--- title: "" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/286303707.md" description: "Rigel Pharmaceuticals has entered a global licensing agreement with Arvinas and Pfizer for Veppanu, a novel cancer therapy, involving a $70 million upfront payment and potential future earnings of up to $320 million. Eli Lilly released data from two obesity trials showing patients maintained significant weight loss after switching from higher-dose GLP-1 therapies to Foundayo. Hope Mueller emphasizes that true pharmaceutical expertise requires recognizing when to reset one's approach to problem-solving." datetime: "2026-05-13T18:26:42.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/286303707.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/286303707.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/286303707.md) --- # Welcome to _Pharmaceutical Executive Daily_, your quick briefing on the top news shaping the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry. In today's _Pharmaceutical Executive Daily_, Rigel Pharmaceuticals enters an exclusive global licensing agreement with Arvinas and Pfizer for Veppanu, Eli Lilly releases data from two late-phase trials showing patients maintained meaningful weight loss after transitioning from higher-dose injectable GLP-1 therapies, and Hope Mueller argues that true pharmaceutical expertise is defined not just by having answers but by recognizing when you need a reset. Rigel Pharmaceuticals has into an exclusive global licensing agreement with Arvinas and Pfizer to develop, manufacture, and commercialize Veppanu, vepdegestrant, the first FDA-approved PROteolysis TArgeting Chimera, or Protac, a novel class of cancer therapy that degrades disease-causing proteins rather than simply inhibiting them. Under the terms of the deal, Arvinas and Pfizer receive a $70 million upfront payment plus $15 million upon completion of development and manufacturing transition activities, up to $320 million in future regulatory and commercial milestones, and tiered royalties in the mid-teens to mid-20s on global net sales. Eli Lilly has released from two late-phase obesity trials, Surmount-Maintain and Attain-Maintain, showing that patients with obesity were able to maintain substantial long-term weight loss after transitioning from higher-dose injectable incretin therapies to either Foundayo or a lower dose of Zepbound. In Attain-Maintain, participants who switched from Wegovy to Foundayo maintained all but 0.9 kilograms of their previously achieved weight loss over 52 weeks, while those switching from Zepbound to Foundayo maintained all but 5.0 kilograms, a meaningful difference that reflects Foundayo's single GLP-1 receptor mechanism compared to Zepbound's dual GIP and GLP-1 action. In Surmount-Maintain, patients who stepped down from maximum tolerated doses of Zepbound to a 5 milligram maintenance dose retained most of their prior weight reduction, regaining an average of 5.6 kilograms by week 112, while patients who remained on the maximum tolerated dose maintained all of their prior weight loss on average. Finally, Hope Mueller on what pharmaceutical expertise actually demands in practice, arguing that true expertise is defined not only by the depth of one's knowledge but by the intellectual honesty to recognize when a problem has outpaced one's current frame of reference. Mueller contends that the instinct to project confidence in the face of uncertainty, common in high-stakes commercial and clinical environments, often prevents the kind of deliberate reset that produces better decisions, and that the most effective experts in pharma are those who have learned to treat that moment of being stuck not as a failure but as a signal that new information or a different perspective is required. Thanks for listening to _Pharmaceutical Executive Daily_. For more updates and in-depth analysis, visit PharmExec.com. ### Related Stocks - [LLY.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/LLY.US.md) - [RIGL.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/RIGL.US.md) - [PFE.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/PFE.US.md) - [ARVN.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/ARVN.US.md) - [PBE.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/PBE.US.md) ## Related News & Research - [How S&P Drug Titan Pfizer Plans To Outdo Its Own $6 Billion Franchise](https://longbridge.com/en/news/287039716.md) - [Pfizer Inc. $PFE Shares Acquired by Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC](https://longbridge.com/en/news/287041763.md) - [Eli Lilly (LLY) Is the Face of the Obesity Boom. Has the Market Already Priced It In?](https://longbridge.com/en/news/286727957.md) - [Eli Lilly stock: Next stop $2,000?](https://longbridge.com/en/news/286829092.md) - [Eli Lilly (LLY) Is Up 6.0% After Obesity Drug Data And $4.5B Manufacturing Push - Has The Bull Case Changed?](https://longbridge.com/en/news/286629257.md)