What are some of the bigger data points for 2020? We share what we think will be the five most pivotal readouts for their respective companies (and stockholders).
Awaiting trial results can be a nervy time for investors and C-suite executives under the best of circumstances, but for Gossamer and Genfit, 2020 could prove a make-or-break year.
French biotech Genfit is looking to be one of the first companies to get a drug for fatty liver disease on the market, but it has been beset by knocks and setbacks (like everyone in the NASH dash to the final).
This year, all eyes are on agonist elafibranor, which is currently being put through its paces in the RESOLVE-IT trial in NASH. It’s in a race with Intercept Pharma’s obeticholic acid, or OCA, which is under priority review at the FDA for the treatment of liver fibrosis due to NASH, to be the first to market.
Genfit will be praying for good news, given that pretty much all of its eggs are in the elafibranor basket.
It’s a similar case over at Gossamer with its leading drug candidate GB001, which is in tests for eosinophilic asthma. While not set to report until toward the back end of 2020, things are already a little sour, after a comparable drug from Novartis flopped last year and was tossed out by the Swiss major.
The pressure is a little less on our other companies, but eyes are still keenly trained on what they can produce. This includes AstraZeneca and Amgen’s tezepelumab, a respiratory drug that has flown under the radar but is blockbuster-sales ready, according to the partners.
And while Allergan is bringing up the rear in the CGRP antagonist class of migraine-prevention drugs, its much more patient-friendly oral drug atogepant is hoping to better the approved injectables.
Last but by no means least is another Amgen drug, this time its solo effort for its anticipated CAR-T known as AMG 119, which is hoping to target not just a solid tumor but one of the toughest to boot: a form of lung cancer tightly knitted to smoking.
Check out our top five below.