Follow along as BioSpace tracks job cuts and restructuring initiatives throughout 2025.
Analysts at William Blair say dapiglutide’s 11.6% weight reduction at 28 weeks could still be better, given that Zealand’s study predominantly included men and enrolled patients with lower BMI at baseline.
Harliku is the only FDA-approved drug for alkaptonuria, a rare condition characterized by skin discoloration, arthritis and heightened risks of heart failure and stroke.
Exemptions to new export control policies have allowed companies to ship patients’ biological materials to foreign laboratories, including those in China and other adversarial nations, according to the FDA.
California’s life sciences jobs led the nation last year, according to a new California Life Sciences (CLS) report. However, employment growth slowed and could continue slowing. CLS President and CEO Mike Guerra discusses the critical factors influencing California’s success.
In this episode of Denatured, BioSpace’s Head of Insights Lori Ellis discusses key themes from BIO and DIA, including the funding environment, with Rich Daly, CEO of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Peter Ronco, CEO of Emmes Corporation, and Phil Vanek, founder of Redline Bio Advisors.
FEATURED STORIES
Sanofi paid a more than 300% premium on its acquisition of Vigil Neuroscience, suggesting a fierce battle to seal the deal. Across biopharma, companies are sometimes willing to put it all on the line for the right buyout. Novartis’ recent acquisition of Regulus for $800 million upfront provides a case study.
BioNTech said in 2022 that it faced “threats of a groundless patent infringement suit” from a company that was “unable to bring to market any product to help in the fight against COVID-19.” Now, the mRNA biotech is buying that very company.
The 2025 BIO International Convention (BIO2025), the world’s largest annual biotech event, will take place from June 16 to 19 (U.S. time) at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. This year, Taipei City Government is partnering with six Taipei-based biotech companies, including PanCAD.ai Co., Ltd., Instant NanoBiosensors Co., Ltd., Bened Biomedical Co., Ltd., Cancer Free Biotech Ltd., Xantho Biotechnology Co., Ltd., and Energenesis Biomedical Co., Ltd., to showcase their innovations at the Taiwan Pavilion (Booth #1645) in the Taipei Exhibition Area.
On the sidelines of BIO2025, Julie Gilmore, head of Lilly Gateway Labs, shares her thoughts on the $1.3 billion Verve Therapeutics buy, where Lilly’s therapeutic puck is potentially going and how the company is leveraging its unprecedented success in obesity to support young biotechs.
EY’s 2025 Biotech Beyond Borders report provides a sobering snapshot of the industry’s financial health, with more and more companies facing cash runways of less than one year. The analyst firm’s leaders urge a return to basics for biotech.
Industry watchers responded mostly positively to the commissioner’s new voucher program, but worries remain over staffing cuts at the agency.
FROM BIOSPACE INSIGHTS
In a year when eradicated diseases are on the uptick in America, how will American children survive RFK Jr.’s vaccine scrutiny and inconsistency? Two experts call on pharma and regulatory bodies to rebuild trust.
LATEST PODCASTS
In this episode of Denatured, BioSpace’s Head of Insights Lori Ellis discusses key themes from BIO and DIA, including the funding environment, with Rich Daly, CEO of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Peter Ronco, CEO of Emmes Corporation, and Phil Vanek, founder of Redline Bio Advisors.
Another patient has died from acute liver failure after receiving Sarepta’s gene therapy for DMD ; After a quiet start to the year, M&A is back with one deal for a gene editing biotech reinvigorating that sector; and RFK Jr. installs a suite of new vaccine board members who share his skeptical views on vaccines.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made waves this week, firing the remaining members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices; Metsera’s amylin drug produced weight loss of 8.4% at 36 days; and FDA leaders gathered last week to discuss the future of cell and gene therapy, a sector that has been in turmoil since the ousting of CBER Chief Peter Marks.
Subscribe to Genepool
Subscribe to BioSpace’s flagship publication including top headlines, special editions and life sciences’ most important breaking news
SPECIAL EDITIONS
BioSpace did a deep dive into executive pay, examining the highest compensation packages, pay ratios and golden parachutes—what a CEO would get paid to leave.
A new generation of checkpoint inhibitors is emerging, with some showing more promise than others. From recent TIGIT failures to high-potential targets like VEGF, BioSpace explores what’s on the horizon in immuno-oncology.
Peter Marks, the venerable head of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, has been forced out. In this special edition of BioPharm Executive, BioSpace takes a deep dive into the instability of the HHS.
DEALS
-
The pending deal was rumored overnight after a report from the Financial Times, spurring analysts to speculate that if true, the entire gene editing space would see a boost at the markets. -
Big Pharma executives have not been shy about their desire for deals, but companies have been battling macro headwinds alongside Trump’s policies on drug pricing and tariff threats. -
At a satellite kickoff event to the annual BIO meeting, investment bankers and VCs gave reasons for optimism amid a ‘volatile’ period for the industry. -
Stifel analysts said the deal “feels like an unremarkable outcome for a company that was once one of the hottest stories in CNS.” Supernus’ offer beats Biogen’s unsolicited bid of about $7.22 per share, which arrived with a thud in late January. -
BioNTech will get CureVac’s early-stage cancer assets, including its mRNA-based glioblastoma therapy currently in Phase I development. CureVac had previously sued BioNTech for copyright infringement related to mRNA vaccine technology.
