Elivaldogene Autotemcel (Bluebird Bio)

Welcome back to Endpoints Weekly, your review of the week’s top biopharma headlines. Want this in your inbox every Saturday morning? Current Endpoints readers can visit their reader profile to add Endpoints Weekly. New to Endpoints? Sign up here . We have a group of reporters — myself included — in San Diego this weekend to cover all the latest from this year’s ASH conference. Can’t make it? Sign up for our virtual ASH event on Tuesday recapping some of the biggest headlines. — Max Gelman Lilly beats Novo in first head-to-head weight loss study Eli Lilly said its weight loss drug Zepbound bested Novo Nordisk’s rival Wegovy in a Phase 3 head-to-head trial, providing the clearest evidence yet that it may have an edge over its competitor. Lilly launched the randomized, controlled trial, SURMOUNT-5, more than a year and a half ago in April 2023. On Wednesday, the company said patients given Zepbound lost 20.2% of their body weight on average by week 72, compared to 13.7% for Wegovy. Apogee plots Dupixent head-to-head In other head-to-head news, I&I drugmaker Apogee plans to pit its lead drug APG777 against Sanofi and Regeneron’s blockbuster Dupixent in a trial starting next year. APG777 will be paired in a co-formulation with Apogee’s OX40L-targeting mAb called APG990 for patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis. The company thinks APG777, an IL-13 targeting monoclonal antibody, can eventually generate more than $10 billion in sales. “Everyone says, ‘Oh, we’re going to be better. It should be better,’” CEO Michael Henderson said. “No one ever actually runs that head-to-head study.” Biosecure compromise in the works? Lawmakers are considering a compromise to the Biosecure Act that would add an executive branch review to the process, giving the White House or federal agencies final say on the enactment of restrictions. A version of the bill previously passed by the House of Representatives would directly force biopharmas to eventually cut ties with Chinese companies named in the legislation. However, the situation appears to be highly fluid, proposals may change further and any potential deal could fall apart in Congress’ rush to finish its work before the session ends. Novartis pays $1B upfront for Huntington’s drug In its latest deal, Novartis has agreed to pay $1 billion upfront for PTC Therapeutics’ Phase 2 Huntington’s drug and “related molecules.” The deal could be worth another $1.9 billion in biobucks, the companies announced on Monday. Novartis was previously working on its own Huntington’s disease medicine, but ended the Phase 2 program last year due to neurotoxicity signals. Healthcare execs weigh security risks after United Healthcare shooting The shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson has prompted other healthcare companies to rethink the measures they take to keep their top brass safe. CEOs often have protective details, and there have been prior cases of top executives who have faced harassment and threats. But this week’s shooting was an outlier, and actual violence against top executives is almost unheard of. It’s also put a spotlight on security measures for next month’s JP Morgan Healthcare Conference — the biggest pharma event of the year. SPOTLIGHT As 23andMe struggles, another genetic testing company bets on drug discovery Eliav Barr defends Merck’s LaNova deal, but cautions VEGF bispecifics have yet to deliver mature data Lilly continues to expand its empire of GLP-1 factories with new $3B buildout MORE IN DEALS MORE IN R&D MORE IN MANUFACTURING MORE IN FINANCING MORE IN PHARMA MORE IN FDA+ MORE IN HEALTH TECH