STAT+: AbbVie wins FDA nod for Parkinson’s pill

STAT+ reports in its headline that AbbVie has received FDA approval for a Parkinson’s disease pill. The available excerpt does not include the drug’s name, specific indication, trial data, or approval details beyond that headline.

Elsewhere in the same biotech newsletter, Kodiak Sciences said its experimental vision-sparing treatment Zenkuda achieved statistical equivalence to Eylea, a standard therapy, in a Phase 3 clinical trial for a common cause of age-related blindness.

Merck said it paid $400 million upfront to China’s SciBrunch Therapeutics for global license rights to a preclinical cancer drug targeting tumors with KRAS G12D mutations. The deal is valued at $2.13 billion if all future milestones are achieved.

Novo Nordisk is increasingly marketing its GLP-1 drugs less as treatments for a chronic disease and more as consumer products for people who want to lose weight, according to STAT’s Elaine Chen. The shift comes as insurance coverage for obesity medicines remains limited.

The newsletter notes it was composed from a pediatric emergency department, with a light aside warning readers not to jump off 6-foot playground equipment. The rest of the STAT+ story is behind a paywall.