Verve Could Continue To Rise Through Clinical Progress - Despite DeeperPocketed Competition

 

• Credit Suisse has initiated coverage on Verve Therapeutics Inc 
  VERV-2.56%+ Free Alerts
   with a Neutral rating and a $48 target price. 
• Its lead assets are VERVE-101 for heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH) and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and VERVE-201 for homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH). 
• The analyst is cautious about VERVE-101, citing a distinct advantage of being a one-time PCSK9 therapy that could free patients from a lifetime of monthly injections. However, patients are still required to take daily oral statins. 
• Credit Suisse sees high market barriers related to commercial payers and high out-of-pocket expenses for Medicare patients. 
• However, the analyst believes payer challenges may not be fully appreciated until product approval/launch.
• The opinion is based on numerically worse LDL-C reduction data, elevated liver enzymes, lack of outcomes evidence at launch, and reimbursement challenges. 
• Additionally, Leqvio has not demonstrated much commercial success despite less frequent dosing every six months. 
• The market could be further crowded with the potential launch of Merck & Co Inc's 
  MRK+0.76%+ Free Alerts
   oral PCSK9 (MK-0616) and biosimilars. 
• The analyst's Neutral rating is driven by VERV's ability to compete against well-established, wellentrenched, and deeperpocketed large pharma/biotech companies.

https://www.benzinga.com/general/biotech/22/10/29173775/credit-suisse-initiates-verve-therapeutics-while-being-cautious-on-one-gene-therapy

UK Study Shows Merck's COVID-19 Antiviral Pill Did Not Cut Hospitalization Risk

 

• Merck & Co Inc 
  MRK+0.69%+ Free Alerts
   and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics announced data from two real-world evidence studies evaluating Lagevrio (molnupiravir), an investigational oral antiviral COVID-19 medicine.
• According to the results of a pivotal clinical trial in the U.K., Merck’s COVID-19 antiviral pill failed to show it can lower the risks of hospitalization and death among adults at higher risk from the disease. 
• Preliminary results from a trial of more than 25,000 people show that taking molnupiravir can accelerate a patient’s time to recovery. But the drug showed no benefit compared to taking a placebo in reducing hospitalizations.
• An analysis of real-world data from a separate study dubbed the Clalit study, conducted in Israel, showed that in a cohort of non-hospitalized, high-risk patients, molnupiravir reduced hospitalizations and mortality due to COVID-19 in patients 65 years and above.
• No benefit was found in younger adults ages 40 to 64 years.
• Additional data from the Phase 3 MOVe-OUT trial showed that a lower proportion of molnupiravir-treated participants in the modified intent-to-treat population had an acute care visit or a COVID-19-related acute care visit versus a placebo.

https://www.benzinga.com/general/biotech/22/10/29182128/uk-study-shows-mercks-covid-19-antiviral-pill-did-not-cut-hospitalization-risk

Seniors died from COVID-19 at a higher rate than any other age group this summer

 More seniors than any other age group died from COVID-19 this past summer amid a disease surge fueled by new subvariants, according to a new analysis published Thursday from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The foundation analyzed COVID-19 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and found that death rates rose much faster for Americans older than 65, despite widespread vaccine coverage within the group.

Between April and July 2022, the number of coronavirus-related deaths among seniors grew at a faster rate for older adults, topping 11,000 in July and August. While deaths totals rose for those under 65 as well, the total was about five to six times smaller for younger Americans.

In April of this year, 1,306 Americans under the age of 65 died from COVID-19, according to CDC data. The monthly total for this demographic has officially dipped below that number as of September.

Two thousand more people older than 65 died as a result of COVID-19 in September than in April. However, this number still represented a drop of about 4,500 deaths from the month of August.

The share of COVID-19 deaths within the older than 65 age group has risen since the beginning of this year, from 24 percent in January to 40 percent in September.

The organization pointed to this data as an indication of the importance of continued vaccination against the coronavirus. Primary vaccination among seniors was particularly high — 95 percent — but enthusiasm for subsequent boosters has waned.

Less than 50 percent of people over 65 have gotten their second boosters, and it remains unclear how many people will be getting the recently approved bivalent, omicron-specific booster.

A Kaiser Family Foundation analysis released earlier this year estimated that a quarter of COVID-19 deaths seen since the start of the pandemic could have been prevented by vaccines.

A more recent projection released this week by the Commonwealth Fund estimated that between 75,000 and 90,000 deaths could be prevented by the updated bivalent boosters if an accelerated vaccination campaign was carried out beginning this month.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/3677025-seniors-died-from-covid-19-at-a-high-rate-than-any-other-age-group-this-summer-analysis/