YaoWenKangCe Weekly Pharma News (August 4–10): Highlights and Product Updates
Johnson & Johnson
Medical Device R&D and Manufacturer
☝ ☝ Click to View the Summit Activity Agenda ☝ ☝ This week, the 11th round of national centralized procurement volume reporting has officially started. According to the notice from the National Joint Procurement Office for Medicines,The 11th batch of drug procurement for medical institutions will be carried out from August 6 to August 25.The biggest difference between this volume report and previous ones lies in:Medical institutions can report quantities by brand, ensuring their autonomy in drug selection.
Global pharmaceutical companies have successively disclosed their Q2 2025 financial reports. Johnson & Johnson leads MNCs with a revenue of $45.636 billion, followed closely by Roche and Merck. The rest, in order, are AbbVie, Pfizer, Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca, Novartis, Bayer, and BMS.
More information is organized as follows:
Weekly Medical Device Roundup
1. The innovative insomnia drug Lemborexant debuts on Meituan.
On August 6, the innovative insomnia drug Lemborexant was launched on Meituan.
Lemborexant (trade name: Dayvigo) is the first approved dual orexin receptor antagonist, originally developed by Eisai Pharmaceuticals.Can be used to treat adult patients with insomnia and has not been regulated as a psychotropic drug.It has little impact on work and other daytime activities, and no addiction potential has been found since it was marketed.
Data shows that more than 500 million people in China are troubled by sleep issues. Previously, insomnia medications were mostly classified as Category II psychotropic drugs and were under strict control. After the launch of Lemborexant on Meituan, it brought a new treatment option to patients suffering from insomnia and improved the accessibility of insomnia medications.
As a leading pharmaceutical e-commerce platform in China, Meituan actively introduces newly launched innovative drug products. Since last year, it has premiered seven new drugs online, includingXingqi Atropine Sulfate 0.01% Eye Drops, NovoGain, NovoJoy, Tirzepatide, Masitopeptide, Dotevolure,Including this Leborex, covering fields such as GLP-1, myopia, gout, and insomnia, contributes to enhancing the accessibility of innovative drugs.
2. Dulaglutide Biosimilar Approved for Marketing in China
On August 8, the official website of the National Medical Products Administration showed,Dulaglutide Injection from Boan Biotech, a subsidiary of Luye Pharma, has been approved for marketing in China.For blood glucose control in adult patients with type 2 diabetes. This is the first domestically produced dulaglutide biosimilar approved for marketing in China.
The original dulaglutide is a long-acting GLP-1 receptor agonist developed by Eli Lilly, with an injection frequency of once per week.Global sales in 2024 reached USD 5.2535 billion.Boan Biotech's Dulaglutide Biosimilar Conducts Phase III Trial with Randomized, Open-label, Parallel, Positive-controlled Design in Chinese Adult Patients with Type 2 Diabetes, Achieving All Pre-specified Endpoints
According to the PharmCube database, there are currently 6 dulaglutide biosimilars under development globally.Products from Lepu Medical and Shuanglu Pharmaceutical followed closely.
3. Eli Lilly's Oral Weight Loss Drug Shows Lower-Than-Expected Efficacy
On August 7, Eli Lilly announced the Phase III clinical data of the oral GLP-1RA agonist Orforglipron. The data fell short of expectations, causing Eli Lilly's stock price to plummet 14% on the same day, wiping out $100 billion in market value.
The study showed that the highest dose group of Orforglipron (36mg) treatmentThe average weight loss at 72 weeks was 11.5%.This is equivalent to the effect at 36 weeks in its Phase II clinical trial. In contrast, Novo Nordisk's weight-loss version of semaglutide at a dose of 2.4mg resulted in a weight loss of 15.1% after 72 weeks of treatment.
Lilly still plans toSubmit marketing applications to major countries worldwide before the end of this year,And has started large-scale production capacity layout.
Overview of Major Policies
1. Favorable Policies for Pharmaceutical Financing Introduced
On August 5, the People's Bank of China, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, and other seven departments jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on Financial Support for New Industrialization." The Opinions mentioned supporting key technology and product breakthroughs.Guide banks to provide medium- and long-term financing for key industrial chains in the manufacturing sector, such as integrated circuits, machine tools, and medical equipment, to support their technological and product research efforts.
