Signposts in the AstraZeneca facility in Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA, on Monday, August 26, 2024.
Graeme Sloan | Bloomberg | Getty pictures
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The race for more convenient versions of medication that heats the lower cholesterol level afterwards Astrazeneca Encouraged new data to an experimental pill.
Astrazeneca and Merchant are the most important drug manufacturers that test oral versions of so-called PCSK9 inhibitors that are the mirrors of lipoprotein cholesterol with low density or so well known, which is called “bad” cholesterol. These drugs like Amgens Repatha are typically injections.
The high LDL cholesterol level is the top driver for cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes. Nevertheless, more than 70% of the patients who take statins do not achieve the target level for cholesterol levels, according to Mina Makar, who leads the global cardiovascular, renal and metabolic biopharmaceutical business from Astrazenca.
He said that this leads to 4 to 5 million deaths worldwide due to the increased cholesterol level. While PCSK9 injections contributed to reaching more patients, their use was still “very limited,” said Makar. This is due to several factors, such as B. Challenges in connection with costs and access and hesitation in some cardiologists and general practitioners.
“That's why we are very happy about our oral PCSK9,” said Makar. “I think it has the chance to democratize access to what these patients really need, which the majority of them bring” on their target cholesterol.
In a note last week, Goldman Sachs analysts said that oral treatments could increase the growth of the PCSK9 class to around $ 12 billion by 2034 of around 4 billion US dollars. The analysts assume that the oral PCSK9 from AstraZeneca is “well placed” in the class, and forecast the peak turnover of the drug by 2037 by 2037.
Now let us dive into the new test data with medium level. It was presented at the annual scientific meeting of the American College of Cardiology in Chicago.
After 12 weeks, the experimental pill lowered the LDL cholesterol level by almost 51%if, according to AstraZeneca, it was taken on a standard statin therapy once a day. The pill helped 84% of the patients to meet the recommended cholesterol level compared to only 13% of those who have taken statins alone.
The patients in the study tolerated the pill well, and disadvantageous side effects were comparable between those who took drugs and those who received a placebo.
These results show promising against the treatment of Merck, although it is difficult to compare data without clinical studies. Merck's oral PCSK9 is also much further in development and expected this year.
Early data also indicate that Merck's medication could be more effective than the treatment of AstraZeneca, according to Goldman Sachs. However, they still see “significant opportunities” for the pill from AstraZeneca in view of the size of the market for PCSK9S and the “differentiation potential for convenience”.
Merck's drug is a macrocyclic peptide in which the patients have to fast before taking patients in order to enable proper absorption. The “could be stressful and problems with compliance with compliance in an asymptomatic disease area in which the therapy is not too reinforced,” wrote the Goldman Sachs analysts.
But AstraZeneca's pill is a small medication with a small molecule, so it has no food restrictions or fasting requirements.
Makar said another advantage of a small molecule medication is that it is easy to combine with other therapies in the company's pipeline. For example, AstraZeneca is considering combining ezetimibe with its Statin, its GLP 1 drug against weight loss or treatment. This is cholesterol for patients who cannot tolerate statins, he said.
Similarly, Merck has discussed the potential to combine its oral PCSK9 with other treatments and to call it a “pipeline in a product”.
We will continue to pursue the ongoing race to develop oral PCSK9s. So keep an eye on our reporting!
Feel free to send Annikakim.constantino@nbcuni.com tips, suggestions, ideas and data to Annika.
According to the FTC, the 23Andme buyer is “expressly agree” in the health care tech: FTC to comply with data protection guidelines
The Federal Trade Commission on Monday pushed The competitive genetic tests company 23Andme does not sell data from consumers, unless the buyer agrees to comply with strict data protection and data security standards.
23Andme, which once had a value of $ 6 billion, applied for insolvency protection from Chapter 11 before the Federal Court of Missouri last month. This means that the assets – including its huge genetic database – are for sale.
“Each buyer should expressly agree to the provisions of the data protection guidelines and the applicable law of 23Andme, including all the changes that he will then be carried out on these guidelines,” wrote the chairman of FTC, Andrew Ferguson, in a letter.
The company pushed into the mainstream at home because of its DNA test kits, which gave the customer an insight into their family history and genetic profiles. The five-time company CNBC Disruptor 50 went to the stock exchange with a merger with a special company acquisition company in 2021, but had difficulty getting recurring income and increasing research and therapeutic agents in the following years.
DNA data is particularly sensitive because the sequence of every person is unique, which means that according to the National Human Genome Research Institute, it can never be fully anonymized. If genetic data fall into the hands of bad actors, it can be used to facilitate identity theft, insurance fraud or other crimes.
23Andme has repeatedly announced to change the way in which it manages or protects consumer data during the entire sales process. Similarly, the company said in a publication last week that all potential buyers had to agree to comply with their data protection directive and the applicable law.
“In order to present a qualified offer, potential buyers have to agree, among other things, to comply with the data protection directive of 23Andme and all applicable laws in relation to the treatment of customer data,” said 23andme in the press release.
At this point it is not clear who will acquire 23andmes assets. Anne Wojcicki, who has resigned as CEO last month, said in a contribution to X that she would pursue the company as an independent bidder. Wojcicki was a co -founder of 23Andme in 2006 and she submitted several unsuccessful suggestions to take the company privately last year.
All offers from Wojcicki were rejected by the 23andmes special committee, which was convened in March 2024 to evaluate the way for the company.
If you would like to find out how to delete your data from 23Andme, you can read more here.
Feel free to send tips, suggestions, story ideas and data to Ashley at Ashley.capoot@nbcuni.com.
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