Pharmaceutical Market Europe • January 2026 • 6
NEWS
Lilly to
acquire Ventyx Biosciences for around $1.2bn
The company’s clinical-stage programmes focus on targeting vital immune pathways to improve treatment safety and efficacy. Its pipeline of small molecule therapies is aimed at treating inflammation in diseases with high
unmet medical need, including cardiometabolic, neurodegenerative
and inflammatory disorders.
Ventyx’ portfolio includes NLRP3 inhibitors that act to block inflammation. Ventyx currently has phase 2 trials in place for recurrent pericarditis, Parkinson’s disease and inflammatory bowel disease.
Raju Mohan, CEO of Ventyx, said: “We believe that Lilly is an ideal strategic partner…to advance novel therapies that fill a vast unmet need for patients suffering from these debilitating diseases and disorders.” The acquisition is expected to be completed in the first half of 2026. Under the agreement, Lilly will acquire all outstanding shares in Ventyx, making up around 10% of Ventyx’ outstanding stock.
The acquisition of Ventyx builds on Lilly’s existing research and development programmes in autoimmune and inflammatory disease.
FDA approves first gene therapy for Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome
The US FDA has approved the first ever cell-based gene therapy to treat Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS).
WAS is a rare genetic disease caused by mutations in the WAS gene. Patients with WAS suffer from bleeding, eczema and frequent infections.
The gene therapy, Waskyra (etuvetidigene), can be used to treat adults with WAS who have a mutation in the WAS gene and can have haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), but lack a suitable donor. It can also be used to treat children aged six months and older.
The gene therapy is made from the patient’s own haematopoietic (blood) stem cells (HSCs), which have been genetically modified to include functional copies of the WAS gene.
The safety and effectiveness of this treatment was assessed via two clinical studies and an expanded access programme. After six to 18 months of treatment, patients were found to have 93% fewer infections compared to the previous year.
After 12 months of treatment, moderate and severe bleeding events were reduced by 60% compared to the previous year. In addition, after four years, most patients did not experience instances of moderate or severe bleeding.
Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy approved by FDA as oral medication for weight management
Following the FDA approval, the company launched the Wegovy pill in the US in January 2026. The oral medication is more affordably priced than the injections.
In addition to its use for weight loss and weight loss maintenance, the oral medication can also reduce the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in adults who are overweight or obese and have heart disease.
Data from two trials, the OASIS clinical trial and the SELECT trial, was submitted for the approval.
Data from the OASIS 4 trial showed that taking oral semaglutide 25mg once a day resulted in a 16.6% weight loss for those who were overweight or obese and had one or more comorbidities. Those taking the 25mg pill lost a similar amount of weight as those using injectable Wegovy 2.4mg.
The oral medication trials showed comparable safety and tolerability profiles to those of the injected medication.
The oral medication has also been submitted to the European Medicines Agency and other regulatory authorities for approval.
Pharmaceutical Market Europe (PME)
Pharmaceutical industry news, articles, jobs, reports, advice and services