Peter Loftus

Cancer is impacting the finances, relationships and futures of more young people

Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are offering discounts to encourage more insurance coverage of the medicines, which carry price tags of over $1,000 a month.

Novo Nordisk’s American depositary receipts tumbled almost 6% Friday after the drugmaker reported mixed results from a study of an experimental weight-loss pill. The pill, monlunabant, helped people lose weight in the mid-stage study, but Leerink Partners called the magnitude “underwhelming,” and analysts noted that some patients had anxiety and other neuropsychiatric side effects. Its stock-price decline underscores just how closely investors are following the industry race to develop a weight-loss pill that may be less expensive and easier to manufacture than injected drugs like Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound.

Drugmaker Eli Lilly said it will spend $4.5 billion to build a new manufacturing research hub in Indiana, where it will develop new methods of producing complicated types of medicines. The new investment comes as Lilly and rival Novo Nordisk are ramping up manufacturing capacity due to skyrocketing demand for weight-loss drugs including Zepbound and Wegovy. The Lilly project announced Wednesday will allow it to develop new manufacturing techniques for experimental anti-obesity drugs and other medicines in its pipeline.

The removal of Zepbound and Mounjaro from the regulator’s shortage list could lead to restrictions on pharmacies making custom-made versions.

Johnson & Johnson reported higher-than-expected quarterly sales and earnings, fueled by gains in its prescription-drug and medical-device businesses. J&J’s pharmaceutical business posted a 4.9% gain, helped by higher sales of cancer drug Darzalex and the depression treatment Spravato. The company is counting on growth from these and other drugs to offset an expected decline in sales from the loss of patent exclusivity for one of its biggest sellers, Stelara, a treatment for psoriasis and gut disorders.

Spravato, a depression treatment derived from club drug ketamine, was looking like a dud. Its recent success now shows a path forward for psychedelic-based medicines.

Eli Lilly shares slid in premarket trading after the drugmaker reported disappointing quarterly results, with sales of its popular diabetes and anti-obesity drugs lower than expected. Lilly said inventory decreases in the wholesaler channel hurt sales of its diabetes drug Mounjaro and anti-obesity

Shares of Abbott Laboratories and Reckitt Benckiser rose Friday after the companies won a victory in litigation over the safety of some of their baby-formula products. Abbott shares rose 4% in early New York trading, while Reckitt’s shares were up 8% in London.A jury in Missouri state court on Th

Moderna shares jumped after the biotechnology company reported higher-than-expected sales of its Covid-19 vaccine and backed its full-year sales forecast. Moderna's stock rose 7% in premarket trading. In the week following approval, Moderna said it shipped twice as many doses as it did a year earlier.