Check out this week’s medical marketing news, people on the move and industry chatter.
New hires:
Ogilvy Health, a 2023 MM+M Agency 100 honoree, tapped Christianna Gorin as chief growth and strategy officer and promoted Nadine Lafond to client engagement officer, North America. Lafond will continue to serve as president of Ogilvy Health Canada.
Bruno Brasileiro was named executive creative director of Calcium, a 2023 MM+M Agency 100 honoree.
Walgreens hired Mary Langowski, an alum of CVS Health and Solera Health, to run its health services segment.
Aligos Therapeutics named Jordyn Tarazi as VP of investor relations and corporate communications as well as Nikhil Aneja as VP of finance.
Highwire PR named Margaret Cote as its head of insights and analytics.
Early-stage pharmaceutical company Navega Therapeutics appointed Carol Greve-Philips as chief business officer.
Ocuphire Pharma tabbed Ash Jayagopal, PhD, MBA as chief scientific and development officer as well as Nirav Jhaveri, CFA, MBA as CFO.
Evolution Health Group hired Chris Mycek as VP of enterprise solutions.
Executive elevations:
Weber Shandwick appointed Will Crain as head of CEO communications advisory and promoted Contessa Kellogg-Winters to head of executive visibility, both for the agency’s North America region.
Board appointments:
Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has joined the board of biotech Remepy.
Adam Cossman, a former group president at Real Chemistry, a 2023 MM+M Agency 100 honoree, has joined the board of Minds + Assembly, another 2023 MM+M Agency 100 honoree.
Nacuity Pharmaceuticals named rare disease advocate Daniel Feller to its business advisory board.
Departures:
Exscientia’s board terminated CEO Andrew Hopkins over alleged relationships with two employees
Philip Johnson announced his plan to retire as treasurer of Eli Lilly.
FDA:
The agency approved Takeda Pharmaceuticals’ Eohilia, making it the first oral drug for eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), or inflammation of the esophagus.
The FDA approved the label expansion of Ipsen’s pancreatic cancer therapy Onivyde.
Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ Olezarsen received an Orphan Drug designation from the agency for treating familial chylomicronemia syndrome.
An FDA advisory panel voted in favor of Abbott’s new heart device.
Jaguar Health submitted an Orphan Drug Designation application for crofelemer, which treats moderate-to-severe cholera-related diarrhea.
The agency approved Johnson & Johnson unit Actelion Pharmaceuticals‘ injection for severe frostbite in adults
Galderma announced that nemolizumab was accepted for filing by regulatory authorities in the U.S. in prurigo nodularis and atopic dermatitis.
The agency accepted the resubmission of Xspray’s application for its leukemia candidate Dasynoc.
Citius Pharmaceuticals resubmitted the Biologics License Application for Lymphir.
Layoffs:
Synlogic will cease operations and lay off most of its employees.
LianBio announced plans to shut down by the end of the year.
Deals:
Gilead Sciences announced it will acquire biotech CymaBay Therapeutics in a deal worth $4.3 billion.
AbbVie lowered its quarterly guidance to reflect the dilutive impact of its closure of the acquisition of ImmunoGen.
Roche terminated its license agreement with Repare Therapeutics for the cancer drug camonsertib soon after a $40 million milestone payment.
The Bloc, a 2023 MM+M Agency 100 honoree, announced a partnership with London-based healthcare comms shop Page & Page.
AI company Deepc acquired Osimis’ radiology imaging software.
Boehringer Ingelheim Pet appointed creative communications group Krow Group across seven new brands and three new franchises.
PrecisionLife co-invested in a partnership with Metrodora Institute, a multi-specialty healthcare center.
Funding rounds:
Freenome raised an additional $254 million in private funding, led by Roche.
Cogent Biosciences said an oversubscribed $225 million private placement could fund the company into 2027.
Immunome announced plans for a $200 million public offering of common stock with an option for underwriters to purchase additional shares.
Startup BioAge raised $170 million in a Series D to support Zepbound combination therapy.
Non-opioid drugmaker Latigo Biotherapeutics emerged with a $135 million Series A funding round with eyes on challenging Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ lead non-opioid candidate, Nav1.8.
ProfoundBio secured a $112 million funding round to support four clinical stage ADCs.
European life sci investment firm Medicxi hived off a half-dozen portfolio companies, along with a $100 million financing, into a new entity – Alys Pharma – focused on dermatology.
RapidClaims emerged from stealth with a $3.1 million funding round.
BioXcel Therapeutics announced the termination of its proposed public offering.
Novo Holdings said it will invest $35 billion into Novo Nordisk by 2030.
Industry news:
Pfizer agreed to pay $93 million in antitrust settlement over Lipitor.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention refused to confirm that plans were in the works to ease COVID-19 isolation restrictions following a report by The Washington Post.
Elon Musk’s brain implant company Neuralink moved its legal corporate home from Delaware to Nevada.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was hospitalized Sunday for symptoms linked to a potential bladder issue.
Biogen’s revenue and profits shrank at the tail-end of 2023.
Insilico Medicine developed a preclinical candidate designed by Chemistry42 for treating advanced solid tumors targeting KIF18A.
Hong Kong-based activist fund Oasis Management opposes Taisho Pharmaceutical‘s $5 billion management buyout as it believes the acquisition price was too low.
Haymarket Group reported a £14.8 million annual profit following a second consecutive year of double-digit revenue growth.
KalVista Pharmaceuticals’ oral medicine for hereditary angioedema helped relieve attack symptoms associated with the disease substantially faster than placebo in a Phase 3 trial.
Agios Pharmaceuticals reports a loss in Q4 2023 along with a miss on revenue estimates.
Health tech consultancy Innsena committed $100,000 to CancerX, a public-private partnership announced by The White House as part of the Cancer Moonshot.
Doximity reported 17% year-over-year growth in its latest earnings report, generating $135 million in revenue.
Havas launched Havas Consumer Health, a consumer health unit which will specialize in over-the-counter health and wellness brands.
The Muscular Dystrophy Association launched a Rare Disease Day campaign to raise awareness and support throughout the month.
Aurinia Pharmaceuticals said its strategic review didn’t yield any takeover offers and that it was shifting its focus to the commercial execution of its Lupkynis business.
G1 Therapeutics announced its independent data monitoring committee recommended continuation of the Phase 3 trial (PRESERVE 2) to evaluate trilaciclib in combination with gemcitabine and carboplatin for the first line treatment of metastatic triple negative breast cancer.
JPM Securities downgraded Incyte due in part to the recent missed opportunity to acquire MorphoSys.
Haleon named Collectively as its principal U.S. influencer marketing partner.
New diabetes and weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro may benefit patients undergoing hip replacement, without adding to complication risks, according to preliminary data released earlier this week.
Replicate Bioscience’s mRNA rabies vaccine showed promise in a clinical trial including 84 patients.
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals reported lower-than-expected revenue last quarter and delayed a key Phase 3 readout.
Otsuka Pharmaceutical’s second candidate for treating agitation associated with Alzheimer’s dementia failed in a Phase 3 study.
Armon Sharei, cofounder and former CEO of SQZ Biotechnologies, said he intends to vote ‘yes’ on a shareholder measure to set the company’s assets to an old partner and dissolve the business.
