Robert F. Kennedy Jr. repeated a series of anti-vaccine talking points during his appearance in front of the Senate finance committee on Thursday, as Democratic and Republican senators alike hammered the Health Secretary on recent COVID-19 vaccine restrictions and his views on Operation Warp Speed.
Listen now for a high-level discussion on overcoming pharmaceutical supply chain challenges through end-to-end integration.
Moving forward, Innate will focus on the clinical development of its antibody-drug conjugate IPH4502, the lymphoma candidate lacutamab and the AstraZeneca-partnered monalizumab.
FDA
In letters to Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, the FDA accused the companies of downplaying the risks of their GLP-1 weight loss drugs during a prime time special with Oprah Winfrey.
The multi-billion, multi-year investment comes as many of GSK’s pharma peers pull away from the U.K., either suspending or completely canceling previous commitments.
The White House is clamping down on pharma’s ability to buy new molecules from Chinese biotechs; Sanofi, Merck and others abandon the U.K. after the introduction of a sizeable levy; Novo CEO Maziar Mike Doustdar lays off 9,000 while the company presents new data at EASD; Capsida loses a patient in a gene therapy trial; and CDER Director George Tidmarsh walks back comments on FDA adcomms.
This manufacturing site in Richmond, Virginia, is the first of four projects that Eli Lilly plans to reveal this year as part of a $27 billion U.S. investment announced earlier this year.
FEATURED STORIES
The FDA and NIH recently announced plans to phase out animal testing requirements for some therapies. While organoid and AI providers celebrate, scientists warn that questions over safety, applicability and implementation remain.
While the Trump administration has painted the jettisoning of staff and regulations as good for business, there are multiple reasons it’s unlikely to work out that way.
The number of employees laid off increased year over year during the first quarter. BioSpace recaps the five largest rounds of layoffs, which included BMS and Novartis cuts.
At the intersection of radiation and precision, Novartis, Bayer, AstraZeneca and more hope to cash in on a radiopharmaceuticals market that could top $16 billion by 2033.
To more effectively treat neurodegenerative conditions, we first need diagnostic tools that lend a more complete picture of protein aggregates in the brain.
As the Trump administration slashes funding for HIV-related research and infrastructure, Gilead, Immunocore and more are targeting the next goalpost: a cure.
FROM BIOSPACE INSIGHTS
BioSpace has created guidelines on how biopharma organizations, large and small, can effectively support employee resource groups (ERGs), encouraging both their creation and ongoing participation.
UPCOMING EVENTS
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In this episode of Denatured, BioSpace’s Head of Insights Lori and guests from Teva Pharmaceuticals and TOWER Capital Group discuss how critical it is to incorporate women into leadership positions and board rooms as a sound investment strategy.
Trump fingers Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the HHS, lupus and ATTR-CM dominate headlines this week, bluebird bio has a cash gap to leap and RegenxBio eyes Sarepta in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
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SPECIAL EDITIONS
In this deep dive, BioSpace explores the next big thing in obesity.
BioSpace did a deep dive into biopharma female executives who navigated difficult markets to lead their companies to high-value exits.
BioSpace data show biopharma professionals faced increased competition for fewer employment opportunities during the second quarter of 2025, with increased pressure from further layoffs.
DEALS
  1. Roche has once again returned to China to bolster its antibody-drug conjugate pipeline, this time striking a licensing deal with Innovent for $1 billion in biobucks.
  2. High profile failures and long timeframes for revenue have shifted investment away from Phase I, as VCs seek to mitigate risk, Pitchbook said in its 2025 outlook.
  3. BioArctic received $100 million upfront with another $1.25 billion in potential milestone payments on the line for two pyroglutamate-amyloid-beta antibodies.
  4. Photys is eligible for up to $186 million from Novo Nordisk for its PHICS small molecules that pair a kinase to a disease-causing protein for phosphorylation.
