Massachusetts-based Morphic Holding Inc. is a nine-year old, publicly traded company that is developing a class of drugs known as oral integrin therapies to treat autoimmune diseases, pulmonary hypertensive diseases, fibrotic diseases and cancer.
Eli Lilly and Co., Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever, the IUPUI split and other big stories have kept the newsroom busy in 2024.
Eli Lilly’s drug—Kisunla, the brand name for donanemab—is one of the few treatments developed for Alzheimer’s that modifies the underlying disease and will join just one other drug, Leqembi, on the commercial market.
The race to score blockbuster weight-loss drugs like Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro and Zepbound is pushing one of the world’s largest population of people with obesity to creative lengths.
The Indianapolis-based drugmaker said Thursday it was taking legal action against at least six additional medical spas and weight loss centers that it claimed are selling counterfeit and compounded versions of tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Lilly’s diabetes treatment Mounjaro and weight-loss treatment Zepbound.
At issue is whether a drug developed by Point Biopharma, based in Indianapolis, infringed on a patent issued in 2020 and assigned to Purdue Research Foundation.
If the FDA agrees with the panel’s recommendation, the drug, donanemab, would only be the second Alzheimer’s drug cleared in the U.S. that’s been shown to convincingly slow cognitive decline and memory problems due to Alzheimer’s.
Lilly officials have said they are “incredibly confident” in the drug’s potential and the fact that it “offers very meaningful benefits to people with early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease.”
Anat Ashkenazi was Lilly’s third-highest paid executive last year. She has worked at the company for 23 years, including as chief financial officer since 2021.
If the guidance is confirmed, Mounjaro will challenge the dominance of Novo’s Wegovy in the United Kingdom.
Lilly plans to outfit its Lebanon plants—now under construction—with the latest in robotic, digital manufacturing equipment that will do much of the work that a generation ago was done by humans.
Eli Lilly and Co. plans to build the center on an existing parking lot at its downtown campus, with the goal of hosting more of its global meetings in Indianapolis.
Lilly said the new investment will allow it to hire 200 more workers at the complex, including engineers, scientists, and lab technicians, for a total of 900 full-time workers when it is fully operational.
The pharmaceutical weight-loss market is predicted to reach at least $100 billion by 2030, according to Goldman Sachs.
In a series of lawsuits Lilly filed in September and October in federal court, the drugmaker had accused Totality Medispa of trademark infringement, false advertising, unfair competition and unfair trade practices.
Lilly’s newest obesity and diabetes medicines, widely known as GLP-1 drugs, are drawing rave reviews from doctors, researchers and patients for their ability to safely and effectively control blood sugar and take off weight.
Eli Lilly and Novo are leading now, but there are multiple drug candidates waiting in the wings that could disrupt that duopoly in the future.
Lilly and the Fever said they would also use the partnership “to close gaps on health outcomes in Indianapolis and across the state” by raising awareness of health issues.
Doctors and pharmacies have reported huge demand for Mounjaro and Zepbound in recent months, causing widespread shortages of the popular drugs.
Meanwhile, demand for Lilly’s Zephound and Mounjaro is leading to a shortage of the drugs that is expected to last until at least mid-year, the FDA said in an update Wednesday.
