Latest news with #Journavx
Time Magazine
26-06-2025
- Business
- Time Magazine
TIME100 Most Influential Companies 2025: Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Boston and London biotech company Vertex Pharmaceuticals is on a roll. In the past year and a half, Vertex worked with CRISPR Therapeutics to develop the first CRISPR treatment approved by the U.S. FDA, called Casgevy, which treats sickle-cell disease and beta thalassemia; received approval for its fifth cystic fibrosis treatment, and in January, also earned FDA approval for the first non-opioid pain killer, Journavx, in more than two decades. CEO Dr. Reshma Kewalramani is a triple threat, combining medical, research, and business experience to lead the 36-year-old company. She has continued the drug development pathway on which the company was founded: rational drug design, meaning designing drugs to address a known biological process, rather than spending time with the traditional trial and error practice of combining and testing chemicals in the hope of landing on one that has the desired effect. When faced with the myriad diseases and equally numerous targets for potential drugs the company could pursue, Kewalramani leans on a specific formula: Vertex concentrates on diseases where there aren't many treatment options, or high unmet need; they look for genetic or drug targets that animal models show can make a difference in the disease; the disease needs to have so-called biomarkers, or ways that researchers can track changes produced by the treatment; and the therapy developed should have a clear pathway for getting approval from regulatory agencies like the FDA. The approach has served the company well. Its market capitalization is around $114 billion, and total revenues were up 12% from the previous year. Treating pain in a way that avoided the addictive side effect of opioids checked all of these boxes, although it took two decades to identify the right pathway to target. 'Why did we do this? Because we thought pain was an incredibly important disease where there was no innovation and where we thought we could make a big difference,' says Kewalramani. 'And why did we keep going? Because of the science and our desire to work in areas where we could make this kind of transformative leap.' Following the launch of Casgevy, which allows people with sickle cell disease to receive a single CRISPR gene therapy to address the genetic mutation responsible for their disease, Vertex is continuing to pursue what Kewalramani calls 'one and done curative medicines.' They are in the late stages of testing a cell-based treatment for type 1 diabetes that could potentially help people skip regular insulin injections by giving them healthy insulin-making pancreatic beta cells. The company is also developing new treatments for chronic kidney disease, for which there have not been new options in almost a decade, and in 2024, Vertex bought Alpine Immune Sciences for $4.9 billion to accelerate its search for novel kidney treatments. 'We are simply not interested in making me-too medicines,' says Kewalramani.
USA Today
16-06-2025
- Health
- USA Today
I'm a doctor and a recovering addict. America can't lose ground on the opioids fight now.
I'm a doctor and a recovering addict. America can't lose ground on the opioids fight now. There's talk of scaling back key programs and cutting funding that has proved to save lives. Doing so wouldn't just slow progress, it would send us backward. Show Caption Hide Caption FDA Approves non-Opioid painkiller to combat addiction crisis The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Journavx, a new non-opioid painkiller for short-term pain in adults. Cover Media - Shareable Overdose deaths in the U.S. have decreased by almost 27% in the past year. Medicaid and federal grants have played a crucial role in providing access to treatment and resources like naloxone. Proposed budget cuts to these programs could reverse the progress made in combating the opioid crisis. In 2004, I nearly lost everything to opioid addiction. I was a practicing physician, a husband and a father, and I was also deeply dependent on the same medications I once prescribed to others. My recovery was hard-earned and required structure, accountability and people who refused to give up on me. That experience is why I've dedicated my life to helping others do what I did: Survive long enough to get better. And today, I can say something I never imagined possible two decades ago: We are finally making real, measurable progress in the fight against drug overdoses in America. Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released data showing that overdose deaths in the United States have dropped by nearly 27% from 2023 to 2024. After years of heartbreaking headlines and rising death tolls, we're finally seeing a shift in the right direction. These aren't just abstract percentages, they represent real people. Parents tucking their kids in at night, employees returning to work, neighbors rebuilding relationships and young people getting second chances. Opinion: We targeted drug cartels to stop fentanyl. Now, overdose deaths are dropping. Cutting Medicaid will set us back in the opioid fight This progress didn't happen by accident. It happened because of deliberate, sustained action backed by bipartisan support and a strong federal commitment to addressing this crisis head-on. Medicaid, the largest payer of substance use disorder treatment in the United States, has given millions of Americans access to lifesaving care. Federal grants have helped get naloxone into the hands of first responders. Community-based organizations are expanding access to treatment and recovery services in ways that simply weren't possible a decade ago. As someone who's worked in both medicine and public