Look back at pharma news in the week to June 7

Last week’s regulatory news featured Eli Lilly gaining US Food and Drug Administration approval for its CGRP inhibitor Emgality as a treatment for episodic cluster headache, the first company to get such an indication, and Epizyme filed for accelerated approval for its tazemetostat for epitheloid sarcoma. Among research news, Takeda announced that it is abandoning A Phase III trial of Ninlaro in amyloidosis, while Amgen’s early-stage trial of AMG-510 caused quite a stir at the ASCO meeting. In deal-making news, Vertex Pharmaceuticals revealed it plans to acquire Exonics and entered into a deal with CRISPR Therapeutics, both to expand its presence in the Duchenne muscular dystrophy arena.

Eli Lilly’s extensive experience and competitive advantage will establish Emgality in the migraine market

Commenting on the FDA approval last week of  Lilly’s Emgality for decreasing the frequency of episodic cluster headache attacks, GlobalData senior pharma analyst Alessio Brunello says that, as Eli Lilly is the only company to have begun trials in Japan with the drug, Emgality is expected to be a first-in-class therapy in this country, which is likely to give it slightly higher sales than Teva’s Ajovy. GlobalData anticipates that Emgality will generate sales of $1.02 billion by 2026, making it the second highest seller in the migraine market. GlobalData also anticipates that Emgality will generate sales of $766 million by 2026 in the USA alone.