Eisai and Biogen's Alzheimer’s disease drug lecanemab did surprisingly well in a phase 3 trial. The results support the idea that an anti-amyloid drug like lecanemab could be a way to treat Alzheimer’s—a hypothesis that has been under fire since Biogen's debacle with its approved anti-amyloid med, Aduhelm. And, while lecanemab's approvability isn't being debated—unlike the case with Aduhelm after its phase 3 program read out—commercial reimbursement could still be a challenge for the Eisai drug.

We'll also talk about football, or at least Pfizer's COVID vaccine ad campaign that kicked off during the NFL season. The company's marketing strategy over the last almost two years has changed over time and with various approvals. Recently, Pfizer ramped up its campaign with branded advertising for shots in teens, but its NFL season push is focused on its new, tweaked booster vaccine and takes a more subtle approach but with big money behind it.  

To learn more about topics in this episode: 

• It's a hit: Eisai springs 'major surprise' with phase 3 win for Biogen-partnered Alzheimer's drug 
• Eisai and Biogen's phase 3 Alzheimer's win puts amyloid back in the driver's seat, for now
• Editor's Corner: Eisai and Biogen need to meet CMS halfway after lecanemab's Alzheimer's clinical trial win
• NFL season sees Pfizer kick off major Comirnaty COVID vaccine ad offensive for teens, boosters 
• Pfizer offers a soft sell with a strong message on vaccines in first COVID ad
• The inside story behind Pfizer and BioNTech's new vaccine brand name, Comirnaty
• Sign of the times? US stocks up on Amgen's radiation sickness drug Nplate 
• Capacity to spare: US has manufacturing firepower to crank out more essential medicines, researchers say 
• Illumina pitches $200 genomes with new line of DNA sequencers 
• Novo Nordisk ready to submit once-weekly insulin to FDA after scoring final phase 3 win 
• Ocaliva fails NASH trial just as Intercept charts path toward FDA application

The Top Line is produced by senior multimedia producer Teresa Carey with managing editor Querida Anderson and senior editors Annalee Armstrong, Ben Adams, Conor Hale and Eric Sagonowsky. The sound engineer is Caleb Hodgson. The stories are by all our “Fierce” journalists. Like and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts.

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