Eli Lilly’s shares shot up 11% pre-market on Thursday after orforglipron became the first small-molecule GLP-1 drug to ace a late-stage study in type 2 diabetes, eliciting significant reductions in body weight and improvements in glucose control.
GeoVax was using its HHS contract to develop its next-generation multi-antigen COVID-19 vaccine, which is in Phase IIb development.
Despite these cuts, the FDA should be able to stay above a “trigger” level that would prevent it from collecting fees from the pharma industry and deprive it of approximately half of its annual funding, according to The Washington Post.
Kennedy is planning modifications to the Vaccines Adverse Event Reporting System to identify whether vaccines contribute to an unstated problem. The reporting system is at the heart of the departure of CBER head Peter Marks.
During the first quarter, 22 rounds of biopharma layoffs in California affected about 995 employees total, while 17 rounds in Massachusetts impacted around 410 people, based on BioSpace estimates. Meanwhile, competition for jobs in those states increased year over year, according to BioSpace data.
Looking for a biopharma job in Massachusetts? Check out the BioSpace list of nine companies hiring life sciences professionals like you.
FEATURED STORIES
SpringWorks Therapeutics is the perfect case study for rescuing a discontinued assets. It’s time to repeat the process for every rare disease, experts say.
The industry remains unwavering in the commitment to increased clinical trial accessibility and representation.
Price-negotiation provisions that are out of step with reality are discouraging funders and Big Pharma partners from investing in potentially transformative therapies. Fixing some of the unintended consequences of the IRA will clear the way for innovative medicines to reach patients in need.
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
AstraZeneca targets $80 billion in revenue by 2030, layoffs at Bayer, BMS and Pfizer continue to generate attention across the biopharma industry, Takeda takes a deep dive into the molecular glue space and conference season is in full swing.
BioSpace’s Lori Ellis discusses the risks and challenges of cell and gene therapy combination products with DIA speakers James Wabby, AbbVie and Rob Schulz, Suttons Creek, Inc.
Mass layoffs represent a step for Bayer toward reducing managerial layers, while clinical results released in the last week could influence the parallel races between Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly in the GLP-1 and insulin spaces.
Job Trends
Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) today announced detailed results from the Phase 3 EVOKE-01 study that will be presented during an oral session (Abstract #LBA8500) today (2:45-5:45pm CT) at the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.
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SPECIAL EDITIONS
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.
Year-over-year BioSpace data show biopharma professionals faced increased competition for fewer employment opportunities during the first quarter of 2025.
DEALS
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Samsung Biologics announced Tuesday it has signed its largest contract ever—a $1.06 billion manufacturing deal with an unnamed pharmaceutical company headquartered in the U.S. -
Cartesian Therapeutics’ mRNA CAR-T therapy met its primary endpoint in a mid-stage trial for the chronic autoimmune disorder and expects to raise $130 million via private placement equity financing. -
In 2023, the ADC market exceeded $10 billion, and this momentum is persisting into 2024, as evidenced by several strategic deals and a robust pipeline of candidate drugs.
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In 2023, the ADC market exceeded $10 billion, and this momentum is persisting into 2024, as evidenced by several strategic deals and a robust pipeline of candidate drugs. -
Alumis is debuting in an initial public offering Friday on the Nasdaq, though the $250 million IPO is less than its initial targeted raise of $274 million just days ago.
WEIGHT LOSS
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A week after it released positive early-stage data, Metsera has partnered with Amneal Pharmaceuticals in an effort to secure the development and supply of its investigational weight loss therapy MET-097. -
The acquisition was featured Monday in Roche’s Pharma Day presentation, which also included projections of more than $3 billion in annual sales from three early-stage obesity and diabetes drugs. -
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ aggressive targeting of Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy pricing, and not Eli Lilly’s rival drugs, is not fair. -
In a Tuesday Senate hearing on Novo Nordisk’s drug pricing, CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen said he would be willing to sit down with the three largest pharmacy benefit managers who committed that they would expand coverage of Ozempic and Wegovy if Novo lowers its list prices for the blockbuster drugs. -
New revelations from the showdown between Novo Nordisk’s CEO and Bernie Sanders’ Senate health committee Tuesday; PhRMA’s legal victory in IRA case; the federal interest rate cut and anticipated approval for schizophrenia.
