23And I yielded; AstraZeneca revises cancer drug plans

The best morning for you. And it's a fine one. Plenty of sunshine and clear blue skies once again envelope the Pharmalot campus, where the official mascots hop around the grounds in search of creatures to annoy. We are still busy hunting and collecting interesting objects. We trust you have your own hectic plans. So join us as we lift up the ever-present appeal—our pick today is coconut rum—and tackle the rapidly growing to-do list. Have a nice day everyone and stay in touch. …

23andMe, the genetics startup that repeatedly captured the public's attention and then faced near-fatal business challenges, announced that it would halt its efforts to develop new drugs and lay off 40% of its workforce, focusing instead on sales of genetic testing to consumers and the use of the resulting data for researchwrites STAT. By closing its therapeutics division and laying off 200 employees, 23andMe ended a bold bet it made nearly a decade ago – that it could use the genetic data it collected not only to help pharmaceutical companies but also to become one itself . Over the course of this year, the company's stock has plunged 72% and its market cap, which was $3.5 billion when it went public in 2021, is now just $111 million.

AstraZeneca was forced to resubmit a highly publicized drug in the U.S. for approval in patients with a different form of lung cancer, a move that will delay its rollout and raise questions about how widely it could be usedtells us STAT. The drug Dato-DXd is a type of next-generation chemotherapy, a so-called antibody-drug conjugate, in which AstraZeneca and other companies are investing heavily. AstraZeneca, which is partnering with Daiichi Sankyo on the drug, has named Dato-DXd as one of the products that will help it nearly double its sales to $80 billion by 2030. The companies applied for approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in February for advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer, but have instead submitted a new application for Dato-DXd in patients with non-small cell lung cancer with a mutation in the EGFR gene. Meanwhile, the company hasn't revealed many new details about the investigation employees are facing in China over allegations of health insurance fraud, illegal drug importation and personal data breaches. “We take matters in China very seriously,” Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said in a statement. Finally, AstraZeneca plans to invest $3.5 billion to expand its research, development and manufacturing activities in the United States by 2026.