Look back at pharma news in week to September 14

By Barbara Obstoj-Cardwell. Editor

As US Food and Drug Administration rejects approval of GlaxoSmithKline's Nucala for COPD, the company has been touting new data for the drug in asthma. Also on the US regulatory front, the FDA Breakthrough designation of AstraZeneca’s tezepelumab is seen as important for the drugmaker’s asthma ambitions, while in Europe, Merck & Co gained approval of Keytruda in the first-line cancer setting. Elsewhere, Gilead Sciences and Galapagos released positive results with filgotinib, a rheumatoid arthritis drug recently rejected by AbbVie, and Boehringer Ingelheim took up the option to acquire ViraTherapeutics.

COPD rejection means GSK can’t breathe easy on Nucala