Less than six months after cutting 20% of its employees, Vedanta Biosciences has again laid off staff. According to one affected staffer, half of the Cambridge, Massachusetts–based biotech’s workforce is being cut while most of the rest are furloughed.
Following rusfertide’s triumphant Phase III trial last year, Protagonist must decide how involved to be in future development. Hundreds of millions of dollars are on the line.
Ocular Therapeutix’s lead asset is Axpaxli, being developed for wet age-related macular degeneration. A Phase III study is underway, with data expected this quarter.
The Novo Nordisk Foundation’s funds will go toward supporting early-stage companies working in “human health, planetary health and societal resilience.”
After a cacophony of troubles hit the RNA editing biotech last fall, CEO Ram Aiyar is in San Francisco to develop partnerships, pitch the potential of its new AATD program and find more money to keep the dream alive.
Target action dates for drugs sponsored by Sanofi, Boehringer Ingelheim and Disc Medicine have also been pushed back despite assurances of swift reviews under the FDA’s new Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher program.
FEATURED STORIES
It doesn’t matter how many times you have traversed Union Square; no one knows which way is north, or where The Westin is in relation to the Ritz Carlton. A Verizon outage brought that into focus on Wednesday.
Primarily known as an immunology and neuroscience company, AbbVie wanted to put the biopharma world on notice during its J.P. Morgan presentation: its oncology portfolio is underappreciated. This week, the Illinois-based company dove into the sizzling PD-1/VEGF space with a licensing deal with China-based RemeGen.
Buying vaccine biotech Dynavax was an easy choice for Sanofi despite antivaccine moves by the Trump administration.
At a J.P. Morgan media event Tuesday, the Gilead C-suite seemed to be walking on air as they highlighted Yeztugo’s capture of the HIV market and its plans for business development.
Three years after the accelerated approval of its anti-amyloid Alzheimer’s therapy, Biogen—neck and neck in the market with Eli Lilly and its Kisunla offering—is focused on a near-term FDA decision for a subcutaneous induction dose of Leqembi, a presymptomatic readout in 2028 and a clutch of next-generation candidates.
An inconsistent boom-and-bust cycle funding environment for early-stage biotech innovations and burdensome regulation threaten the U.S.’s half-century-long dominance in the biotech sector.
FROM BIOSPACE INSIGHTS
Venture funds attending the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference said mounting funding pressures and Chinese competition have sharpened their focus on leadership qualities, from regulatory expertise and industry experience to the ability to scale—or step aside—as companies mature.
LATEST PODCASTS
AbbVie and Novartis strike billion-dollar pacts while attendees at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference await that one big M&A deal and Merck teases limitless buying capacity; Eli Lilly readies for potential orforglipron launch while Novo Nordisk laments compounders; the IPO window cracks open; and the FDA concludes that GLP-1s do not pose a suicide risk.
In this episode of Denatured, Jennifer C. Smith-Parker speaks to Maha Katabi, general partner at Sofinnova Investments and Andrew Lam, managing director, head of Biotech Private Equity at Ally Bridge Group, about how M &A dynamics, dealmaking and global partnerships are reshaping portfolio valuations and paths to growth in 2026.
Novo Nordisk follows Christmas oral Wegovy approval with quick launch; Eli Lilly is headed for $94.3 billion in annual revenue by 2027, analysts predict; nine more pharmas strike Most Favored Nation deals but half remain unsigned; experts call for stability and rare disease action at FDA, and all eyes are on M&A ahead of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference next week.
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SPECIAL EDITIONS
Recent breakthroughs and three decades of progress in treating Huntington’s disease
In this deep dive, BioSpace investigates China’s rise as a biotech powerhouse.
In this deep dive, BioSpace explores the next big thing in obesity.
DEALS
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After a period of diversification, Novo Nordisk is returning to its roots by focusing on the 2 billion people with diabetes, obesity or overweight. -
There hasn’t been a headline-stealing deal at J.P. Morgan yet. Nevertheless, the mood is positive amid green shoots and a flurry of dealmaking to end 2025. -
Mature biopharma deals are stealing all the headlines, but Bristol Myers Squibb’s Robert Plenge says the company’s deals with insitro, Orbital and more are building the future. -
The deal, which sees AbbVie paying RemeGen $650 million upfront, gives the pharma ex-China rights to the biotech’s PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody—a modality being targeted by companies including BMS, Merck and Pfizer. -
The deal will see Novartis gain global rights over SciNeuro’s potentially disease-modifying anti-amyloid antibody, which leverages the latter’s proprietary shuttle platform to allow delivery into the brain.
