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Previously, Takeda worked across 10 to 12 modalities. Now, the company has zeroed in on four modalities: small molecules, biologics, antibody-drug conjugates and allogeneic cell therapies. \n Amid a rapidly evolving macroenvironment, Takeda is changing up its R&D priorities and investment strategy.“There\'s an evolution of our economic model that starts with [the] IRA (Inflation Reduction Act), and will get worse and worse and worse, but I think there\'s so many opportunities for us to counter that with new ways of working,” Takeda\'s R&D head Andy Plump, M.D., Ph.D., told Fierce Biotech at the annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco last week. The conference ended right as the U.S. government selected its second round of drugs up for Medicare price negotiations under the Inflation Reduction Act.After a wide-ranging restructure last year, Takeda now touts its “most robust late-stage pipeline” in the pharma’s history, consisting of six late-stage programs across 14 studies, according to Plump. Three of the candidates—a narcolepsy type 1 candidate, an oral TYK2 inhibitor for psoriasis and an injection for chronic blood cancer polycythemia vera—have phase 3 readouts slated for later this year.Developing a more mature pipeline meant that Takeda had to boost its standards, Plump said. Raising the bar resulted in several programs being left behind, including a midstage CD19 CAR-NK cell therapy, a small molecule known as subasumstat and a peptide agonist being studied as a nausea and vomiting candidate, all of which were discarded last May.Previously, Takeda worked across 10 to 12 modalities, according to Plump. Now, the company has zeroed in on four modalities: small molecules, biologics, antibody-drug conjugates and allogeneic cell therapies. Takeda chose the quartet based on past product wins and future need for patients, plus going into areas that the drugmaker can build out its internal capabilities for, Plump said.“That mindset shift is a really big one for our employees because you had people that were just used to getting essentially whatever they wanted or they needed to push every program in as many potential indications as fast as possible,” Plump said. “Now, we\'ll be more thoughtful and selective in where we do that.”  The new perspective also impacts how the pharma views partnerships. Previously, Takeda inked pacts to expand its pipeline and experiment with different modalities. Now, the company is tightening the reins and will be “more thoughtful” in terms of what it brings in, according to Plump.The drugmaker had previously invested “very heavily” in early-stage, higher-risk programs—of which many would fail, Plump explained. “That\'s not something that we can continue to do—and it\'s not something that we have to do anymore—because we have this late-stage pipeline,” he said.The pharma has a new investment thesis for earlier programs, Plump said, explaining that early programs will be stopped if they don’t rapidly reach an inflection point.The pharma is also putting a heavy focus on option-based deals, Plump said, echoing Takeda CEO Christophe Weber’s sentiments that were shared during the organization’s presentation at JPM.“The benefit of an option deal is that we don\'t have to spend our new dollars because our partners will run the programs,” Plump explained, underscoring the economic efficiency of the deal type. “Then you have the option, if things work, to buy the program and bring it in at a cost that\'s a fraction of what it normally would be.”Plump pointed to the deal Takeda penned with Keros Therapeutics in December, putting down $200 million upfront and offering up to $1.1 billion in biobucks for ex-China rights to Keros’ activin inhibitor elritercept. The candidate is being studied as a treatment for anemia tied to blood cancers, including myelodysplastic syndromes and myelofibrosis. The program, which is set to enter phase 3 testing, could challenge Bristol Myers Squibb’s Reblozyl in blood cancer indications if approved. While five of the six company’s late-stage programs are in rare diseases, Plump also insists that Takeda won’t be siloed as a specialty disease pharma.“We\'ve mistakenly been considered just a rare disease company. It\'s not true,” Takeda’s R&D president said. “We are a company that will go after transformative medicines for patients in both rare and more prevalent disease populations.”But Plump understands the misconception. Historically, the pharma’s late-stage pipeline has focused on candidates for ultrarare conditions, such as Adzynma, a recombinant protein product that snagged FDA approval in 2023 for a very rare congenital blood clotting disorder. Known as thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, the disease is estimated to affect fewer than 1,000 Americans.However, Plump says these ultrarare programs aren’t indicative of Takeda’s overarching investment strategy, arguing that the diseases the organization goes after have broad potential.      “These are rare diseases with very substantive patient populations, very high unmet medical needs and revenue projections that are in the billions well,” Plump said.  Today, Takeda has three core indications of focus: oncology, neuroscience and what the company calls GI-squared, which encompasses gastrointestinal and inflammation conditions. 

Purdue Pharma has drawn heavy criticism in the past and has been the subject of numerous lawsuits as many accuse the company of being responsible in large part for the US’ current opioid epidemic. Credit: Shutterstock / JHVEPhoto. Purdue Pharma ’s opioid overdose reversal injection, Zurnai, was granted clearance by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in individuals aged 12 years and older to combat overdose due to synthetic opioids. Coming in the form of an auto-injector pen that provides 1.5mg of nalmefene hydrochloride per actuation, it is the longest-acting opioid antagonist currently approved for opioid overdose reversal. The company hopes the system is simple enough to be used by anyone. The approval comes as data published by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for over 12 months until February 2024 indicates approximately 90% of opioid overdose deaths were from synthetic opioids, mostly fentanyl. At the same time, research published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that opioid overdose deaths in the US have doubled among teenagers with 22 high school-age adolescents dying each week from overdoses driven by fentanyl-laced prescription pills. Purdue president and CEO Craig Landau said: “Zurnai can be an important new tool to save lives in critical moments. We are committed to delivering solutions to help address the opioid overdose crisis and are working to provide Zurnai at no profit to the company.” Purdue Pharma has drawn heavy criticism in the past and has been the subject of numerous lawsuits. Many parties have accused the company of being responsible in large part for the US’ current opioid epidemic when it engaged in deceptive marketing practices to sell Oxycontin (oxycodone hydrochloride), an opioid painkiller. See Also: Takeda’s ADZYNMA gains EU approval for cTTP treatment Amneal’s CREXONT gains FDA approval for Parkinson’s treatment Purdue says that less than 5% of those administered nalmefene hydrochloride through its Zurnai injector pen saw some adverse effects such as nausea, headache, dizziness and vomiting, among others. The company insists that it is producing the device US-wide at no profit to itself while continuing the production of its nalmefene hydrochloride injection in single-dose vials. Elsewhere, researchers at Canada’s University of Waterloo have developed a new blood testing technique that can identify the presence of potent opioids including the highly potent fentanyl in less than three minutes. At the same time, the FDA has issued a complete response letter to Orexo regarding a new drug application for its high-dose naloxone rescue medication, OX124.