The HCPFive: Top News for Healthcare Providers from the Week of 10/25

Welcome to The HCPFive, your go-to roundup for the latest healthcare news and breakthroughs, curated specifically for busy healthcare professionals. Each week, we highlight 5 key developments or headlines from healthcare that you need to know — whether it's a cutting-edge treatment, regulatory updates, or innovations shaping the future of medicine.

This week's top stories include phase 3 data on tradipitant for prevention of GLP-1-induced vomiting, head-to-head data from TRANSCEND-T2D-2 comparing retatrutide with injectable Ozempic 2 mg in adults with type 2 diabetes, the publication of a unified definition of acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF), and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) extension of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) goal date for mitapivat in sickle cell disease as well as the accelerated approval of doruxapapogene ralaplasmid and lalikinogene sifuplasmid-gxfd (Voceryq) to reduce the frequency of surgical papilloma excisions in adults with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis.

With The HCPFive, you'll get the essential takeaways to stay informed and ahead of the curve. Here's your quick dive into the top stories for the week of October 25, 2026 — let's jump in!

Tradipitant Cuts Semaglutide-Induced Vomiting in Phase 3 Trial

On October 27, 2026, Vanda Pharmaceuticals announced positive results from Study 3601, a phase 3 trial of tradipitant (Nereus), an oral neurokinin-1 (NK-1) receptor antagonist, for prevention of GLP-1-induced vomiting. According to the Company, tradipitant significantly reduced vomiting vs placebo after a single 1 mg dose of semaglutide, meeting its primary and key secondary endpoints. Vanda intends to submit a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) to the FDA for the indication.

TRANSCEND-T2D-2: Retatrutide Beats Semaglutide 2 mg on A1C, Weight Loss

On October 28, 2026, Eli Lilly and Company announced positive topline results from TRANSCEND-T2D-2, a head-to-head phase 3 trial comparing retatrutide with injectable Ozempic 2 mg in adults with type 2 diabetes. At 80 weeks, retatrutide met the primary and all key secondary endpoints, delivering greater A1C reduction and substantially more weight loss than Ozempic.

Acute-on-Chronic Liver Failure Gets Unified Global Definition, Grading

On October 30, 2026, 5 international liver societies published a unified definition of acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF). It anchors diagnosis to liver failure, defined as bilirubin ≥5 mg/dL and international normalized ratio (INR) ≥1.5, plus at least 1 extrahepatic organ dysfunction or failure. The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) announced the consensus, which was developed with the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), the Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver (APASL), the Latin American Association for the Study of the Liver (ALEH), and the Society on Liver Disease in Africa (SOLDA).

Mitapivat PDUFA Date for Sickle Cell Disease Extended to February 2027

On October 30, 2026, Agios Pharmaceuticals announced the FDA extended the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) goal date for mitapivat in sickle cell disease (SCD) by 3 months, moving the target action date from November 1, 2026, to February 1, 2027. The supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for the oral pyruvate kinase (PK) activator was submitted under the accelerated approval pathway and holds Priority Review. According to Agios, the FDA classified the company’s response to a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) information request as a major amendment, which triggered the extension.

Voceryq Gains FDA Accelerated Approval for Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis

On October 30, 2026, the FDA granted accelerated approval to doruxapapogene ralaplasmid and lalikinogene sifuplasmid-gxfd (Voceryq) to reduce the frequency of surgical papilloma excisions in adults with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP), making it the first plasmid DNA-based immunotherapy approved in the US. The decision was supported by complete response data from the open-label, multicenter RRP-001 trial.