Commercialization


  • brand name drugs
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    What’s in a drug name? More than you might think.

    From regulatory restrictions to evocative letter strings, branded drug naming is both an art and a science. We break down the process.

    By Alexandra Pecci • June 4, 2024
  • Medicine capsules on blue racing lines
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    Q&A

    In an era of big patent losses, drug launches need years of runway

    Jim Lang, CEO of Eversana, explains the shifting commercial environment and how past drug launch failures are informing the future.

    By June 3, 2024
  • A chromatic Pfizer sign hangs on a building façade
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    Mario Tama via Getty Images
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    Pfizer and Lilly are elbowing into the direct-to-consumer market. Will it work?

    Direct-to-consumer platforms offer consumers an online path to sourcing popular medications, but some therapeutic areas may be better suited for the business model.  

    By May 22, 2024
  • A sign with the logo for the Takeda pharmaceutical company.
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    After Vyvanse patent loss, Takeda’s neuroscience division looks to enter a new era

    Heather Dean discusses the company’s neuroscience pipeline in epilepsy and narcolepsy and moving from a mass market to a rare disease mentality.

    By Alexandra Pecci • May 21, 2024
  • Eli Lilly CEO Dave Ricks Speaks At The Economic Club Of New York
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    Spencer Platt via Getty Images
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    As Lilly surges, headwinds against its weight loss drugs are growing

    After missing analysts’ earnings expectations for Mounjaro sales in the first quarter due to overwhelming demand, Lilly is also dealing with a legal loss and incoming pricing questions from lawmakers.

    By May 15, 2024
  • An auto-injector of Eli Lilly's metabolic drug Mounjaro is seen on a gray background
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    Courtesy of Eli Lilly
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    Big Pharma’s most improved drugs: a new generation of blockbusters

    The old guard of pharma bestsellers is seeing more competition, but newer drugs demonstrating sales and revenue growth can build up the coffers in years to come.

    By May 14, 2024
  • pharmacy cash register
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    5 trends impacting drug spend in the U.S.

    Key factors changing how much Americans spend on prescriptions.

    By Kelly Bilodeau • May 13, 2024
  • An AbbVie sign is seen on the outside of a building in California.
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    Courtesy of AbbVie
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    Biosimilars are gaining ground. The IRA could push them even further next year.

    As commercial momentum builds, coverage incentives for the Medicare market are expected to favor biosimilars in 2025.

    By May 13, 2024
  • A sign shows the logo of Eli Lilly's Research Laboratories
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    jetcityimage via Getty Images
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    Lilly’s donanemab will face an Alzheimer’s adcomm in June, setting the stage for a Leqembi showdown

    The FDA announced a June advisory committee date, potentially introducing a new Alzheimer’s treatment to compete with Eisai and Biogen’s Leqembi.

    By May 9, 2024
  • DNA
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    iStock via Getty Images
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    $4M+ gene therapies? How payers can adapt to a new reality of pricey ‘cures’

    Pricey gene therapies promise great benefit to patients but pose a threat to the payer landscape — ICER and a Tufts think tank are offering potential solutions.

    By May 2, 2024
  • The logo of German pharmaceuticals and chemicals giant Bayer stands over Bayer corporate offices on September 14, 2016 in Berlin, Germany.
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    Sean Gallup via Getty Images
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    3 patent expirations in 2024 and how companies are pivoting

    As the cliffs approach, pharma companies are tackling the sales hit with diverging strategies.

    By April 17, 2024
  • glp-1 injector
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    Where the GLP-1 weight loss market goes will depend on data

    As GLP-1s expand into new disease categories, their impact could be enough to overtake leading cardiovascular drugs.

    By April 15, 2024
  • Pills, medical products in black paper bag in shopping cart on red background.
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    Stock via Getty Images
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    Cutting pills. Rationing insulin. How Americans struggle to pay for drugs.