WEIGHT LOSS
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Strive Compounding Pharmacy alleged in its lawsuit that Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have worked to lock telehealth providers in exclusive partnerships, disallowing them from offering compounded versions of GLP-1 medicines. -
BMO analysts say Eli Lilly is well-positioned to maintain its lead in the ballooning weight loss space, predicting “strengthening leadership in obesity and beyond” as portfolios expand and patient access improves. -
A more detailed review of data by the FDA showed that GLP-1 drugs do not increase the risk of suicidal ideation or behavior. -
AbbVie and Novartis strike billion-dollar pacts while attendees at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference await that one big M&A deal and Merck teases limitless buying capacity; Eli Lilly readies for potential orforglipron launch while Novo Nordisk laments compounders; the IPO window cracks open; and the FDA concludes that GLP-1s do not pose a suicide risk. -
Speaking to BioSpace at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, Novartis’ chief dealmaker Ronny Gal explains why the Swiss pharma hasn’t acquired a GLP-1, and why it probably won’t.
POLICY
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Acadia Pharma’s Catherine Owen Adams is one of the founders of a group of small- to mid-cap biotechs advocating against a ‘peanut butter blanket’ approach to drug pricing for small companies. -
Former European Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan and former US Senator Richard Burr, speaking on a panel at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, pushed to see a larger picture beyond the Trump administration’s year of chaos and confusion. -
In his annual letter, Flagship Pioneering’s Noubar Afeyan lays out a choice between near-term “human-made miracles” and a reversion to the pain and suffering of past diseases due to “growing contempt” in the U.S. for the scientific method. -
The US dramatically altered its recommendations for a series of vaccines, which drive billion-dollar earnings for giants like Merck and Pfizer. -
Only a handful of the top pharmas have signed Most Favored Nation drug pricing deals with the White House, while smaller biotechs continue to hang in limbo.
The difference between a job and a career is what you walk away with when it ends. Here’s how to evaluate if your role and environment are enabling capability building–and if your title is holding you back.
Communication must be viewed as more than the last step of the research process. It is the structure that makes scientific work clear, trusted and remembered.
What should you do when belief in the mission remains, but the career path doesn’t?
Employees rarely leave companies for one reason alone. In this column, Kaye/Bassman’s Michael Pietrack shares a framework that helps leaders identify when their team members are thinking about heading for the exit—and how to address it.
Biopharma professionals aren’t typically hired right away, based on a BioSpace LinkedIn poll. In the past year, only about one-third of respondents found employment in three months or less. Several who did share their keys to success.
In a volatile industry, staying put might seem like a smart bet, but job hugging can quietly erode your visibility, growth and future opportunities.
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
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AstraZeneca is relying on several upcoming products to help hit its target of $80 billion in revenue by 2030, including drugs for hypertension, breast cancer and generalized myasthenia gravis, all of which are currently under FDA review. -
The FDA initially placed the Phase III IDeate-Lung02 study on hold due to a “higher than expected” number of deaths in patients treated with ifinatamab deruxtecan. -
Hair loss–focused Veradermics and cancer biotech Eikon follow the lead of Aktis Oncology, which last week announced a $318 million IPO target. -
After years stuck in the “doldrums,” the biopharma sector is in a “very good place” heading into the new year, analysts told BioSpace, with both rare and chronic diseases headlining investor and R&D interest as JPM26 kicks off. -
Roche first partnered with MediLink in January 2024, likewise for an antibody-drug conjugate for solid tumors.
NEUROSCIENCE
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The DC-based biopharma disputed the FDA’s conclusions regarding the data provided in its supplemental application for Hetlioz and promised to keep pushing for an approval. -
Last month, the FDA declined to approve Sanofi’s tolebrutinib for a specific form of multiple sclerosis. In a recently published complete response letter, the agency detailed its reasoning behind the rejection. -
After a strong open to the year, the public markets suffered a six-month drought that led to biotech’s tightest IPO window in years. -
As 2026 begins, a slate of high-stakes clinical readouts—from a pivotal study of Novartis’ cardiovascular candidate pelacarsen to a Phase III test of Eli Lilly’s next-gen Alzheimer’s drug—are poised to reshape therapeutic landscapes. -
The major depressive disorder failure for BHV-7000 is the drug’s second, after Biohaven’s spinocerebellar ataxia treatment troriluzole was rejected by the FDA in November 2025.
CELL AND GENE THERAPY
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Jefferies analysts forecast a $1 billion market opportunity for each of Sarepta’s siRNA programs for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy and myotonic dystrophy type 1. -
FDA Commissioner Marty Makary called these changes “common-sense reforms” that could expedite the development of cell and gene therapies. -
Aurora joins the clutch of companies linked to Nobel Prize winner and CRISPR trailblazer Jennifer Doudna. -
The prevalence of serious inflammatory safety issues such as cytokine release syndrome and immune effector cell–associated neurotoxicity syndrome limits the reach of these transformative cancer therapies. -
Rampart Bioscience was working on a platform to deliver gene therapies without the need for viral vectors.
