The first day of the first-ever virtual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference has officially wrapped, and from our perspective, it's busier than ever. Major COVID-19 players like Gilead Sciences and Moderna were abuzz about pandemic efforts paying off, while Big Pharmas Merck & Co., Bristol Myers Squibb and Novartis talked longterm views on blockbuster meds and M&A.
Others, like Vertex, were eager to tout expansions into new disease areas, while Genentech's CEO outlined some pandemic lessons learned and Merck KGaA talked resilience amid pandemic demand.
Here's your need-to-know as Day 2 kicks off. From Alexion's plans for C5 drugs Soliris and Ultomiris—truly need-to-know for investors as AstraZeneca works toward closing its $39 billion deal to buy the company—to Novo Nordisk's climbing Rybelsus prescriptions, we're tracking developments as the day advances.
Hungry for more? We'll be following the latest news from day 2 of #JPM2021 as it happens here. Check out yesterday's updates from Bristol, Vertex, Johnson & Johnson, and many more here, and catch Fierce Biotech's coverage here.
UPDATED: Tuesday, Jan. 12 at 1:40 p.m. ET
To Regeneron, there’s no question about it: “We as a society have to do a much better job” of getting antibody therapies—such as the company’s own—to patients, company R&D chief George Yancopoulos said Monday. While there are some hurdles to treatment—the therapies are infused, meaning patients have to first get a prescription and then make their way to an infusion center for administration—Yancopoulus said Regeneron can “work much more closely with the government” to figure out more effective ways to get the cocktail to patients. “Right now, the vaccine is not helping any of these people,” he added. “The only thing that can really help these people … are these antibody therapies.” Story
UPDATED: Tuesday, Jan. 12 at 11:15 a.m. ET
As the world awaits Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine efficacy data, CEO Alex Gorsky had a simple message to share at his JPM fireside chat on Monday. The company is in the “final stages” of a data analysis and hopes “to have that information very soon,” he said. As the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine rollouts lag expectations in the U.S., J&J’s one-dose regimen could be a “game-changer,” Operation Warp Speed official Moncef Slaoui recently said. J&J plans to produce hundreds of millions of vaccine doses in the first half of 2021 and nearly a billion doses by the end of the year. Story
Even as Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca ship COVID-19 vaccines by the millions, a “second-wave” of vaccines will still be needed to immunize the world, experts said on a Fierce JPM Week panel. Total vaccine demand will reach 16 billion doses, according to one expert, and it’s not clear how long protection will last from the first round of shots. The ongoing vaccine launches will hopefully “help us to end the acute phase of the pandemic,” Swati Gupta, an executive with IAVI said, but because COVID-19 is likely to become endemic, “we also need to plan for longer-term management of the disease.” Valneva CEO Thomas Lingelbach said he’s “absolutely sure” there will be demand for follow-up vaccines. Story
UPDATED: Tuesday, Jan. 12 at 10:10 a.m. ET
About a month after Eli Lilly presented positive topline results on its weekly dual GIP and GLP-1 type 2 diabetes drug tirzepatide, Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen said both companies can succeed in the competitive GLP-1 class. Just as Novo promised when Lilly launched Trulicity, Jørgensen now says the two companies can each work to grow the class. And he doesn't see either one “completely wiping the market and having a product that’s just massively differentiated.” So far, Novo is seeing positive uptake on its GLP-1 pill Rybelsus—the first oral med in the class—though initial COVID-19 lockdowns hurt uptake. Now, patients are more comfortable visiting their doctors and Novo is seeing a “stable flow” of new prescriptions.
UPDATED: Tuesday, Jan. 12 at 9:30 a.m. ET
Alexion’s 2020 sales came in at about $5.93 billion in 2020 after 18.7% year-over-year growth, CFO Aradhana Sarin said. To reach its 2025 sales target of about $9 billion to $10 billion, the company plans to quadruple the U.S. neurology patients its C5 drugs Soliris and Ultomiris treat compared with 2019. As the company’s on track to being acquired by AstraZeneca in a $39 billion deal, Sarin labeled the company’s capabilities as “unique, not easily replicable and necessary to serving patients with rare diseases.” Story
CEO Ken Frazier on Monday seemed especially resistant to the idea that there's trouble brewing for Merck & Co. on the other side of Keytruda's patent expiration date. The company is eyeing co-formulations, combinations and other Keytruda administration routes that could draw out the megablockbuster's lifespan, for one. Plus, “I think our revenue growth prospects are underappreciated between here and 2024,” Frazier said, referring to the company's pipeline candidates. Meanwhile, the company has continued to eke out deals, carrying out 120 transactions in 2020 alone. Frazier knows those smaller pacts may not be what investors are looking for, though. “I think what people are saying is, ‘We’d like to see you do something bigger and later-stage,' ” he acknowledged. Story
Despite some contentious WHO data last fall, U.S. uptake of Gilead Sciences' COVID-19 antiviral Veklury, formerly known as remdesivir, has skyrocketed from just 30% of hospitalized patients in October to around 50% to 60% today, CEO Dan O'Day said Monday. As a result, the company now expects Veklury to bag between $2.8 billion and $2.83 billion in 2020, while it clocked in total 2020 sales at a range of $24.3 billion to $24.35 billion, well above the $23 billion to $23.5 billion estimate it previously sketched out. As for the company's plans beyond Veklury? "Biktarvy, Biktarvy, Biktarvy—that’s very important,” O’Day said of the products that would fuel Gilead’s short-term sales expansion. Story