Bimekizumab

Eli Lilly and AstraZeneca landed at the top of IDEA Pharma's annual Innovation Index and Invention Index rankings, respectively. As Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk continue to go in opposite directions in their diabetes and obesity market rivalry, so too have they changed positions in the annual IDEA Pharma Innovation Index, which ranks (PDF) the most transformative companies in the biopharma industry.While Lilly advanced from fourth place in 2024 to the top spot this year, it has supplanted last year's champion Novo, which tumbled all the way to eighth place. It’s a familiar perch for Lilly, which earned IDEA’s No. 1 slot in 2019 and 2021.This is the 14th year that IDEA, a pharmaceutical industry consulting firm based in London, has conducted the analysis. In 2019, IDEA added an annual Invention Index, which was topped by AstraZeneca for the third time in the last four years.In conducting its Innovation ranking, IDEA asks two questions: Who in the industry is at the forefront of innovation and what are they doing to achieve this? Additionally, if two biopharma companies were given the same molecule in early phase, which would better develop and launch it and why?In ranking Lilly No. 1, IDEA cited the FDA approvals of obesity drug Zepbound for obstructive sleep apnea, Kisunla for Alzheimer’s disease and Ebglyss for atopic dermatitis, each of which came in the second half of 2024.IDEA also recognized Lilly’s $3.2 billion buyout of Morphic to expand its immunology portfolio and its creation of the LillyDirect platform, which “reflects the company’s commitment to improving patient access and affordability by streamlining therapy delivery and reducing insulin costs.”On the flip side, in addition to falling into No. 8 on the Innovation Index, Novo plummeted to last place in the Invention Index. In both categories, IDEA ranks the industry’s top 30 companies.Novo’s declining fortunes are reflected in a market cap slide from $640 billion in July of last year to its present figure of $293 billion. Last week, the company announced the departure of eight-year CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen.  Also receiving high marks in the Innovation rankings were No. 2 Merck, which jumped from the 10th slot largely because of the continued progression of the development of megablockbuster Keytruda. Third-place AZ and fourth-place Roche rose from Nos. 7 and 8, respectively, while Pfizer, which claimed consecutive titles in 2022 and 2023 for its rapid development of COVID-19 products, came in at No. 5. Also making notable jumps were No. 6 Regeneron, from 15th place, No. 7 UCB, which vaulted from outside of the top 20, and No. 10 Novartis, which was up from 17th place.UCB’s leap was fueled by “significant advancements in immunology, neurology and rare diseases,” IDEA wrote, citing advancements with Bimzelx in inflammatory conditions. "With a pipeline that spans high-need therapeutic areas, UCB has re-established itself as a resilient and innovative player, leveraging differentiated biologics and cutting-edge research to address unmet patient needs,” IDEA CEO Mike Rea said in a release.While IDEA’s Innovation Index measures how well companies perform in bringing new medicines to market and commercializing them, its Invention Index examines the breadth and depth of novel agents currently being developed within the top 30 pharma pipelines. The Invention Index provides a more forward-looking view of who is developing medicines that matter, embracing science and innovations in R&D. AZ’s recent dominance of the category is owed to its deep portfolio across several disease areas, including oncology, evidenced by the success and additional potential of blockbusters Tagrisso, Imfinzi and Enhertu across multiple cancer types.AZ replaced Johnson & Johnson in the top spot, with J&J falling to second place this year, one notch in front of Moderna. As they did in the Innovation Index, Roche and Regeneron also made significant leaps, from No. 17 and No. 8, respectively, last year, to tie for fourth place. Jumping from the teens into the top 10 were No. 8 GSK, as well as BeiGene and Boehringer Ingelheim, which tied for 10th place. Others in the Invention Index top 10 were No. 6 Lilly, No. 7 Merck and No. 9 Pfizer.In addition to Novo placing last in the Invention Index, others who performed poorly in the rankings were Merck KGaA, which placed No. 30 in Innovation and No. 26 in Invention. Takeda also was in the bottom five in both categories. Bayer, Biogen, AbbVie and Otsuka were in the bottom 10 in both categories.

The flurry of immunology biotech launches continues. Boston-based Hillstar Bio on Tuesday became the latest immunology startup launch, unveiling a $67 million Series A round funded by Droia Ventures, Frazier Life Sciences, Novo Holdings and LifeArc Ventures. The biologics developer has been in the works since 2023, CEO Robert Mabry told Endpoints News . Mabry joined Hillstar in recent months after departing his chief scientific officer post at RNA medicines outfit Orna Therapeutics . “It’s just such a fantastic time for biologics right now. You’re seeing just a renaissance. All the technology is coming to fruition,” Mabry said. With the Series A, Hillstar expects to get into the clinic next year with its first biologic. The startup will begin in axial spondyloarthritis, or axSpA. The inflammatory condition leads to lower back pain, causing arthritis in the spine and other joints and organs. Approved medicines for the condition include Novartis’ Cosentyx, UCB’s Bimzelx and AbbVie’s Rinvoq . Others, like Acelyrin, once had ambitions in the space. Hillstar’s HSB-101 biologic targets TRBV9 + T cells. The goal is to invoke an “immune reset,” Mabry said. Beyond its lead asset, Hillstar could go into cold agglutinin disease, or CAD, according to a job posting for the company. In the rare condition, a patient’s immune system prematurely kills red blood cells. Sanofi sold Enjaymo, its approved drug for the condition, to Recordati for $825 million in October. “It’s still an area that we’re exploring,” Mabry said of CAD. “What we’ve been able to generate is a proprietary dataset using patient samples in that area, so we’re very excited about that as one of many different autoimmune diseases that we can go after.” Leading the biotech’s development is former Boston Pharmaceuticals clinical development SVP Mitchell Keegan. Hillstar’s chief operating officer is Lauren Mifflin, a principal of company creation at one of the startup’s key investors, Frazier Life Sciences. Hillstar’s board includes Mabry, Ingram, Novo Holdings senior partner Kenneth Harrison, Frazier General Partner Dan Estes, Droia Managing Partner Luc Dochez and Droia Partner Matthias Van Woensel. Mabry emphasized that the startup is an asset-focused company with drugs near the clinic — a profile investors have favored over the last few years of a moribund biotech sector. “We’re an asset company, a pipeline company — we’re not a platform technology company,” Mabry said. “That really changes the way you can run a biotech company. It changes the way you use the capital.” Along with the investment funds, another key Hillstar backer is Hummingbird Bioscience, a Singapore-based biotech that originated about a decade ago and that has antibody and antibody-drug conjugate platforms. Earlier this month, Frazier and Novo Holdings backed an ADC spinout from Hummingbird called Callio Therapeutics . “They’ve been a great shareholder for us and so being able to leverage them as part of our development, but also gaining access to other technologies that provide a lot of insight into development, that’s been a great partnership for us,” Mabry said of Hummingbird.