earnings performance, new drug approvals and pipeline successes. But the joy was short-lived – the indices dipped once again in December.The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index (NBI) fell 3.4
percent to US$ 4,213. In November, it was up 5 percent. There was no change in
the S&P Biotechnology Select Industry Index (SPSIBI) last month. It was up
1.1 percent in November. And the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI) rose 0.1
percent in December, as opposed to 1 percent rise in November.For the full year, NBI fell 11 percent, while
both SPSIBI and XBI plummeted 28 percent. Overall though, biotech companies can
take heart from the fact that
2022 was the worst year for S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite since 2008.Access the Pipeline Prospector Dashboard for December 2022 Newsmakers (Free Excel)Novo gains post Wegovy launch in Denmark; Sanofi’s stock rises post legal winDecember was a big month for Novo
Nordisk as the Danish drugmaker launched
its diabetes drug Wegovy (semaglutide) in its
home market, fulfilling its promise to launch the med outside of the US by
2022-end. Wegovy also received an add-on approval from the US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) to treat obesity
in teens 12 years and above just before
Christmas. All the good news resulted in an 8 percent rise in Novo’s stock. Another mega cap company that made gains on the
bourses last month was French drugmaker Sanofi — its stock rose 7 percent. A big reason behind this was the dismissal
of about 50,000 lawsuits by a US district judge. The lawsuits had claimed that the heartburn drug – Zantac – causes cancer. Shares of GSK and Sanofi also made gains due to the dismissal, adding more than US$ 20 billion in combined value soon after the court’s decision. Sanofi’s blockbuster dermatitis and asthma drug Dupixent (dupilumab) also
received marketing
authorization in Europe as the first and only targeted medicine for prurigo nodularis, a chronic and debilitating skin disease.In early 2022, Novo had faced supply bottlenecks for
Wegovy. Last month, its chief rival Eli
Lilly met the same fate as it failed to meet the
demand for its newly approved diabetes injection
Mounjaro (tirzepatide). FDA added Mounjaro to its list of
drugs facing shortages, along with a second diabetes med, Trulicity (dulaglutide). Lilly’s stock was down 2 percent in December.Access the Pipeline Prospector Dashboard for December 2022 Newsmakers (Free Excel) FDA’s Aduhelm nod gets flayed post probe; Roche suspends Alzheimer’s drug trialIt wasn’t a good month for Biogen, whose
stock dropped by 9 percent in December. Three patient deaths got linked with Eisai and Biogen’s second Alzheimer’s drug — Leqembi (lecanemab). And, towards the end
of the month, there was news that an 18-month-long
investigation
conducted by two House of Representatives’ committees found FDA’s approval process of Biogen’s controversial Alzheimer’s disease drug — Aduhelm (aducanumab) — to be “rife with irregularities”.There was more bad news on drugs for Alzheimer’s. Roche (down 2
percent) decided to suspend
most trials of its Alzheimer’s drug – gantenerumab – after it failed to slow advancement of the disease in late-stage studies. In another setback to the Swiss drugmaker, a combination of Tecentriq (atezolizumab) and Exelixis-Ipsen’s Cabometyx
(cabozantinib) failed to
meet the primary endpoint in a
phase 3 lung cancer trial. Ipsen’s stock fell 6 percent.Access the Pipeline Prospector Dashboard for December 2022 Newsmakers (Free Excel) Madrigal zips past rivals in NASH race; Prometheus’ colitis drug posts trial winAmong mid-cap companies, Pennsylvania-based Madrigal Pharmaceuticals’ shares soared by over 300
percent in December after its
experimental drug to treat nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) – resmetirom – met the main goal in a late-stage study. The trial’s success has propelled Madrigal to the forefront of a race to develop the first treatment for NASH, a form of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Madrigal plans to
move FDA for an accelerated approval of resmetirom
this year.Another mid-cap company Prometheus
Biosciences saw its stock
soar 171 percent after its lead drug candidate – PRA023 – met the endpoints in a phase 2 study in patients with moderate-to-severely active ulcerative colitis.A small cap company named Icosavax saw its stock soar 125 percent after it announced
a positive outcome for its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine from a phase 1/1b study. Icosavax is a US-based, clinical stage vaccine company. A single dose of the shot, IVX-121, demonstrated a response against RSV that lasted six months.Access the Pipeline Prospector Dashboard for December 2022 Newsmakers (Free Excel) Horizon’s stock rises after Amgen acquires it for US$ 27.8 billionThe biggest
biopharma deal of 2022 was Amgen’s
acquisition of Horizon
Therapeutics for US$ 27.8 billion. News of Amgen and Sanofi’s buyout
interest in Horizon had led to a 61 percent rise in the rare disease drugmaker’s stock in November. Last month, Horizon’s shares increased by 10 percent after Amgen finally announced the acquisition.Another significant deal
inked in December was Japanese drugmaker Takeda’s (up 7
percent) acquisition of Nimbus Therapeutics’ experimental psoriasis drug for up to US$ 6
billion. This is Takeda’s biggest buyout since it purchased Shire for US$ 62 billion in 2019. The deal is also among the pharma industry’s largest single-asset purchases since Amgen bought Otezla from Celgene in 2019
for US$ 13.4
billion.Access the Pipeline Prospector Dashboard for December 2022 Newsmakers (Free Excel) Moderna’s mRNA vaccine-Keytruda combo succeeds in mid-stage skin-cancer trialA combination of Moderna’s
experimental messenger RNA cancer
vaccine and Merck’s
blockbuster immunotherapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab) was successful in a mid-stage skin cancer trial. Moderna’s stock grew 19 percent following the news, but it nosedived soon after. Merck is also carrying
out clinical trials of Keytruda that can be injected under the skin. The drugmaker is testing at least two versions of the drug in the hope that a new formulation will allow it to retain the drug’s patent edge and protect it from competition.Novartis’ stock
reported a 2 percent growth in December. Its drug Pluvicto showed survival
benefits in a late-stage prostate cancer trial. Its
rare blood disease drug iptacopan was also
successful in treating paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria in a late-stage
trial.Access the Pipeline Prospector Dashboard for December 2022 Newsmakers (Free Excel) Our viewSoothsayers do not have positive things to say
about 2023. The Ukraine-Russia war has played havoc with food and energy costs,
causing the highest rates of inflation. And a global recession seems inevitable
in 2023.Even as the world grapples with these challenges, innovation is likely to save the day for the biotech sector. In 2023, Eisai and Biogen’s Leqembi became the first drug to receive an accelerated approval from the FDA. Several other pathbreaking drugs will come up for approval this year, including vaccines and therapies for RSV, new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, a gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy and several treatments for obesity. The heady mix of recession and innovation may also trigger more M&A activity. And we hope these innovations result in a better year for the sector.Access the Pipeline Prospector Dashboard for December 2022 Newsmakers (Free Excel)
Impressions: 1598