Latest Headlines from Cafepharma

Novo may have muscle advantage over Lilly in weight-loss race: preprint

BioSpace — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 11:40:56 -0400

More patients on Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide lost over 5% of their lean mass versus those on Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide, according to a study that has yet to be peer reviewed.

Drugmakers raise prices despite Trump deals, Senate report finds

Beckers Hospital Review — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 11:39:07 -0400

Several drugmakers have raised prices on hundreds of medications despite agreements with the Trump administration aimed at lowering costs, according to an April 16 NBC News report on an analysis by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

The findings build on prior scrutiny of the administration’s TrumpRx platform. Analyses in February and March found the site’s pricing often did not match lower costs available through insurance, generics or international markets, with some drugs priced higher than in countries such as Germany.

Lilly’s Foundayo reaches 1,390 patients in first week, trailing Novo’s oral Wegovy launch

BioSpace — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 11:32:13 -0400

While Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy pill reached more than 3,000 patients in its first week on the market, analysts at RBC Capital Markets said a direct comparison of the two figures could be misleading given the shorter data collection time for Foundayo.

Teva scores in appeal as court revives $177M verdict against Lilly in migraine patent spat

Fierce Pharma — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 11:29:55 -0400

Following a quiet stretch, the legal back-and-forth over migraine meds from Teva and Eli Lilly has resurfaced, with Teva gaining favor on appeal after a reversal of its prior patent win in 2023.

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Thursday issued a decision reinstating an original victory for Teva in the case, which the company filed in 2018 alleging patent infringement on its migraine drug Ajovy by Lilly’s rival product Emgality. The judgment restores the $176.5 verdict that Teva first won in a Boston court in 2022. T

Daiichi Sankyo and Interna partner for MNM-targeted delivery solutions

Pharmaceutical Technology — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 11:26:01 -0400

Daiichi Sankyo has signed a research partnership with Interna Therapeutics to develop targeted delivery solutions based on molecular nano motor (MNM) technology.

Does Johnson & Johnson Even Need a Surgical Robot?

Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 11:24:25 -0400

J&J's Ottava robot integrates arms into the operating table for seamless surgical workflows.
Ottava aims to reduce surgical friction and adapt to open, laparoscopic, and robotic procedures.
FDA submission signals progress toward bringing the Ottava surgical robot to the U.S. market.

Trump nominates new CDC director, appoints various leaders to embattled agency

BioSpace — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 11:19:02 -0400

Erica Schwartz, a former deputy surgeon general and member of the U.S. military, will take over from what has amounted to a rapid succession of CDC leaders over the past year.

Acerand reports first-in-human trial results for ACE-106 therapy

Clinical Trials Arena — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 11:15:28 -0400

Acerand Therapeutics has reported updated findings from its first-in-human Phase I/II study ACE-106-001 of ACE-106 (ACE-86225106), targeting patients with advanced solid tumours.

As of 5 February 2026, 57 patients with pretreatment histories, having undergone a median of three prior therapy lines, have been administered ACE-106.

Philips secures FDA clearance for AI-enabled CT system

Medtech Dive — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 11:11:12 -0400

Philips has received Food and Drug Administration clearance for an artificial intelligence-enabled CT system.
The 510(k) clearance, which Philips disclosed Thursday, covers a Verida device that the company claims reduces image noise by 80% and reconstructs scans twice as fast as its predecessor.

OpenAI introduces GPT-Rosalind, its drug discovery AI

Pharmaphorum — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 11:06:15 -0400

In this week's second major AI model launch for life sciences research, OpenAI has introduced GPT-Rosalind, designed to accelerate drug discovery and support biology-related research work.

Obesity biotech Kailera's record-breaking IPO

Pharmaphorum — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 11:05:06 -0400

When Kailera revealed its plans for an IPO last month, there was a feeling that it could be huge – and that expectation has now been fulfilled.

Waltham, Massachusetts-based Kailera – which is due to start trading on the Nasdaq today under the KLRA symbol – has raked in a massive $625 million from the sale of 39 million shares at the top end of its $14 to $16 price range, which is believed to be a record for a biotech IPO on the exchange.

'Absent or trivial' effects: Anti-amyloid Alzheimer's drugs called into question once again

Fierce Pharma — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 11:49:36 -0400

Top drugmakers have spent more than a decade investigating and advancing anti-amyloid Alzheimer's medicines in clinical studies, generating enough evidence to support FDA approvals for three of them so far. But a new analysis throws more cold water on the treatment approach after years of doubts—and some successes.

Gilead widens global Yeztugo access agreement, but MSF says supply is 'not nearly enough'

Fierce Pharma — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 11:46:37 -0400

Despite a new supply commitment from Gilead Sciences, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is poking holes in the company’s plan to support global access to its twice-yearly injectable HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) medicine Yeztugo.

Eying 3 approvals in 2 years, Ocugen’s CEO wants to bring gene therapy to the masses

Fierce Biotech — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 11:40:21 -0400

To Ocugen CEO Shankar Musunuri, Ph.D., most gene therapy biotechs today lack vision. Rather than focusing on rare diseases with small patient populations, as Musunuri sees it, these companies should widen their aperture to conditions that affect much larger numbers of people.

Lilly’s Foundayo posts ‘outstanding’ diabetes data, possibly easing FDA safety concerns

BioSpace — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 11:36:42 -0400

Right after the FDA flagged safety concerns for Eli Lilly’s newly approved obesity pill, the pharma posted diabetes data demonstrating a clean safety profile and revealed plans to seek approval in the indication.