WEIGHT LOSS
-
In combination with Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide, marketed as Zepbound for obesity, Scholar Rock’s monolonal antibody helped patients lose the same amount of weight as patients on tirzepatide alone while preserving more muscle mass. -
Another patient has died from acute liver failure after receiving Sarepta’s gene therapy for DMD ; After a quiet start to the year, M&A is back with one deal for a gene editing biotech reinvigorating that sector; and RFK Jr. installs a suite of new vaccine board members who share his skeptical views on vaccines. -
At 12 weeks, weight loss ranged from 2.6% to 11.3%, compared to a gain of 0.2% in the placebo group. Guggenheim analysts were also impressed by the tolerability profile. -
For $812 million, Novo Nordisk will enlist Deep Apple to discover and develop a non-incretin therapy for obesity, months after the Danish pharma’s amylin efforts underwhelmed investors. -
The deal is Lilly’s second obesity tie-up in a week, after sinking up to $870 million into an agreement with Camurus to develop long-acting versions of molecules against GLP-1 and other incretins.
POLICY
-
The new version of the bill will still need to go through the entire House and Senate. -
Findings that U.S. companies can sue foreign rivals despite limited business operations in the country could dissuade drug developers from targeting the U.S. market, potentially benefiting domestic producers of biosimilars. -
The program will bring together experts from across the FDA for a team-based review, rather than having an application move across numerous offices within the agency before getting a yay or nay. -
District Judge William Young, a nominee of Republican President Ronald Reagan, blasted the Trump administration’s NIH cuts as discriminatory and “bearing down on people of color because of their color.” -
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s actions in recent months have raised concerns that he is taking a heavy-handed and unilateral approach to vaccine policy in the U.S.
Year-over-year BioSpace data show biopharma professionals faced increased competition for fewer employment opportunities during the first quarter of 2025.
Learn how to extract the full value from executive coaching, starting with being open and honest with your coach.
Just raising the alarm won’t drive action. Use these three steps to turn insights into solutions that leadership can’t ignore.
Learn about making the most of interview feedback, navigating bonus clawbacks and networking for niche roles.
Layoffs leave more than empty desks—they leave uncertainty, guilt and anxiety. Three simple steps will help you regain control of your work, well-being and career.
As they navigate a competitive job market, biopharma professionals are making four key interview mistakes, according to two talent acquisition experts. They discuss those errors and offer tips for how to get those critical conversations right.
HOTBEDS
REPORTS
In this Employment Outlook report, BioSpace explores current workforce sentiment, job activity trends and the prospective job and hiring outlook for 2025, particularly as it compares to the previous year.
BioSpace’s third report on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in life sciences examines dramatic shifts in attitude around diversity initiatives.
CANCER
-
Analysts at Truist Securities called J&J’s CAR T readout “compelling,” noting that the efficacy figures could position the cell therapy as a formidable competitor to the current standard of care, Gilead’s Yescarta. -
The FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee narrowly voted against the approval of Zusduri, citing the lack of a completely randomized study to back up the application. -
Nuvation Bio’s first approved product is Ibtrozi, a CNS-active ROS1 inhibitor that in pivotal studies showed high rates of treatment response in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. -
Instead of homing in on PSMA—currently the most validated target in prostate cancer—BMS and Philochem will instead collaborate on an early-stage molecule that binds to a novel marker called ACP3. -
The Seattle-based company came to ASCO25 with new data on its neuroendocrine tumor–treating lead therapy, with big vibes and speedy speech.
NEUROSCIENCE
-
The U.K.-based biotech is set to enter mid-stage studies for its depression drug this year, while two other GABAA modulators are poised for clinical trials in 2026. -
Analysts at Jefferies give Roche and Prothena’s Phase III study just a 25% to 40% probability of success. -
Avidity has been given the go-ahead by the FDA to request accelerated approval of delpacibart braxlosiran—potentially the first disease-modifying treatment for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy—with an application in the second half of 2026. -
After a major shareholder pushed back, Keros is returning half of its capital to investors in a move that Guggenheim analysts called “a positive step forward.” -
Analysts at Truist Securities called the mid-stage data a “mixed bag,” also flagging gastrointestinal adverse events. However, the readout is unlikely to be “incremental” to Corcept’s overall stock narrative.
CELL AND GENE THERAPY
-
Sarepta’s shares crashed 41% in premarket trading Monday morning to $21.01 after the biotech reported a second death from acute liver failure, a known side effect of adeno-associated virus-based gene therapies. -
The company’s intein-based technology is initially aimed at Stargardt disease, a type of macular degeneration. -
The layoffs will heavily affect Vertex’s operations in Rhode Island, where the biotech will consolidate three facilities into one. -
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made waves this week, firing the remaining members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices; Metsera’s amylin drug produced weight loss of 8.4% at 36 days; and FDA leaders gathered last week to discuss the future of cell and gene therapy, a sector that has been in turmoil since the ousting of CBER Chief Peter Marks.
-
Gene therapies have ridden investor mania to huge valuations but commercialization challenges have pushed market caps to the floor. At a roundtable last week, FDA leaders promised faster approvals and broad support to the industry.