policy, I've seen firsthand the impact of these investments. We've transformed what used to be a disconnected patchwork into a system that increasingly meets people where they are ‒ in emergency rooms, in jails, on the streets and in their homes. But now, as Congress and the administration debate the next federal budget, I'm worried we're at risk of forgetting how we got here. There's talk of scaling back key programs and cutting funding that has proved to save lives. Doing so wouldn't just slow progress, it would send us backward. Signs of opioid addiction: If your teenager was addicted to opioids, would you know? It's harder than you think. | Opinion Fighting the opioid epidemic doesn't have to be partisan That's particularly dangerous for states that are legally required to balance their budget every year. If the federal government pulls back, that doesn't eliminate the need for services. It just forces states to make impossible decisions ‒ raise taxes, slash other essential services or cut overdose prevention programs that are working. When that happens, it's not numbers on a spreadsheet that suffer. It's real people. The good news is that this doesn't have to be a partisan fight. Republicans and Democrats alike have supported these programs because they deliver results. Because they keep families together. Because they reduce crime, lower health care costs and strengthen our workforce. These aren't just moral investments, they're economic ones. Every dollar spent on treatment and prevention saves several more down the line in avoided emergency care, incarceration and lost productivity. We know what works. The question now is whether we will have the courage to keep doing it. I believe we will. I believe our leaders, including those in the Trump administration and this Congress, understand the stakes. But they need to hear from us. They need to know this progress is real, it's saving lives and it's worth protecting. We've come too far to retreat now. Let's keep our foot on the gas and finish the job. Dr. Stephen Loyd is the chief medical officer of Cedar Recovery, president of the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners and a member of the Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council. He is a physician in long-term recovery.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
1 Underrated Reason to Buy This Market-Beating Stock
Eli Lilly recently acquired a smaller biotech for its promising investigational pain medication. The company generates strong sales from products outside of diabetes and obesity care. Eli Lilly's portfolio, both within and outside its core area, makes the stock attractive. 10 stocks we like better than Eli Lilly › Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) has been one of the top-performing healthcare megacap stocks of the past decade. And in more recent years, particularly over the past five, it's easy to point to the biggest factor driving Eli Lilly's run: The company's work in diabetes and, especially, the weight loss market. Eli Lilly is unquestionably one of the two leaders in this fast-growing field, and it appears to be gaining ground on its biggest competitor, Novo Nordisk. However, a recent move Eli Lilly made reveals an underrated reason why the stock has attractive prospects. Here's what investors should know. On May 27, Eli Lilly announced it would dish out $1 billion in cash to acquire SiteOne Therapeutics, a privately held biotech. The key asset from this transaction is STC-004, a mid-stage investigational non-opioid oral pain medicine. Though there are treatment options for chronic pain, non-opioid ones could become increasingly popular since opioid-based therapies often carry significant side effects. Meanwhile, this market is brand new. In January, Vertex Pharmaceuticals earned approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Journavx, the first non-opioid oral pain inhibitor. Eli Lilly is looking to make waves in this market with the acquisition of SiteOne Therapeutics. The transaction may or may not pan out. Perhaps STC-004 will flop in upcoming clinical trials. But there's something important to highlight about Eli Lilly that this acquisition brings to light. This move is hardly out of the ordinary for Eli Lilly. One thing that sets it apart from Novo Nordisk is that, while the latter generates more than 90% of its revenue from its diabetes or obesity medicines, Eli Lilly's lineup of drugs features some major blockbusters outside this area. In the first quarter, the company's revenue grew 45% year over year to $12.73 billion. Eli Lilly's cancer drug Verzenio racked up $1.2 billion in sales, up 10% year over year. The company's immunosuppressant, Taltz, generated $762 million in revenue, a 26% increase over the year-ago period. Eli Lilly's sales outside of diabetes and obesity products accounted for almost 28% of its top line. That might not exactly be peak diversification, but Eli Lilly fares better than its eternal rival, Novo Nordisk, in this department. Furthermore, the company's newer products also feature several that fall outside its core area of expertise. These include Kisunla in Alzheimer's disease, Jaypirca in oncology, and Ebglyss, an eczema treatment. The same can be said about Eli Lilly's pipeline. Consider the company's investigational gene therapy for genetic deafness, as well as its several dozen programs in oncology. To be clear, Eli Lilly's diabetes and weight management medicines should continue occupying the role of main growth drivers. In the first quarter, Mounjaro's revenue soared by 113% year over year to $3.8 billion. Zepbound's sales came in at $2.3 billion, representing a 347% increase compared to the first quarter of 2024. Neither has peaked yet. Considering analyst projections for the GLP-1 market, they