• New research suggests a diabetes and weight loss drug similar to Ozempic appeared to slow cognitive decline in patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease.
• UC San Diego Health is the first health system in San Diego County to offer a new FDA-approved bladder-saving gene therapy to treat localized bladder cancer.
• The US FDA has approved, donanemab, Eli Lilly’s treatment for early Alzheimer’s disease.

Recent News

• Ozempic-like weight loss drugs may protect against Alzheimer’s
  NBC News—July 30, 2024
  A weight loss drug similar to Ozempic appeared to slow cognitive decline in patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease, new research presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Philadelphia finds. The findings, which have not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal, add to the growing evidence that GLP-1 agonists — a class of medications that includes the popular diabetes and weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, from Novo Nordisk, and Mounjaro and Zepbound, from Eli Lilly — may also protect the brain. “What we’ve shown is that these GLP-1s have great potential to be a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr. Paul Edison, a professor of neuroscience at Imperial College London who presented the findings Tuesday. “As a class of drugs, this holds great promise.”
• FDA approves Silicon Valley company’s blood test for colorectal cancer screening among average-risk adults in the US
  The Orange County Register—July 29, 2024
  The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a blood test to be used for colorectal cancer screening among average-risk adults 45 and older. The maker of the test, Palo Alto-based biotechnology company Guardant Health, announced Monday that this is the first blood test to be approved by the FDA as a primary screening option for colorectal cancer, and it’s the first approved blood screening test for colorectal cancer that meets requirements for Medicare reimbursement. For patients with commercial insurance plans, the cost of the test may vary depending on their individual plan coverage. The list price for the test has not yet been announced.
• Popular weight-loss and diabetes medications show promise for curbing smoking, study suggests
  CNN Health—July 29, 2024
  A growing set of evidence suggests that using semaglutide could lead to decreased substance use, and a large new study shows a promising link between the medication and tobacco use. But experts emphasize that much more research is needed before using the medications off-label for smoking cessation. In a study published Monday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers tracked the medical records of more than 200,000 people who started medications to treat type 2 diabetes, including nearly 6,000 people using semaglutide medications such as Ozempic.
• UC Irvine to establish All of Us research consortium in Southern California
  UCI News—July 22, 2024
  The National Institutes of Health has chosen a University of California, Irvine researcher to lead a Southern California-based consortium for the nationwide All of Us Research Program. Hoda Anton-Culver, Ph.D., a Donald Bren Professor and Distinguished Professor of medicine at UC Irvine, will lead the All of Us Southern California Consortium along with investigators from Loma Linda University Health (LLU Health) and MemorialCare. The consortium will enroll participants that reflect the diversity of the U.S., including people who identify with communities historically underrepresented in research, such as those of minority race and ethnicity groups, socioeconomic levels, gender identity and sexual orientation, cultural diversity, and occupational and environmental exposure.
• California cancer patients now have greater access to life-saving biomarker testing
  UC Davis Health—July 12, 2024
  The University of California helped enact a critically important new state law that ensures cancer patients get access to biomarker testing to ensure they are receiving the best treatment. Biomarkers are genes, proteins and other substances that can help pinpoint the molecular drivers of cancerous tumors. Biomarker testing has become an essential part of “personalized medicine,” which tailors treatment depending on the biological makeup of tumors.
• New trial produces excellent safety results for rare pulmonary condition
  UC Davis Health—July 11, 2024
  A multicenter safety study at UC Davis Health tested a protein drug, developed to improve care for people with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD), and showed the therapy is quite safe. Published in the Journal of the COPD Foundation, these results are good news for patients with AATD. This trial also sets the stage for a pivotal phase 2/3 trial, which will assess the drug’s efficacy and possibly lead to U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval.
• Big Pharmacy-Benefit Managers Increase Drug Costs, FTC Says
  The Wall Street Journal – July 9, 2024
  Firms that manage drug benefits, which promise to keep a lid on high drug costs, instead steer patients away from less expensive medicines and overcharge for cancer therapies, Federal Trade Commission investigators found. The FTC released a report detailing a number of actions that it said large pharmacy-benefit managers use to boost their profits and increase the spending of the health plans and employers that hired them to control costs. The actions can also lead to higher outlays for patients at the pharmacy counter, the agency said. The findings follow a two-year investigation into the firms, known as PBMs, and calls from some lawmakers to rein in the firms’ business practices.
• Trial of cell-based therapy for high-risk lymphoma leads to FDA breakthrough designation
  Stanford Medicine—July 9, 2024
  CAR-T cell therapy, which targets a specific protein on the surface of cancer cells, causes tumors to shrink or disappear in about half of patients with large B-cell lymphoma who haven’t experienced improvement with chemotherapy treatments. But if this CAR-T treatment fails, or the cancer returns yet again—as happens in approximately half of people—the prognosis is dire. The medians survival time after relapse is about six months.
• UC San Diego Health offers new bladder-saving gene therapy to treat localized bladder cancer
  News-Medical—July 8, 2024
  UC San Diego Health is the first health system in San Diego County to offer a new bladder-saving gene therapy to treat localized bladder cancer. The novel treatment is the first and only FDA-approved gene therapy delivered directly into the bladder for non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). Called nadofaragene firadenovec (Adstiladrin), the gene therapy addresses an unmet need for patients who are no longer responding to the longstanding first line of defense; bacillus calmette-guerin (BCG), a bacteria-based immunotherapy for cancer management.
• Here’s why Eli Lilly, Pfizer and J&J are in San Diego looking for the next big drug
  San Diego Union-Tribune – July 5, 2024
  At a time when funding is scarce and it seems like more local life science companies are laying off or moving out of California, there are still opportunities being built for San Diego’s biotech startups through incubators. Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co. announced late last year that it was expanding its presence in San Diego with an 80,000-square-foot facility to support up-and-coming biotechs. In March, Pfizer also announced a local program that will connect startups with its experts and resources. The goal for these incubators: Find and nurture the next potential blockbuster treatment. And the competition is fierce.
• FDA approves donanemab, Eli Lilly’s treatment for early Alzheimer’s disease
  CNN – July 2, 2024
  The US Food and Drug Administration approved donanemab, a monoclonal antibody designed to slow the progression of early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease. Donanemab, made by Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly, works by helping the body remove amyloid plaque buildup in the brain, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. Lilly said it will be sold under the name Kisunla and would cost $695 per vial before insurance, what would amount to $12,522 for a six-month course or about $32,000 for a year, depending on when the patient would complete their treatment