POLICY
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The selection of controversial TV personality Mehmet Oz to run the agency overseeing Medicare and Medicaid follows Trump’s pick of RFK Jr. to run its parent department, HHS. -
While the full impact of the Supreme Court decision remains unknown, the new regulatory landscape could be a net positive for drug developers. -
Trump’s HHS pick, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is an anti-vaccine campaigner who has previously said that he plans to gut the FDA on allegations of corruption and reduce the NIH’s headcount. -
Suggestions that the U.S. should emulate other countries on drug price controls or patents obscure how our present policies have allowed drug development to flourish.
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Analyst reactions to Donald Trump’s election victory were mixed Wednesday, with potential positives including an FTC that is likely to be more friendly to M&A, and negatives including concerns about what role Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. might play in healthcare.
You know it’s important to nail the interview with a potential employer, but it’s what you do after an interview that might really influence your chances of getting the job. Find out how in our guide.
Being laid off from a job is stressful. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to curb some of that stress, relieve financial worries and make finding your next position as smooth a process as possible.
Read on to learn about the different nursing positions available in the biopharmaceutical industry, as well as the skills and qualifications you need to be a successful biopharma nurse.
Finding a new job can be a daunting task. From updating your resume to preparing for interviews, there are a lot of moving parts. To help, here are five interview techniques that actually work.
BioSpace spoke with three CEOs: Alto Neuroscience’s Dr. Amit Etkin, Omega Therapeutics’ Mahesh Karande and Rain Therapeutics’ Avanish Vellanki about their companies’ employment growth.
The life science industry is growing rapidly, and many companies have announced expansions and job creation. Still, others have been forced to cut costs and slash jobs. For that and more, continue reading.
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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Protara is advancing a cell therapy that triggers both adaptive and innate antitumor immune responses, while CG Oncology’s approach makes use of an oncolytic immunotherapy that preferentially targets cancer cells and proliferates inside them, destroying them from the inside. -
One year after a potential $1.7 billion deal with Hansoh Pharma, GSK goes back to China to forge another alliance with DualityBio for another deal that could be worth up to $1 billion as it continues to build up its ADC portfolio. -
Keros’ elritercept has shown promising efficacy signals in myelofibrosis and myelodysplastic syndromes and could pose a formidable challenge to Bristol Myers Squibb’s Reblozyl. -
The deal with Tubulis will help Gilead regain its footing in the ADC space following the withdrawal of Trodelvy in bladder cancer and its late-stage fail in NSCLC. -
Alongside the layoffs, Alligator will also suspend work on all of its earlier-stage assets and devote its resources to lead candidate mitazalimab, being developed for the frontline treatment of metastatic pancreatic cancer.
NEUROSCIENCE
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Roche drops a third Alzheimer’s candidate this year, terminating a partnership with UCB just four years after agreeing to work together on new treatments for the neurological disease. -
Seaport Therapeutics, kick started by the former leaders of Karuna Therapeutics, has raised $225 million in an oversubscribed Series B to fund a pipeline of neuropsychiatric medicines. -
BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman in a note to investors said the late-stage data for Vertex’s experimental non-opioid pain medication “reaffirms our confidence in the strength of suzetrigine’s profile.” However, William Blair analysts view these data as “an incremental positive” as the company faces challenges in targeting the acute pain market. -
Wave Life Sciences in a Tuesday filing with the SEC said Takeda has elected to terminate its option to continue work on Wave’s WVE-003 clinical-stage Huntington’s disease program—a potential $5 billion commercial opportunity, according to the biotech.
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Johnson & Johnson is cutting several programs—most of which are in neurology and psychiatry—as the company also pulls back from the infectious diseases market.
CELL AND GENE THERAPY
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Likely to miss its initiation target, bluebird bio has renegotiated the loan deals of its agreement with Hercules Capital, giving it until June 30 next year—at the latest. -
Eli Lilly’s new research and development facility in Boston’s Seaport district will focus on DNA- and RNA-based therapies, as well as other priority areas such as diabetes and obesity. -
Patients in the U.K. with transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia will have access to Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ gene editing therapy Casgevy, thanks to an agreement with the National Health Service on the price.
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Experts say the time is now to develop and provide widespread access to genetic medicines for the rarest diseases. What’s more, they say it is a moral imperative. -
BioMarin Pharmaceuticals on Monday said it is restricting sales of its hemophilia A gene therapy to three countries in an effort to reduce costs and help the treatment become profitable by 2025.