will continue growing their sales at an incredible clip at least through the end of the decade. And there is more where that came from, too. Eli Lilly is developing newer medicines in this area. The company's investigational oral GLP-1 therapy, orforglipron, recently aced a phase 3 study. According to management, the drugmaker has a total of 11 obesity pipeline candidates. So, Eli Lilly's work in this field will remain one of the major keys to its success. Perhaps it is what will get many investors nowadays interested in the stock. However, Eli Lilly is also a diversified pharmaceutical giant with a strong portfolio of medicines and promising candidates in oncology, immunology, and other areas. So, even with mounting competition in the GLP-1 market, Eli Lilly remains attractive, not just because it is likely to develop better anti-obesity medicines than most of its competitors, but because it is a leader in other markets as well. That's another excellent reason to invest in Eli Lilly and hold on to its shares for a long time. Before you buy stock in Eli Lilly, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Eli Lilly wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $657,385!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $842,015!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 987% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 171% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 2, 2025 Prosper Junior Bakiny has positions in Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The Motley Fool recommends Novo Nordisk. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 1 Underrated Reason to Buy This Market-Beating Stock was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
CNBC
27-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Every portfolio stock is higher in Tuesday's market rally. Here's our top performer
Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. Markets: The S & P 500 surged 2% on Tuesday after President Donald Trump said he would delay the 50% tariff on the European Union that he threatened Friday. Stocks had dropped last Friday amid concerns that investors had grown too complacent about trade tensions and that high tariffs might soon return. This recent episode served as a reminder that the risk of increased tariffs is always present. However, it's important not to overreact. Tariffs can just as easily be rolled back if meaningful progress is made toward on a trade agreement — or in the case of the EU, progress is made toward scheduling trade talks. Feeling better : Also boosting stocks was a better-than-expected Conference Board reading on consumer confidence for May. The index increased 12.3 points to 98, breaking five straight months of declines. The U.S. and China agreeing on May 12 to reduce tariffs for 90 days looks to be a big driver of the rebound since about half of the responses were collected after that announcement. The cutoff day for these preliminary results was May 19. The encouraging data brought in a wave of buying to consumer discretionary stocks, namely in travel and retail, since their sales tend to be better when the consumer is feeling better about the future. Club names Amazon , Home Depot , Starbucks , TJX Companies , and Texas Roadhouse are the consumer discretionary stocks in the portfolio. For Texas Roadhouse, shares rallied to their highest level of 2025 and were nearing their record-high close of $205.27 back in late November. During last week's Monthly Meeting, Jim said he was pleased with the rally and that we might trim if the stock goes above $200. Biotech deal: Eli Lilly announced Tuesday it bought a private biotech company called SiteOne for up to $1 billion in cash. SiteOne's lead drug candidate is STX-004, a Phase 2-ready, next-generation, non-opioid treatment for patients suffering from chronic pain. It makes sense for Club name Lilly to expand its pipeline into the non-opioid pain field given the success of Vertex Pharmaceuticals' Journavx, which was approved by the FDA earlier this year and was the first in this new class of pain management medicines. On May 1, Eli Lilly delivered better-than-expected quarterly results, with sales of its popular GLP-1 diabetes and obesity medications exceeding estimates. However, a GLP-1 partnership between CVS Health and Novo Nordisk sent Lilly shares tumbling. On May 22, we added to our Lilly position on the dip. Up next: The identity protection firm Okta reports earnings after Tuesday's close. Before Wednesday's opening bell, Macy's , Abercrombie & Fitch , and Capri Holdings report. Dick's Sporting Goods reports, too, but provided preliminary first quarter results two weeks ago after announcing its plans to buy Foot Locker . Wednesday is a light day for economic data, with weekly mortgage applications and the Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index being the only key reports on the schedule. (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED. Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street.
CNBC
27-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Eli Lilly to buy privately held SiteOne in deal worth up to $1 billion
Eli Lilly will buy privately held SiteOne Therapeutics in a deal worth as much as $1 billion, the companies said on Tuesday, giving the drugmaker access to an experimental non-opioid pain medicine. SiteOne's STC-004 belongs to a class of drugs, known as Nav1.8 inhibitors, that target the channels involved in transmitting pain signals. Vertex Pharmaceuticals' recently approved non-opioid painkiller Journavx also belongs to the same class. Under the terms of the agreement, SiteOne shareholders could receive up to $1 billion in cash, inclusive of an upfront payment and subsequent payments upon achievement of certain regulatory and commercial milestones.
