Thanks for the memories
Eli Lilly's big breakthrough
Happy Monday, friends. This is your Stock Market Rundown for June 15th, 2024. Thanks for reading. Let’s get into it:
TODAY’S TOP STORY: DEMENTIA DISCOVERY
A new drug manufactured by pharma company Eli Lilly has just been approved by the FDA. Yes, this might seem like an ordinary Tuesday for the FDA—they approve new drugs all the time.
But industry observers are tracking this approval closely, because of what the drug treats: Alzheimer’s disease. Finding effective treatments for Alzheimer’s has been as elusive as Bigfoot on a foggy Appalachian day.
Eli Lilly’s new drug, which will be sold under the name Kisunla, works by clearing sticky plaques, called beta amyloid, from the brain. Consider it Clorox for your neurons.
It’s an exciting breakthrough after decades of research and a long list of experimental drugs have failed to show any promise in treating the disease, which affects more than 6 million Americans.
Trials show Kisunla slows the progression of memory problems by a third. But the drug comes with a hefty price tag: $32,000 for 12 months of treatment.
Paying the same price for a drug as you’d pay for a 2020 Toyota Highlander may sound steep. But hey, at least if you’re getting this treatment, you might remember where you left your car keys.
SO WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
The US stock market is hotter than Death Valley in July, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq benchmark stock indexes hitting record highs.
An activist investor is pushing for changes to Southwest’s board of directors, complaining of poor financial results. Bring back in-flight peanuts and hot pants on flight attendants, problem solved.
Shares in Novo Nordisk, makers of Ozempic, dropped after a study showed that a competing weight-loss drug helps patients lose more weight. Did they try comparing it to eating nothing but grapefruit and cotton balls?
France is cracking down on counterfeit fashion to protect their valuable luxury industry. They’ll have to rip my Chinese-made knockoff Gucci backpack out of my cold, dead hands.
That's all for today, valued colleagues; let’s reconvene for more later this week. Yours in capitalism, The Axe
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