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Kronos Bio is letting go nearly all its employees after flashing red lights earlier this month. As part of an 83% workforce downsizing, CEO Norbert Bischofberger is heading out the door and handing the keys to recently hired finance and operating chief Deborah Knobelman. The biotech had eliminated a trio of executives in January and conducted a couple of rounds of layoffs this year and last year . The latest round of layoffs will “substantially” wrap up by Dec. 31, the company said. Bischofberger was the fifth employee at Kronos, and he’s been with it since nearly the beginning, having taken part in the startup’s seed round back in 2018 after a three-decade R&D career at Gilead. “Norbert’s steadfast leadership was instrumental in the founding and building of Kronos Bio,” chair Arie Belldegrun said in a release. Bischofberger’s resignation takes effect Dec. 3, and he’ll continue on the board, according to an SEC filing. His decades of expertise will continue elsewhere: He recently joined the board of Vir Biotechnology and is also a scientific advisor to a new VC firm trying to build up the biotech ecosystem in his native Austria. He was also on the board of Morphic until Eli Lilly bought it for $3.2 billion this summer. Kronos said earlier this month it would seek “strategic alternatives” after looking at data for its CDK9 inhibitor. It determined additional development wasn’t warranted. The biotech had inked a $20 million upfront discovery deal with Genentech last year. At the end of September, the biotech had $124.9 million in cash, equivalents and investments, meaning it could be a target for a reverse merger. There were 10 biotech reverse mergers through the first nine months of 2024, according to a William Blair third-quarter report. At least five more have been disclosed since early October. Kronos went public at $19 per share $KRON in a $250 million IPO in October 2020. It trades below $1 today.

Dive Brief:Amgen on Tuesday said its weight loss drug MariTide helped people with obesity lose up to 20% of their body weight over one year in a Phase 2 trial, paving the way for the company to initiate a larger study aimed at supporting U.S. approval.The weight loss Amgen reported for its monthly shot appeared to be in line with the popular obesity drugs Zepbound and Wegovy, Wall Street analysts said. However, the rate of trial participants discontinuing MariTide appeared higher than what was reported in testing for those weekly medicines, sold by Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk.Amgens study was among the most closely-watched in the obesity field this year, with investors driving company shares up on their high expectations for MariTide, or maridebart cafraglutide. Amgens stock fell by double digits in morning trading Tuesday. Bulls will be a little disappointed today, Jefferies analyst Michael Yee wrote in a client note.Dive Insight:Billions of dollars worth of investment have flowed into obesity drug research over the past two years, drawn by the success of Wegovy and Zepbound as well as forecasts that have predicted $100 billion or more in annual sales for obesity and diabetes drugs that target GLP-1.Both Wegovy and Zepbound have already established dominant market positions, though. Ozempic, a diabetes drug that has the same active ingredient as Wegovy and is often prescribed off-label for weight loss, is now consumer shorthand for the new obesity shots.Moreover, Novo and Lilly have data showing Wegovy and Zepbound can help in associated conditions, which have helped expand payer coverage. Wegovy gained FDA approval to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death and complications in people with obesity and established heart disease, which won it limited Medicare coverage. Meanwhile, Zepbound has shown it helps people with obesity who also have sleep apnea or heart failure.Complicating Amgens chances of competing further, both Novo and Lilly have succesor obesity drugs in Phase 3 development that, if successful in the clinic, could reach the market before MariTide.Like dozens of other companies, Amgen is trying to elbow its way in. Similar to Wegovy and Zepbound, MariTide stimulates GLP-1, a gut hormone regulating appetite and satiety. It also acts on a second hormone called GIP, but instead of stimulating it as Zepbound does, MariTide inhibits it.Amgen didnt disclose full details from MariTides Phase 2 trial, which evaluated several doses of the drug, indicating that more would be revealed at future medical meetings and in peer-reviewed journals.The trial enrolled 465 people with obesity or who were overweight, and randomized them to take a placebo, one of four monthly fixed MariTide doses, one eight week fixed dose or one of two escalation regimens up to the maximum dose. It also enrolled 127 people with obesity or who were overweight and also had Type 2 diabetes, which researchers then randomized to take a placebo or monthly fixed-dose arms.Amgen reported weight loss from treatment of up to 20% over 52 weeks for trial participants without diabetes who received MariTide, and up to 17% for those with diabetes. The drug also lowered blood sugar levels for the people with diabetes who took it.Around 11% of people in the dose escalation arms dropped out because of side effects, which is higher than the 7% recorded in Phase 3 trials of Zepbound.Based on the Phase 2 data, MariTides main differentiation appears to be its less frequent dosing, Leerink Partners analyst David Risinger wrote in a note to clients. Yee, meanwhile, wrote that the MariTide is more or less similar to Zepbound on weight loss.Analysts at Piper Sandler took a more positive view of the data, noting that it suggests MariTide appears to match Zepbounds weight loss more quickly.A number of questions remain, but we see a drug that provides equivalent weight loss to tirzepatide much faster ... with monthly dosing ...albeit with a key safety tradeoff, wrote the banks Christopher Raymond in a client note.On Tuesday, Amgen said it would start a Phase 3 clinical program of MariTide, which will include trials in people with obesity and heart disease, sleep apnea, kidney disorders and other conditions related to obesity. '

MONDAY, Nov. 25, 2024 -- Muvalaplin reduces lipoprotein(a) levels, according to a study published online Nov. 20 in the Journal of the American Medical Association to coincide with the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2024, held from Nov. 16 to 18 in Chicago. Stephen J. Nicholls, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., from Monash University in Clayton, Australia, and colleagues examined the effect of muvalaplin on lipoprotein(a) levels and assessed safety and tolerability in a phase 2, placebo-controlled trial. A total of 233 participants with lipoprotein(a) concentrations of 175 nmol/L or greater with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or familial hypercholesterolemia at 43 sites were randomly assigned to receive orally administered muvalaplin at dosages of 10, 60, or 240 mg/day (34, 64, and 68 participants, respectively) or placebo (67 participants) for 12 weeks. The researchers found that muvalaplin resulted in placebo-adjusted reductions of 47.6, 81.7, and 85.8 percent in lipoprotein(a) for the 10-, 60-, and 240-mg/day dosages, respectively, using an intact lipoprotein(a) assay, and 40.4, 70.0, and 68.9 percent, respectively, using an apolipoprotein(a)-based assay. Dose-dependent reductions in apolipoprotein B were seen for 8.9, 13.1, and 16.1 percent at doses of 10, 60, and 240 mg/day, respectively. There was no change noted in high-sensitivity C-reactive protein. Safety and tolerability concerns were not seen at any dose. "Muvalaplin inhibits lipoprotein(a) assembly with oral delivery, with evidence of effective lipoprotein(a) lowering and a favorable safety and tolerability profile," the authors write. Several authors disclosed ties to biopharmaceutical companies, including Eli Lilly, which manufactures muvalaplin and funded the study. Abstract/Full Text More Information Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.