Johnson & Johnson hands back failed eye disease gene therapy to MeiraGTx

Fierce Biotech — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 11:34:48 -0400

After its bet on a rare eye disease gene therapy ended in a phase 3 fail last year, Johnson & Johnson is now returning the asset to sender as MeiraGTx buys back full rights to botaretigene sparoparvovec (bota-vec) for just $25 million upfront.

Roche to start new Elevidys study following setback in Europe

BioPharma Dive — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 11:33:14 -0400

Roche is taking another chance on an embattled gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, announcing on Thursday a new trial that could support a reworked approval submission in Europe.

Medtronic confirms paclitaxel balloon’s efficacy in post-approval trial

Medtech Dive — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 11:31:09 -0400

A post-approval trial of Medtronic’s drug-coated balloon in end-stage kidney disease patients has replicated the results of a pivotal study.
The data, which Medtronic reported Wednesday, showed 70.2% of lesions stayed open without reintervention or causing thrombosis 12 months after treatment. Medtronic reported a 65.3% rate in its pivotal randomized trial of the IN.PACT AV DCB device.

Storm clinches $56m in Series C for Phase II on lead sarcoma drug

Clinical Trials Arena — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 11:29:53 -0400

British cancer biotech Storm Therapeutics has secured $56m in a Series C financing round to push its sarcoma therapy, STC-15, further down the development pipeline.

Boehringer Ingelheim and Zai Lab team up for dual DLL3 therapy study

Pharmaceutical Technology — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 11:27:55 -0400

Boehringer Ingelheim and Zai Lab have entered a clinical collaboration to investigate a dual delta-like ligand 3 (DLL3)-targeting approach for patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC) and other neuroendocrine carcinomas (NECs).

Abbott Labs shares fall as earnings beat offset by Exact Sciences acquisition drag

Proactive Investors — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 11:24:33 -0400

Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) fell 3.2% on Thursday morning after the healthcare conglomerate marginally beat Wall Street estimates for quarterly profit and revenue, but flagged a hit to its 2026 earnings outlook from its recently completed cancer diagnostics acquisition.

How J&J plans to hit $100B in revenue this year

Pharma Voice — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 11:20:12 -0400

Johnson & Johnson’s executive team is confident. Not only could the company overcome a massive sales loss from competition-laden Stelara, it could also reach an annual revenue of $100 billion for the first time in 2026.

FDA accelerated approval path needs improvement, says ICER News

Pharmaphorum — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 11:19:11 -0400

The FDA's accelerated approval pathway has delivered some important new medicines to patients more quickly, but it is plagued by inconsistencies and a lack of transparency.

Was Big Pharma’s ‘unusually aggressive’ M&A spree to blame for March IPO drought?

Fierce Biotech — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 11:50:21 -0400

It was as recently as February that biotech CEOs were talking enthusiastically to Fierce about a positive “shift in the appetite” for IPOs, while industry insiders predicted a wave of incoming public listings for the likes of late-stage oncology companies.

Astellas manufacturing chief views reliable supply, bridging research as his production 'north star'

Fierce Pharma — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 11:49:04 -0400

For Astellas’ chief manufacturing officer Rao Mantri, Ph.D.—who entered the position a little over a year ago—production is not just about reliable supply of a pharmaceutical product. Manufacturing serves as a crucial bridge that helps link promising research to patients in the real world, too.

Biogen’s blueprint for collaboration in China’s thriving pharma landscape

BioXconomy — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 11:47:47 -0400

China has rapidly transformed into a powerhouse of pharmaceutical innovation. It has moved beyond its historical role as a fast follower to becoming a key player on the global stage. Ahead of China Bio Partnering Forum in Shanghai, China, Fraser Hall, Biogen’s president and head of intercontinental region, highlighted the scale and pace of the region’s transformation.

GLP-1 medicine improves liver health independent of weight loss

Sinai Health — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 11:40:59 -0400

Researchers at Sinai Health have found that semaglutide, the active ingredient in popular weight loss drugs that mimics the gut hormone GLP-1, acts directly on a subset of liver cells to improve organ function, and does so independently of weight loss. The finding challenges long-held assumptions about how GLP-1 medicines work in the liver and could reshape how physicians treat metabolic liver disease, a condition projected to affect nearly 2 billion worldwide by 2050.

FDA official confirms plausible mechanism principles not exclusive to bespoke gene therapies

Fierce Biotech — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 11:38:42 -0400

The FDA’s recently unveiled plausible mechanism framework may have been forged with individualized therapies in mind, but its principles are not confined to the bespoke.

Teresa Buracchio, M.D., head of the FDA’s Office of Neuroscience, told Fierce that while the framework was designed to shepherd individualized therapies toward approval, its concepts are applicable to other therapies as well. Buracchio was a co-lead for writing the FDA’s draft guidance on the new regulatory framework.

Boston Scientific invests $88.4M to expand R&D in Ireland

Mass Device — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 11:36:12 -0400

Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) today announced a €75 million (approximately $88.4 million) investment at its Galway, Ireland, site.
The investment aims to expand the site’s R&D capabilities to further strengthen its role as a global center for cardiovascular innovation. The site currently produces drug-coated devices, vascular balloons and esophageal stents.

House eyes bill to allow drug expenditures to count toward insurance deductibles

Beckers Hospital Review — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 11:34:19 -0400

Rep. Greg Murphy, MD, R-N.C., has introduced a bill that would require out-of-pocket expenditures for drugs to count toward a patient’s maximum out-of-pocket and deductible.

Patients are increasingly getting prescription medications through direct-to-patient platforms that offer lower out-of-pocket costs, especially for high-cost, brand-name drugs, according to an April 14 news release. However, many health plans do not count this spending toward the patients’ deductible unless the drug is purchased on a plan-designated channel. This framework requires patients to “pay twice,” and can result in delayed care and access.