    More than 20% of Americans are forgoing prescription medications due to costs, according to a recent survey.

    By April 9, 2024
  • Syringe
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    Getty Images via Getty Images
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    Biosimilar uptake appears to finally be on the upswing, and Biocon Biologics is betting on the sector’s future

    Biosimilars promise market competition for branded biologics, which in theory could drive down prices. But so far, winning market share has been a struggle.

    By April 9, 2024
  • Bernice Bennett, genealogist
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    Permission granted by Alnylam
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    Alnylam turns to genealogy to find rare disease patients through family trees

    A vastly underdiagnosed rare disease presents a challenge to Alnylam’s commercial team, but a family health road trip has patients talking about their hereditary risk.

    By March 26, 2024
  • Weight loss GLP-1
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    iStock via Getty Images
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    Who’s getting left behind in the weight loss bonanza?

    As the new weight loss drugs take the world by storm, companies in other areas are battening the hatches for when slimmer patients need fewer medical interventions.

    By Kelly Bilodeau • March 25, 2024
  • Colorful DNA double helix.
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    iStock via Getty Images
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    Orchard sets out to sell world’s priciest gene therapy

    Orchard is counting on the long-term data it’s accrued to convince insurers to cover Lenmeldy’s $4.25 million list price, the highest of any genetic medicine to come to market. 

    By Kristin Jensen • March 20, 2024
  • bottle of Rezdiffra
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    Courtesy of Madrigal
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    With historic MASH approval, Madrigal preps for launch and a public offering

    After snagging the first approval for MASH, Madrigal Pharmaceuticals’ drug is primed to become a blockbuster.

    By March 20, 2024
  • Bianca Anghelina, CEO, founder, Aily Labs
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    Permission granted by Aily Labs
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    Ex-Novartis exec sets out to create ‘Apple of AI’

    Aily Labs’ tech makes predictive business decisions for life science companies and comes from a need its founder witnessed in Big Pharma.

    By Kelly Bilodeau • March 18, 2024
  • The logo of Amylyx Pharmaceuticals is seen through an office window.
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    Permission granted by Amylyx Pharmaceuticals
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    Amylyx ALS drug fails crucial study, putting company’s future in doubt

    The results have led Amylyx to pause promotion of Relyvrio and potentially pull it from the market in the coming weeks, a major blow to the company and ALS patients.

    By Jacob Bell • Updated March 8, 2024
  • Thorny issues in pharma
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    iStock via Getty Images
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    How a 15-year-old Genzyme drug shortage became a legal smorgasbord of pharma’s thorniest issues

    Rare disease treatments, drug shortages, a market monopoly and march-in rights all play a role in the story of newly revived litigation against Sanofi’s Genzyme.

    By Alexandra Pecci • Feb. 26, 2024
  • blue dosing pen for semaglutide
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    Stock via Getty Images
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    Ozempic for liver disease? Weight loss drugs could have even more to offer

    GLP-1 drugs indications could expand as research shows potential benefits in treating MASH, where pharma has failed in the past.

    By Kelly Bilodeau • Feb. 26, 2024
  • An illustration of red blood cells
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    ismagilov via Getty Images
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    BioMarin preaches patience amid slow sales for hemophilia gene therapy

    The company earned only $3.5 million last year from its Roctavian treatment, far below the $50 million to $150 million range it had forecast eight months ago.

    By Ben Fidler • Feb. 23, 2024
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    Courtesy of Biogen
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    The roadblocks faced by Biogen are many, but execs point to an R&D-focused turnaround

    A disappointing few years for Biogen have led leadership to use new drug launches as fuel for an about-face.

    By Feb. 15, 2024
  • Drug pill question
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    iStock via Getty Images
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    These 4 drugs had tons of promise — and they flopped. What happened?

    No amount of excitement can prevent failures stemming from safety, efficacy, cost and other speed bumps along the way.

    By Alexandra Pecci • Feb. 13, 2024