Biogen Inc. is urging Medicare to broadly reimburse the company’s recently authorized Alzheimer’s drug, in response to a proposal by the U.S. government to sharply limit coverage of new drugs for the brain-wasting disease.

New York-based Ovid Therapeutics and Healx entered a strategic partnership to investigate the compound gaboxadol to treat Fragile X Syndrome (FXS).

Biogen

Biogen Inc. on Feb. 3 forecast 2022 profit well below Wall Street estimates as sales of the company’s new Alzheimer’s disease drug stall amid questions over Aduhelm’s efficacy and a looming U.S. government coverage decision that could severely limit the medicine’s future use and force further cost cutting.

Roche said ongoing trials of the company’s Alzheimer’s disease drug candidate gantenerumab are designed to provide unequivocal results on efficacy as controversy continues in the United States over the benefits of a rival’s approved drug.

Roche

Ionis Pharmaceuticals announced that Roche, the company’s partner firm, is designing a new Phase II trial that would assess the effectiveness of tominersen in younger adult patients diagnosed with Huntington’s disease. 

Sanofi

South Korean biotechnology firm ABL Biotechnologies signed a global licensing and exclusive collaboration agreement with Sanofi to develop and commercialize a new therapy candidate for Parkinson’s disease. 

The biggest biopharma stories during 2021 included the COVID-19 pandemic and the Alzheimer’s disease drug Aduhelm.

Eli Lilly and Company’s projections for next year exceed Wall Street projections for the drug manufacturer, predicting 2022 revenue of $27.8 billion to $28.3 billion.

Swiss drug giant Novartis and Belgian pharma company UCB announced a deal to co-develop and commercialize two products targeting Parkinson’s disease, UCB0599 and UCB7853.

Biogen Inc. said on November 9 the company was investigating the death of a 75-year-old patient who had taken the newly approved Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm, adding that it was not yet known whether the death was related to the treatment.