In today's Pharmaceutical Executive Daily, a pharma dealmaking roundup covers AbbVie's multi-year AI drug discovery collaboration with Iambic and Telix Pharmaceuticals' up-to-$2.35-billion acquisition of ITM Isotope Technologies, Novo’s CagriSema outperforms Eli Lilly's tirzepatide on weight loss in a head-to-head diabetes trial, and Jen Lamppa of Inovalon discusses how real-time clinical data layers are reshaping patient recruitment for clinical trials.
Two dealmaking moves this week highlight where AI and consolidation are reshaping drug development. AbbVie entered a multi-year collaboration with Iambic to apply the company's Enchant and NeuralPLexer AI models to small-molecule drug discovery in immunology, neuroscience, and oncology, with Iambic receiving an upfront payment plus milestone and royalty payments. Separately, Telix Pharmaceuticals is acquiring ITM Isotope Technologies Munich in a deal worth up to $2.35 billion, including $1.65 billion in upfront consideration and up to $700 million tied to FDA approvals and sales milestones for ITM's radiopharmaceutical ITM-11, which has completed two Phase III trials.
Novo's CagriSema outperformed Eli Lilly's tirzepatide in a late-stage diabetes trial, with the 1 mg dose of the combined amylin-GLP-1 therapy producing 12.4% average weight loss compared with 9.1% for tirzepatide 5 mg, while showing non-inferior blood sugar reduction. Novo has already submitted CagriSema's obesity application to the FDA, with a decision expected in the fourth quarter of 2026 and a launch targeted for early 2027. Not everyone is impressed: BMO analyst Evan Seigerman calls the results "less impactful" given that tirzepatide has already outperformed higher doses of CagriSema in obesity trials.
Finally, Pharmaceutical Executive speaks with Jen Lamppa, vice president of commercial strategy at Inovalon, on how real-time clinical and administrative data layers are reshaping clinical trial recruitment. Lamppa argues that feeding patient-specific diagnosis, medication, and medical-history data into the enrollment process validates what patients self-report and reduces the burden placed on them during screening, building a sturdier foundation for the process overall. She points to the FDA's June 2026 pilot program to shorten early-stage trial timelines and the growing acceptance of real-world data in trial design as evidence that recruitment models will need to adapt.
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