The company, helmed by BioNTech alums, is developing therapies aimed at dermatological, respiratory and gut-related indications.
2024 was a tough year for the biopharma industry, with several companies cutting hundreds or even thousands of employees. Follow along as BioSpace tracks job cuts and restructuring initiatives throughout 2025.
Amgen will continue to advance half of the combo, PRMT5 inhibitor AMG 193, for which it is running a mid-stage trial in MTAP-null advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
The experts will assess unblinded data from BEACON-IPF to figure out why a data safety monitoring board recommended suspension of the idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis trial.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—whose history of anti-vaccine rhetoric has had the healthcare and biopharma industries on edge—was confirmed as Health and Human Services Secretary in a Senate vote along party lines.
Encoded’s layoffs will mostly affect its technology and early-stage research and development functions. The move is expected to keep the biotech operational well into 2026.
Obesity drug developers Aardvark, Helicore and Metsera have all netted raises in the past two weeks.
FEATURED STORIES
FDA
The White House is reportedly considering an executive order to fire thousands of HHS employees. If implemented within the FDA, experts say the cuts could drive uncertainty and delay regulatory reviews.
Jay Ferro, EVP, CIO, CPO & CTO at Clario discusses safety, trust and what keeps him up at night.
Just a few months after Vir Biotechnology lost an emergency authorization for its COVID-19 antibody, Marianne de Backer stepped in as CEO to answer a critical question: What’s next?
LATEST PODCASTS
In this episode, presented by the Genscript Biotech Global Forum 2025, BioSpace’s Head of Insights Lori Ellis and Tom Whitehead continue to discuss the patient and caregiver experience, where Tom gives his insights to the future of CGTs.
Novartis, Eli Lilly and more put on their deal-making caps, Bristol Myers Squibb targets $2 billion in savings through 2027, sales continue to soar for Lilly and Novo Nordisk’s GLP-1s and Regeneron sues Sanofi over an alleged failure to provide adequate information about Dupixent sales.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s HHS nomination moves to a full Senate vote; Donald Trump’s tariff war sparks China-related concerns for biopharma; Pfizer, Merck and more announce Q4 and 2024 earnings; and the non-opioid painkiller space heats up as FDA approves Vertex’s Jounavx.
Job Trends
2024 was a tough year for the biopharma industry, with several companies cutting hundreds or even thousands of employees. Follow along as BioSpace tracks job cuts and restructuring initiatives throughout 2025.
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SPECIAL EDITIONS
In this deep dive BioSpace explores the opportunities and challenges presented by the FDA’s accelerated approval program.
Year-over-year BioSpace data shows there are fewer job postings live on the website and far more competition for them.
On election day, Tuesday, November 5, Americans will choose between former President Donald Trump and current Vice President Kamala Harris for their next president. The election will also see the rearrangement of Congress.
DEALS
  1. The pharma giant inked its third T cell engager deal of 2025 Wednesday—this time with Xilio Therapeutics for tumor-activated immunotherapies.
  2. M&A was already on the upswing in 2024, and the new Trump administration may support that trend. But if data aren’t handled properly, acquisitions won’t reach their full potential.
  3. Faced with the encroaching threats of patent expirations and generics, biopharma companies in 2024 invested 33% more in licensing deals, on average, than in 2023 with an eye toward enriching their pipelines with novel and potentially more effective therapies.
  4. With just one asset in weight loss moving through the clinic, Pfizer targets the space for potential dealmaking, as well as bringing assets over from China.
  5. Biogen’s effort to buy Sage against the board’s wishes and a long-time effort by investor Alcorn to scuttle Aurion’s IPO underscore the cutthroat nature of biopharma dealmaking.
WEIGHT LOSS
  1. The data, published in JAMA Psychiatry, add to the growing body of evidence supporting the use of GLP-1 receptor agonists for addictive disorders.
  2. From revenue to R&D investment, Novo and Lilly and their mega-blockbuster weight loss drugs Zepbound and Wegovy have moved into a new pharma stratosphere, far eclipsing their rivals.
  3. Compounding pharmacies aren’t the only makers of off-brand versions of Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound. The situation is causing the FDA regulatory headaches and, more seriously, posing potential risks to the public.
  4. Novo Nordisk shares tumbled last year when obesity candidate CagriSema failed to clear a weight loss bar of 25%. Now, executives are taking another look at the data but steering clear of making hard bets.
  5. As Eli Lilly ends the year with Zepbound in good supply, TD Cowen analyst Steve Scala asked CEO David Ricks if the company has taken the GLP-1 supply chain too far.
