COMMENT: The upcoming results for Grazprevir/Elbasvir in HepC, a late entry to the market, will give an idea of where Merck will fall in relation to the current top-runners Abbvie and Gilead. However to compete with either it will need to show at least a 90% sustained viral response rate. 

The presentation of EMBODY-1 and -2 trial data by UCB seems to be highly anticipated by covering analysts. Previous evidence released indicates that epratuzumab has the potential to be more efficacious then current treatments including Glaxo’s Benlysta. 

It is uncommon in pharma to see as straight-up a horse race as that facing the cholesterol-lowering agents Praluent from Sanofi and Regeneron and Repatha from Amgen – the two PCSK9 projects could be launched in the US within weeks of each other later this summer. A two-day FDA advisory committee next month will shed light on what differentiation, if any, there is between them.

Given that long-term outcomes data will not be available until 2017-18 regulators might want to limit access to those patients with genetic disease, and extend coverage more widely only when they can be shown to prevent cardiovascular events and deaths. While cost is not technically a consideration, it will be on the back of everybody’s minds when deciding who is eligible for the PCSK9s... 

With US approval of Breo Ellipta in adults with asthma in the bag, GlaxoSmithKline is now gearing up for an even bigger event – data from a huge study seeking to prove that the combination therapy can extend the lives of patients with COPD.

Meanwhile San Diego-based company Otonomy is awaiting data from a phase II trial of its Ménière’s disease candidate OTO-104, expected mid-year. With a successful IPO behind it and its lead drug, AuriPro, awaiting FDA approval, Otonomy is in a fairly good position – but not so good that it can afford a miss in this trial...

The slow rise of Bristol-Myers Squibb/AbbVie’s multiple myeloma project elotuzumab got another fillip with its pivotal study yielding sufficiently good data for Asco to include it as one of four highlighted abstracts in today’s presscast.

The Eloquent-2 trial suggests that elotuzumab should be added to Celgene’s blockbuster Revlimid in second and later-line uses, where it has US breakthrough designation, and its "dual" mechanism has attracted particular attention. Pricing is another thing; Revlimid is already an expensive drug, and the financial cost of adding elotuzumab, an antibody, on top of it could become as prominent an issue as the results themselves...