New York
Dupixent, a drug approved to treat eczema in the US in 2017, is “a gift that keeps on giving” for investors in French pharma giant Sanofi and New York-based biotech firm Regeneron, says David Wainer in The Wall Street Journal. Dupixent is an anti-inflammatory drug that has recently returned positive results in a late-stage study of smokers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Its use led to a 30% reduction in the rate at which patients’ COPD worsened compared with a placebo. COPD is the third-highest cause of death around the world, brought on by smoking and exposure to noxious particles in the air. It is characterised by airflow blockages and other breathing-related problems. No new treatment has been approved in over a decade, mainly because COPD is a complex disorder with clinical characteristics that vary by patient. Rival pharmaceutical companies GSK and AstraZeneca have failed in tough clinical trials. However, companies that do come up with promising results stand to be richly rewarded. Dupixent has been dubbed a “pipeline in a drug” for
