Astellas has named a new CEO to "go on the aggressive" in 2023. Eisai has recorded the first sales of its Alzheimer's disease drug Leqembi. Mitsubishi shut down Canadian COVID vaccine maker Medicago. And more of this week's headlines.
Astellas is elevating Chief Strategy Officer Naoki Okamura to the CEO post as the company's current helmsman, Kenji Yasukawa, transitions to become board chairman. The appointment comes as Astellas plans to “go on the aggressive to further accelerated growth” in fiscal year 2023, the company said. Under Yasukawa, Astellas moved away from a focus on specific disease areas to a “multifaceted perspective.”
2. Anatomy of a launch: As Leqembi takes first steps, Eisai maps Alzheimer's med's rollout
Eisai starts clock ticking on approval filing for subcutaneous sibling to Alzheimer's drug Leqembi
Eisai has recorded the first sales of newly approved Alzheimer’s disease drug Leqembi. The first phase of the launch is about ensuring market readiness ahead of a potential full approval, Ivan Cheung, Eisai’s Alzheimer’s disease chief, said. The company is now working with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to rework reimbursement policies. Meanwhile, the company also aims to file a subcutaneous formulation in its next fiscal year, which starts April 1.
3. With all eyes on new Alzheimer's med, Eisai lays off 91 staffers on its Fycompa team
As Eisai focuses on Leqembi’s launch, it’s also laying of 91 U.S. employees in the U.S. The job cuts appear to be related to Eisai’s recent sale of its epilepsy med Fycompa to Catalyst Pharmaceuticals. Catalyst has expressed interest in keeping up to 40 Eisai employees from Fycompa’s team in place, an Eisai spokesperson said.
4. Mitsubishi Chemical bids adieu to Medicago—and the company's plant-based COVID shot Covifenz
Canadian biotech Medicago is closing up shop, its owner Mitsubishi said, citing “significant changes” in the COVID-19 vaccine market landscape. Sales of Medicago’s recombinant coronavirus vaccine Covifenz will come to a halt as Mitsubishi plans an “orderly wind-up” of business in Canada and the U.S. GSK, Medicago’s partner on Covifenz, said the closure doesn’t affect its R&D efforts or commercial activity.
5. AstraZeneca met CEO Pascal Soriot's $40B revenue goal early. Now, it plans 15 drug launches by 2030
Daiichi Sankyo reported 139.7 billion Japanese yen ($1.1 billion) sales of AstraZeneca-partnered Enhertu for the nine months ended in December. The drug has scooped half of new patient share in second-line HER2-positive breast cancer and more than 40% of new patient share in HER2-low, post-chemo disease in the U.S., according to AZ.
6. With COVID vaccine on the way, Daiichi Sankyo builds Japan's first mRNA plant: report
After submitting a regulatory filing for its mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in Japan, Daiichi Sankyo has made plans for a manufacturing plant in Kitamoto near Tokyo, Nikkei Asia reports. The facility would be the first mRNA vaccine plant in the country and would be able to manufacture 20 million doses per year by 2024.
7. Regor gets permission to glimpse Pfizer's FBI communique in GLP-1 trade secrets dispute
The trade secrets suit between Pfizer and China’s Regor Therapeutics has yielded a small win for the latter company. A federal judge has ordered Pfizer to turn over 35 emails and text messages with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, documents that Pfizer said shouldn’t be shared. Pfizer is suing Regor and two top execs of the biotech for stealing confidential information on its GLP-1 program while working at the New York pharma.
8. Preparing for next pandemic, Korea's SK pumps $261M into vaccine R&D site
SK Bioscience is pouring $261 million into a new R&D center in South Korea, hoping to establish itself as a global biotech with next-generation vaccine technologies and cell and gene therapies. The new campus will be based in Songdo, about 18 miles from Seoul, and is expected to be operational in the first half of 2025.