In supporting the acceleration of building a modern industrial system, mention is made of supporting qualified enterprises in emerging industries such as next-generation information technology, basic software and industrial software, intelligent (connected) vehicles, new energy, new materials, high-end equipment, spatiotemporal information, commercial aerospace, and biomedicine.Financing in a multi-level capital market.
2. The Sixth Batch of High-Value Consumables National Procurement in China is About to Launch
Recently, the National Organization for High-value Medical Consumables Joint Procurement Office released "On LaunchingDrug-Coated Balloons and Urological Interventional Medical DevicesNotice on the Centralized Maintenance of Information," stipulating that relevant enterprises complete the centralized maintenance of consumables information by August 11.
According to regulations, products from the same overseas medical device registrant cannot be maintained by different companies.
Medical and Health Incidents
1. Vice Mayor Corrupt in Medical Equipment Procurement
On August 7, the Supreme People's Procuratorate released a message,Liu Lan, former Member of the Party Leadership Group and Vice Mayor (at the Deputy Department Level) of the Guiyang Municipal People's Government, Guizhou ProvinceThe case of alleged bribery, investigated by the Guizhou Provincial Supervisory Commission, has been transferred to the procuratorial organs for review and prosecution. The Guizhou procuratorial organs have decided to arrest Liu Lan according to law.
Public information shows that Liu Lan, female, Miao ethnic group, was born in March 1973 in Chongqing. Liu Lan studied Clinical Medicine at the Medical Department of Guiyang Medical College and graduated in 1995.Working at the Guizhou Provincial Health Commission for over 20 years,In 2017, served as the vice mayor of Tongren City, and in 2021, became the vice mayor of Guiyang City, overseeing work in education, health, market supervision, and medical insurance.
The investigation conclusion of the Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervisory Commission shows: Liu Lan lost her ideals and beliefs, deviated from her original mission, and resisted organizational review; disregarded the spirit of the Central Eight Provisions, accepted gifts and cash that could affect the impartial performance of official duties, and received assets clearly exceeding normal social exchanges; used public power as a tool to obtain personal gain.Using the convenience of one's position to seek benefits for others in the procurement of medical equipment, etc.,Did not illegally receive huge amounts of property.
2.The Largest BD in AI Pharmaceuticals Born
On August 5, "AI Pharma's First Stock" XtalPi Holdings announced that its subsidiary XtalPi Technology had reached a licensing cooperation agreement with Dovetree.XtalPi Receives $51 Million Upfront Payment and Will Receive a Further $49 Million Payment,Subsequently, milestone payments of up to $5.89 billion and sales royalties can be obtained.Total transaction amount nearly 6 billion US dollars,Set a new record for the scale of orders in the AI pharmaceuticals field.
According to the agreement, Dovetree will leverage XtalPi's "AI + robotics" drug discovery platform to discover and develop small molecule and antibody candidate drugs targeting specified targets in the fields of oncology, immunology and inflammatory diseases, neurological disorders, and metabolic disorders, and will hold the exclusive global development and commercialization rights for the relevant drugs.
According to the PharmaCube database, as of now,XtalPi Has Reached Approximately 40 Out-Licensing Deals,Among them, there were 25 technology platform collaborations, accounting for more than 60%.
3. The U.S. Cancels Funding for mRNA Vaccine Project
On August 5 local time, newly appointed U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stated: "The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority has decided to terminate 22 mRNA vaccine development investments,Because the data shows that such vaccines cannot effectively prevent upper respiratory infections such as COVID and influenza."
This move represents a significant escalation in the anti-vaccine and anti-mRNA technology campaign. According to foreign media reports, compared to previously targeting only specific companies and projects, this time the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has requested that Global Health Investment Corporation, which manages official risk capital funds, "halt all equity investments based on mRNA technology."
At the end of May this year, mRNA vaccine giant Moderna received a notice from the U.S. Department of Health stating that it would terminate the contract for the avian influenza vaccine candidate project.
(Source: Jian Shi Ju Author: Li Ao)
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