Madrigal Pharmaceuticals is experiencing a successful launch of its MASH (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis) drug, Rezdiffra. The company reported $62 million in third-quarter sales, significantly surpassing expectations. This strong performance has eased investor concerns about the drug's market potential, especially given the increasing use of GLP-1s for obesity, a common precursor to MASH.
Rezdiffra's Promising Start
According to STAT News, Madrigal more than tripled the number of patients on Rezdiffra from the end of the June quarter. CEO Bill Siebold acknowledged the progress, stating, "While we still have a lot of work left to do, we have made terrific progress to date." The drug was approved in March, marking a significant step forward in addressing liver damage caused by MASH.
Compass Pathways Restructuring
In other news, Compass Pathways, a leading company in developing psychedelic therapies, is laying off 30% of its staff. This decision comes as clinical trials for its psilocybin treatment, COMP360, for treatment-resistant depression are facing delays. Phase 3 results, initially expected this summer, have been pushed back to the second quarter of 2025, with another study's results delayed to 2026.
Compass Pathways CEO Kabir Nath cited the complexity of the trials and scheduling challenges as contributing factors to the delays. He noted that inexperienced sites are carefully managing patient flow as they become more proficient.
UCB's Alzheimer's Drug Shows Limited Efficacy
UCB, a Belgian biopharma company, presented data from a Phase 2 clinical trial of its tau-targeting antibody, bepranemab, for Alzheimer's disease. While the drug successfully slowed tau accumulation compared to placebo, it did not meet its primary endpoint of slowing Alzheimer's progression as measured by the Clinical Dementia Rating sum of boxes (CDR-SB).
Further analysis revealed that bepranemab showed some efficacy in patients with low initial tau levels or who were not carriers of the APOE4 genetic variant. Despite these findings, Roche and its subsidiary Genentech had previously returned the rights to the drug to UCB, tempering expectations for its future development.
