BEAM-302 “has set the bar for efficacy in this space,” William Blair analysts wrote in an investor note on Monday.
Abecma made $406 million in 2024, of which BMS paid $43 million to 2seventy bio as part of their profit-sharing agreement.
In this deep dive, BioSpace explores the diverse therapeutic modalities now in development, as well as the opportunities and battles for market dominance in this emerging space.
Mineralys’ shares got a more than 50% boost Monday morning as new data showed its hypertension drug reduced blood pressure in a pair of clinical trials.
The latest data showed 15.7% weight loss in patients with diabetes after 68 weeks. In December 2024, CagriSema returned another disappointing readout for Novo, eliciting weight-loss of 22.7% in patients without diabetes, below the pharma’s prior projection of 25%.
In the plaque psoriasis arena, Sotyktu is facing off against Amgen’s Otezla and is facing the threat of upcoming competition from Alumis’ investigational TYK2 inhibitor.
FEATURED STORIES
While some of the initial excitement around immunotherapies has waned, companies—particularly smaller biotechs—are developing newer iterations that will take cancer care to the next level.
Lilly CEO Dave Ricks in Wednesday’s third-quarter earnings call acknowledged that the company is at the mercy of wholesaler stocking decisions.
Big-name venture capital firms are raising billions again, though funding a small number of de-risked companies. Meanwhile, smaller VC firms are catching the less flashy companies they think could be future pillars of the sector.
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, presented by IQVIA, BioSpace’s head of insights Lori Ellis discusses how AI transformation can help organizations navigate a rapidly evolving regulatory environment with senior director of regulatory innovation and technology, Michelle Gyzen.
Sanofi and BMS paid big money for rare disease and cancer assets, while Regeneron got in the obesity game; AstraZeneca, Gilead and Amgen shone at ASCO; RFK Jr. and the CDC appeared to disagree over COVID-19 vaccine recommendations and several news outlets are questioning the validity of the White House’s Make America Healthy Again report.
HHS Secretary RFK Jr. removes the COVID-19 vaccine recommendation for healthy kids and pregnant women—the latest in a string of changes to vaccine policies; judge issues an order to halt HHS’ reorganization and mass layoff plans; Rocket Pharmaceuticals’ pivotal Danon disease trial is on hold after a patient death; and President Trump has named Mehmet Oz to spearhead his Most Favored Nation drug pricing policy.
Job Trends
Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, announced data from Stage 1 of the National Institutes of Health -sponsored pivotal Phase III OUtMATCH study evaluating the efficacy and safety of Xolair® in patients allergic to peanuts and at least two other common foods were published in the New England Journal of Medicine and featured in a late-breaking symposium at the 2024 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology 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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Japanese biopharma scoops up Iveric’s investigational drug for age-related blindness disease. The drug, which trails Apellis’ Syfovre, is awaiting FDA approval with a decision expected by August. -
The acquisition of Bellus Health will give GSK access to camlipixant, a potentially best-in-class P2X3 antagonist for chronic cough. -
Merck finalized the acquisition of immune-focused Prometheus Biosciences for approximately $10.8 billion, picking up mid-stage ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s asset. -
BioNTech will pay Shanghai-based Duality Biologics $170 million upfront for rights to two of its topoisomerase-1 inhibitor-based antibody drug conjugates. -
There have already been several big biotech licensing deals in Q1. See inside for some of this quarter’s biggest licensing deals — from the surprising and pivotal to the lucrative and consequential.
WEIGHT LOSS
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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. -
Eli Lilly joins up with Camurus to make long-acting versions of the pharma’s obesity and diabetes drugs, joining the industry’s growing pipeline of programs that are differentiated by the frequency of dosing. -
Sanofi and BMS paid big money for rare disease and cancer assets, while Regeneron got in the obesity game; AstraZeneca, Gilead and Amgen shone at ASCO; RFK Jr. and the CDC appeared to disagree over COVID-19 vaccine recommendations and several news outlets are questioning the validity of the White House’s Make America Healthy Again report. -
Regeneron’s shares have declined nearly 17% following the failure of the company’s Dupixent follow-up itepekimab. -
The overturning of the FDA’s lab-developed tests rule is just the tip of the iceberg. With the loss of Chevron deference, power has shifted from federal agencies to the courts, with potential implications for everything from the FDA shortage list to CMS drug price negotiations.