  5. BioSpace Senior Editor Annalee Armstrong reflects on the year that was, and what’s to come in 2025.
WEIGHT LOSS
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Wegovy sales increased by more than 100% over 2024. But that wasn’t enough to satiate analysts who want to know why Novo Nordisk can’t access more patients, particularly in the U.S.
  5. Amgen outperformed expectations in the fourth quarter of 2024, but revealed an FDA hold on early-stage obesity asset AMG 513 and the discontinuation of other programs.
POLICY
  1. Two weeks of upheaval at the CDC culminated Monday in the complete reconstitution of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices as HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pens op-ed criticizing “conflicts of interest” he says exist on the current committee.
  2. The loss of special government employee status for four members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices follows the resignation of ACIP co-lead Lakshmi Panagiotakopoulos, who left in protest of a controversial change in COVID-19 recommendations for healthy children and pregnant women.
  3. Given the evidence, the committee has recommended that the labels for Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Ozempic be updated to include the “very rare” risk of non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy.
  4. Vaccine skepticism is at an all-time high in the U.S., and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is making some drastic moves in the name of reversing that trend. But misinformation and inconsistencies within the country’s healthcare agencies highlight problems with his approach.
  5. The lawsuit alleges that HHS leadership knew the records they used to guide their layoff decisions were inaccurate and contained errors.
CAREER HUB
Finding the most cost-effective school for your undergraduate pharmaceutical degree can allow you to start working in the field without incurring astronomical student debt.
Beginning the job search is the first step toward starting your career after graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry. To help, we’ve compiled seven of the most common chemistry jobs for new grads.
BioSpace spoke with Saundra Pelletier, CEO of Evofem Biosciences, to discuss the realities of being a woman in the life sciences and find out the career moves that propelled her forward.
Becoming a chemist in the biopharma industry takes hard work, dedication and a willingness to continuously learn. Here’s what you need to know to become a biochemist.
As automation ramps up in the coming years, many jobs will be lost to machines. Here are a few life science sectors that are expected to maintain steady growth in the coming years.
Landing your first internship can be a major milestone in your career journey. Here’s what you can do to set yourself up for success and make the most of your life science internship.
The best thing a professional can do when considering a position at the FDA is weigh the pros and cons. To help, we’ve created a guide to working at the FDA, with benefits, challenges and tips.
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
FDA
Heading into the final quarter of a year that has seen dramatic upheaval at the FDA—from the exodus of numerous senior leaders to unclear policy changes and a safety saga that engulfed the gene therapy space—drug approvals appear roughly on par with recent years.
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
  1. Stifel analysts were bullish on the data, which showed a 16.5% drop in body-mass index among patients with damage to the hypothalamus taking Rhythm Pharmaceuticals’ Imcivree.
  2. An independent data monitoring board found that BeiGene’s ociperlimab was unlikely to significantly boost overall survival in patients with untreated NSCLC.
  3. Cell therapy and oncology–focused Carisma Therapeutics started layoffs late last year. Now the company plans to wind down fully.
  4. While Novartis and Bayer got there first, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb and Eli Lilly are all vying to bring their radiopharmaceutical assets to a market projected to be worth over $13 billion by 2033.
  5. BNT327, a PD L1/VEGF antibody, belongs to a class of next-generation immunotherapies hoping to beat out Keytruda.
NEUROSCIENCE
  1. The partnership splits the rights to Stoke’s epilepsy antisense oligonucleotide, with up to $385 million in potential payments due to Stoke.
  2. Helmed by Roche alums, Newleos Therapeutics is taking over four drugs dropped from the Swiss pharma’s pipeline in early 2024.
  3. 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.
  4. The approval comes days after Germany’s Merck KGaA confirmed it was in advanced talks to acquire SpringWorks.
  5. Leqembi’s sales in the U.S. continue to underwhelm, overshadowed by its growth in international markets.
CELL AND GENE THERAPY
  1. 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.
  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. Vertex expects to make the newly approved non-opioid pain medicine Journavx available by the end of February.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.