**Voting for the Sweet Sixteen has closed. See the results and vote in the Final Four here.**
Never underestimate the power of positivity, which triumphed in the latest round of voting in FiercePharma’s drug-naming shootout. Word associations with "true," "yes" and "bright" drove victories in several of the toughest matches.
Trulance bested Ocrevus 284-173, for instance, and although some of that issue may have been a tough sell on Ocrevus’ “creepy roman emperor” connotations, Trulance commenters noted the genuine-sounding name with comments such as, “When in doubt, go with the one that is Tru.”
Yescarta, Luxurna and Brineura also pushed through to the next round on the power of light and bright.
Brineura continued its domination on the back of its single-minded voters. With BioMarin's people out again in full force, it won with a whopping 679-139, and a fair share of "BioMarin all the way"-type comments, too.
Other voters are picking up on the rare disease drugmaker's get-out-the-vote campaign, though, and some voters docked Brineura specifically because of it. As one explained, it picked Spinraza over Brineura "just because BioMarin's kumbaya thing is making me gag a little."
While we're fielding plenty of anti-Z comments—the letter, along with X, is polarizing—half of the final eight teams include the letter. The tourney did see one one Z name depart, with Zepatier beating Zinplava 243-214. The appeal of the “swashbuckling” and “fourth Musketeer” Zepatier was enough to send home Zinplava’s “pasta dish” or “good wine varietal from Transylvania."
Final Four voting begins now, and it'll continue through Tuesday night at 10 p.m. eastern. Will BioMarin continue its dominance? Can Spark Therapeutics spur Luxurna to victory? Tune in Wednesday to see the winners.
Elite Eight (Vote here)
Infectious diseases/Primary care
(1) Zepatier vs. (2) Ozempic
Zepatier
Maker: Merck
Indication: hepatitis C
Sounds like: the guy who drives the Zeppelin
Ozempic
Maker: Novo Nordisk
Indication: Type 2 diabetes
Sounds like: an athletic competition in the Emerald City
Rare diseases/Miscellaneous
(4) Luxturna vs. (10) Brineura
Luxturna
Maker: Spark Therapeutics
Indication: inherited retinal disease
Sounds like: a chi-chi resort for the rich and famous
Brineura
Maker: BioMarin
Indication: CLN2 disease
Sounds like: a saltwater shrimp species
Oncology
(5) Imfinzi vs. (2) Yescarta
Imfinzi
Maker: AstraZeneca
Indication: unresectable Stage III non-small cell lung cancer and bladder cancer
Sounds like: when something will never, ever, ever happen again
Yescarta
Maker: Gilead
Indication: non-Hodgkin lymphoma
Sounds like: a next-gen encyclopedia
CNS/Anti-inflammatory
(1) Trulance vs. (7) Ingrezza
Trulance
Maker: Synergy Pharmaceuticals
Indication: chronic idiopathic constipation and IBS-C
Sounds like: a weapon used by King Arthur’s knights
Ingrezza
Maker: Neurocrine Biosciences
Indication: tardive dyskinesia
Sounds like: the beautiful, wealthy and secretly evil female lead in a new CW drama