Pharmalittle: We’re reading about Lilly’s Alzheimer’s drug, an EU contract for bird flu vaccine, and more

By Andrew Joseph June 11, 2024

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Alex Hogan/STAT

Greetings from London, with STAT reporter Andrew Joseph here filling in for Ed. We’re dealing with some decidedly June Gloom today, though we suppose that makes it easier to sit in front of a computer instead of longing to escape outside. Whatever you need to power through your day, and your week, we hope you find it. Now to the news tidbits. …

Advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously to recommend the approval of a drug for early Alzheimer’s disease made by Eli Lilly — ruling that the treatment’s ability to slow the cognitive decline in patients outweighed its safety risks, STAT summarizes for us. The outcome of the daylong advisory panel was the best-case scenario for Lilly, making it likely that the FDA will approve the drug, called donanemab, for a broad population of people diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s. A decision is expected later this year, and if approved, donanemab would be the second such medicine to reach the market, following a similar antibody called Leqembi that is sold by Eisai and Biogen.

The European Commission on Tuesday announced a contract to secure more than 40 million doses of a preventive avian flu vaccine for 15 countries across the EU and the European Economic Area, the Financial Times reports. The deal procures up to 665,000 vaccine doses — which can be adapted to any prevailing bird flu strain — from manufacturer CSL Seqirus and includes a provision for a further 40 million vaccines over the next four years. The deal comes as governments monitor an increase in bird flu outbreaks, including among U.S. dairy cows.

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