Viridian’s thyroid eye disease drug cleared another Phase 3, giving the program two wins to show regulators ahead of any potential filing. Back-to-back Phase 3 successes in the same indication give the agency exactly what it needs: replicated evidence that the effect is real.
But the item with the wider reach is a blood test that might predict who responds to Wegovy. If that test proves accurate enough to guide prescribing decisions, it reshapes GLP-1 coverage across the board. Payers would have clinical cover to require pre-screening before approving a course of treatment. Prescribers would face a new gatekeeping step before writing a script. The drugmaker would face questions about what share of current users wouldn’t have qualified under a testing protocol in the first place.
Ideaya dropped two assets that GSK had already returned. When a partner walks and the original holder then cuts the same drugs, the signal is consistent: neither side saw a development path worth the cost of carrying them.
The Wegovy test is the one to track. Predictive biomarkers in blockbuster markets tend to cut both ways.
— Sarah Chen