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Morning! If you’re still wondering “What the heck happened with Moderna?” the latest episode of the video series STATus Report spells it out quite nicely. Also, a KFF poll shows 1 in 8 Americans have used a GLP-1 by now, Kura wins FDA approval for its AML drug, and more.
The need-to-know this morning
- Belgian drugmaker Lundbeck made an unsolicited, $23-per-share offer for Avadel Pharmaceuticals. The new bid tops the $20-per-share acquisition offer made by Alkermes last month. Alkermes said it is considering its options for Avadel in light of the higher Lundbeck offer.
- Anavex Life Sciences said advisers to the European Medicines Agency issued a “negative trend vote” on blarcamesine, the company’s treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. A formal recommendation against the drug’s approval was expected in December, after which Anavex will request a re-examination.
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A closely watched next-generation blood thinner being developed by Bristol Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson failed in one of three late-stage trials.
Pharma can’t stop buying biotechs
The deals keeps coming. Merck this morning said it will acquire Cidara Therapeutics, the maker of an experimental flu therapy, for $9.2 billion, as the pharma giants widens its pipeline to counter the impending revenue hit as its mega-blockbuster Keytruda loses patent protection.
Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…
STAT Pharma: The science and business of new drug development
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