FDA
  1. Evrysdi is the first, and so far only, noninvasive disease-modifying treatment for spinal muscular atrophy.
  2. Leaked data showed that Pfizer’s mevrometostat has strong therapeutic potential in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, while recent readouts also position the pharma as a strong contender in colorectal cancer and bladder cancer.
  3. The approval comes days after Germany’s Merck KGaA confirmed it was in advanced talks to acquire SpringWorks.
  4. The intravenous antibiotic Emblaveo, a combination of aztreonam and avibactam approved in Europe last year, was developed in partnership with Pfizer. AbbVie acquired its share of the asset as part of its $63 billion buyout of Allergan.
  5. Before garnering approval on Tuesday, Onapgo had been rejected twice by the FDA.
CAREER HUB
Plus, how to use your network effectively and create job opportunities before they exist
M&As are stressful for multiple reasons, including role changes and getting laid off when staffs combine. Two talent experts share tips for navigating the transition period of your company’s merger or acquisition.
Looking for a biopharma job in New Jersey? Check out the BioSpace list of eight companies hiring life sciences professionals like you.
Turn your career aspirations into reality with this step-by-step guide to creating and implementing a strategic professional development plan for 2025.
Being laid off is bad enough. When companies mishandle the layoff process, it can make the situation even worse. Four biopharma professionals share how some employers are getting it wrong.
Job postings in California took a dip in December during the holiday period, but activity is expected to pick up in January.
As market values increase for computational biology and data science, biopharma companies are looking to hire R&D professionals in those areas. A biotech talent acquisition expert shares his insights on these in-demand roles.
HOTBEDS
Where are the Best Places to Work in life sciences? BioSpace’s annual Best Places to Work list demonstrates a company’s desirability in the recruitment marketplace - find out who made the list this year.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Without providing specific data, Sanofi on Thursday announced that the experimental vaccine did not significantly prevent invasive E. coli disease versus placebo.
REPORTS
This report investigates anticipated job search activity and hiring outlook for the remainder of 2024.
BioSpace’s third report on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in life sciences examines dramatic shifts in attitude around diversity initiatives.
BioSpace’s 2024 Salary Report explores the average salaries and salary trends of life sciences professionals.
CANCER
  1. The partnership dates back to 2015, when Incyte paid $60 million upfront for access to four checkpoint programs, including TIM-3, LAG-3, OX40 and GITR.
  2. Gilead beat consensus estimates in Q4 with $7.6 billion in revenue, driven largely by its HIV drug Biktarvy and CAR T therapies Trodelvy and Yescarta.
  3. A paper inadvertently published on the website of an ASCO conference revealed good results for mevrometostat in treating castration-resistant prostate cancer.
  4. Following an initial report from Reuters, Merck KGaA confirmed that it is in talks with SpringWorks for a potential acquisition, though details of its offer have yet to be revealed.
  5. Eli Lilly inked two collaborations on Monday, one focused on cardiometabolic diseases with South Korea’s OliX Pharmaceuticals and another for cancer therapies with Australia’s AdvanCell.
NEUROSCIENCE
  1. Biogen and Eisai have spent much of Leqembi’s launch convincing physicians and patients that it’s safe to treat Alzheimer’s disease. With patients now hitting the 18-month mark of treatment, the conversation is finally shifting to efficacy.
  2. Leqembi’s sales in the U.S. continue to underwhelm, overshadowed by its growth in international markets.
  3. Bristol Myers Squibb clocked $10 million in sales for new schizophrenia drug Cobenfy in the fourth quarter of 2024, with the launch proceeding ahead of expectations.
  4. The Phase IIa results continue a surge of momentum in a treatment space that last week saw the approval of Vertex’s Journavx as the first novel mechanism for acute pain in decades.
  5. In a Phase IIb trial, GH001 elicited significant drops in treatment-resistant depression. The news comes less than two weeks after J&J secured FDA monotherapy approval for its esketamine nasal spray Spravato in the same indication.
CELL AND GENE THERAPY
  1. Vertex expects to make the newly approved non-opioid pain medicine Journavx available by the end of February.
  2. Adding a new indication for the CAR T cell therapy could help BMS offset the loss-of-exclusivity headwinds it faces in the coming years.
  3. Several companies—including JCR Pharmaceuticals, Denali Therapeutics and Regenxbio—have products in the pipeline that could improve treatment options for this rare disease.
  4. CAR T–focused biotech Cargo Therapeutics surprised and disappointed analysts when it announced that it would discontinue a mid-stage trial of its lead program, firi-cel.
  5. In this episode, presented by the Genscript Biotech Global Forum 2025, BioSpace’s Head of Insights Lori Ellis talks to Tom Whitehead, co-founder of the Emily Whitehead Foundation, about how standard care, cell and gene therapies and their impact on patients.