STAT+: Pharmalittle: We’re reading about Amylyx pulling its ALS drug, GLP-1 drugs for Parkinson’s, and more
Top of the morning to you, and a fine one it is. After two days of downpours and strong winds, the Pharmalot campus is now enveloped by sunny skies and pleasant breezes, which is very much a welcome change. To celebrate, we are quaffing cups of stimulation. Our choice today is toasted coconut. As always, you are invited to join us. Meanwhile, we are proud to present our latest list of interesting items for you to peruse. And there is much to review. This is a busy world, is it not? So time to get cracking. We hope your day is meaningful and productive. And please do think of us when you hear something saucy. We have adjusted our settings to accept telegrams and postcards. …
The booming class of GLP-1 drugs that includes Ozempic and Wegovy is not only effective for diabetes and obesity, but is also showing early potential to help with conditions involving the brain, such as mental health disorders, Alzheimer’s, and even, as new study results suggest — Parkinson’s disease, STAT writes. In a Phase 2 trial, patients with early Parkinson’s disease taking an older GLP-1 diabetes drug called lixisenatide experienced no worsening of motor symptoms over a year, in contrast to patients on placebo who did, according to the study, which was published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
A drugmaker in China has developed a biosimilar version of Novo Nordisk’s popular diabetes drug Ozempic and applied for approval to sell it there, in a potential challenge to Novo expansion plans in the country, Reuters writes. Hangzhou Jiuyuan Gene Engineering said in a post on its official social media account that it was seeking approval to sell the drug, which it calls Jiyoutai, to control blood sugar in patients with type 2 diabetes. Novo’s patents in China on Ozempic and the related drug Wegovy are set to expire in 2026, according to its annual report. Novo’s Ozempic sales in China more than doubled last year to $694 million, accounting for 5% of global Ozempic sales.
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