Sharon Barr, AstraZeneca’s executive vice president, biopharmaceuticals R&D, in an interview with Scrip, outlines how the company is using a holistic approach to define a new competitive landscape in the weight loss sector. She also sees new frontiers for the firm and its potential partners both in China and beyond to jointly explore aimed at maintaining healthy muscle mass while decreasing body fat.

HAYA, a pioneer in lncRNA, is teaming up with Lilly to discover novel targets and programmable RNA therapies for obesity and metabolic disorders.

Restructuring Edition: Vir will end influenza, COVID-19 and T-cell-based viral vector platform programs to focus on clinical hepatitis and cancer assets. Also, FibroGen cut 75% of its workforce after a clinical trial failure, while Arbutus, HilleVax, Pfizer and others also announced layoffs.

Novel agents in immuno-oncology headline the drug center’s upcoming goal dates, while gene therapies make up most of the biologic center’s workload.