POLICY
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Amylyx’s recent decision to withdraw its ALS drug Relyvrio from the market highlights an important business decision for companies: when to continue marketing or investigating a drug that has failed a pivotal or confirmatory study. -
As interest in psychedelic therapies ramp up, Lykos Therapeutics will go in front of the FDA’s Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee on June 4 to present its investigational treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. -
With appeals and additional cases still pending, it remains to be seen if any of the arguments being brought by biopharma companies against the U.S. government will hold up in court. -
The FDA is looking at four decision deadlines in the coming three weeks, including two for a CAR-T therapy and another for a hepatitis B vaccine. -
The Federal Trade Commission has asked for an additional 30 days for its review of Novo Nordisk’s $16.5 billion acquisition of Catalent, with the companies expecting to complete the merger by the end of 2024.
A cover letter cannot be a canned or generic form letter; it needs to be specific in every way.
A phlebotomist is responsible for completing several types of bloodwork activities, including the drawing of patient blood to conduct tests and to store blood donations.
An effective job search involves several approaches to employers and job vacancies. Ideally, you’ll engage in a mix of responding to job postings, approaching employers that have not specifically publicized openings, contacting employers based on networking referrals and reaching out to recruiters.
Here are 10 ideas for using cover letters in ways you may not have thought of.
One of the challenges of getting an employer to pay attention to your cover letter is that it looks uninviting. Here are some cover letter formats you can use to perfect your resume.
As the first part of a six-part series describing the hottest careers in the biopharma industry, we discussed the rewarding career of genetic counselor. Now, let’s take a look at the high in demand biopharma careers of biostatistician and biometrician.
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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Antibody-drug conjugate Adcetris, when used with rituximab or lenalidomide, improved overall survival in patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Pfizer secured access to Seagen’s ADC in March 2023. -
BeiGene’s Brukinsa becomes the first BTK inhibitor approved for follicular lymphoma, the most common type of low-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma. -
Despite its overall survival and disease progression benefits, the U.K.’s drug cost watchdog has declined to recommend AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo’s Enhertu due to a lack of cost-effectiveness. -
Rybrevant has been approved for use with carboplatin and pemetrexed in the first-line treatment of locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer with exon 20 insertion mutations in the EGFR gene. -
Retaining the full rights to Trodelvy, Gilead now has access to $210 million in financing from venture capital firm Abingworth to help push the antibody-drug conjugate into non-small cell lung cancer studies.
NEUROSCIENCE
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2022 featured pivotal data that could change the landscape in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, Alzheimer’s disease, sickle cell disease and many more indications. -
TauRx Pharmaceuticals and Anavex Life Sciences presented positive results from their candidates at the Clinical Trials in Alzheimer’s Disease (CTAD) conference in San Francisco, CA. -
Athira Pharma’s experimental Alzheimer’s therapy, fosgonimeton, continues to show signs of being able to improve cognition and function in patients. -
Eli Lilly’s investigational antibody donanemab met all of its primary and secondary endpoints in the Phase III TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 4 study, the company announced Wednesday. -
BioSpace sat down with Roche Global Head of Neurodegeneration Rachelle Doody, Ph.D. and Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation Co-founder Howard Fillit, M.D. to discuss the highlights.
CELL AND GENE THERAPY
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In a roundtable event on Thursday, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said his office will work to eliminate barriers that keep cell and gene therapies from the market. -
Interim results from a small group of children in a Phase I/II trial are essentially in line with that of Elevidys, according to BMO Capital Markets analysts. -
The Platform Technology Designation, which predates the current FDA leadership, is designed to streamline the drug development and review process, particularly for rare diseases. -
J&J has a multi-year head start, but Gilead believes it can win market share by delivering a drug with better safety and at least as good efficacy. -
While an adverse event reported in Intellia’s gene therapy trial was a “non-concern” for analysts, it follows a handful of patient deaths in other trials for the modality and sent the company’s stock tumbling in pre-market trading.
