Good morning, everyone, and welcome to another working week. We hope the weekend respite was relaxing and rewarding because that oh-so-familiar routine of meetings, online calls, and deadlines has predictably returned. But what can you do? The world keeps spinning no matter how much we push back. So time to get on with it. Please join us for a hot cuppa — old-fashioned Earl Grey is our choice today — as we cast about for items of interest. Speaking of which, here are some tidbits. Hope your day goes well. …
Eli Lilly wants to turn India into a hub for its global supply chain as part of its previously committed $1 billion investment in contract manufacturing in the country, Reuters notes. The company, which does not currently operate its own manufacturing facility in India, plans to export locally produced drugs to markets across the world as part of its broader supply network, drawing on its existing contract manufacturing setup. Sales of its blockbuster weight loss drug doubled within months of its launch in India and became its top-selling medicine by value, underscoring the growing popularity of obesity treatments in a country projected to have the world’s second-largest obese population by 2050.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration rejected bitopertin, a therapy developed by Disc Medicine to treat the rare blood disorder porphyria, which makes patients extremely sensitive to sunlight, STAT writes. This is the first experimental drug to go through FDA Commissioner Marty Makary’s new program to fast-track drug reviews. The agency previously approved a generic antibiotic through the new drug review program in December. Disc Medicine was one of the first nine companies to receive a Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher, which is supposed to guarantee a one- to two-month review for companies that can prove their drug candidates “align with national priorities.” Expedited consideration, the FDA has said, does not ensure approval.
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