The week in pharma: action, reaction and insight – week to August 11, 2023

By Barbara Obstoj-Cardwell. Editor

Among important regulatory news last week, the US Food and Drug Administration approved Sage Therapeutics and Biogen’s Zurzuvae (zuranolone) as the first treatment for post-partum depression (PPD), but declined to clear the drug for the bigger indication of major depressive disorder (MDD). Also, Astellas Pharma gained approval from the FDA for its geographic atrophy treatment Izervay (avacincaptad pegol). On the research front, Swiss ophthalmology focused firm Oculis Holdings reported another Phase III success with candidate OCS-01. M&A activity included Regeneron Pharma announcing it has agreed to acquire long-term partner Decibel Therapeutics and its hearing loss program for an upfront $109 million and $104 million contingent. Also, Novo Nordisk revealed it is acquiring Canadian obesity drug developer Inversago for around $1.1 billion

Sage: PPD only – quite a disappointment