Waltham, Massachusetts–based Skyhawk Therapeutics has been collecting collaborations with larger companies in spades since launching in 2018.
Patients who are prescribed Wegovy or Ozempic can now use GoodRx to access the medications at just $499 a month if they skip insurance. This is not the first time Novo has partnered with a pharmacy to offer the blockbuster drugs.
Inclacumab, which Pfizer obtained in its 2022 acquisition of Global Blood Therapeutics, failed to significantly lower pain episodes in patients with sickle cell disease over the 48-week treatment period.
Kriya is advancing a host of gene therapies for a wide variety of chronic diseases, including geographic atrophy, trigeminal neuralgia and type 1 diabetes.
In Phase III studies, Tonmya showed significantly superior analgesic effects in patients with fibromyalgia versus placebo. The sublingual pill also led to better clinical outcomes.
The label expansion could help Novo Nordisk “help shift the momentum” for Wegovy, after a difficult start to 2025, according to analysts at BMO Capital Markets.
FEATURED STORIES
Although Massachusetts’ life sciences job growth increased by just 2.5% in 2023, the state continues to grow the industry, according to a new MassBioEd report.
Biogen recently bolstered its pipeline with a potential $1.8 billion acquisition of Human Immunology Biosciences, following other big players looking to cash in on a global immunology market estimated to grow to $257 billion by 2032.
Despite a surge in the financial markets, multiple Big Pharma companies have announced hundreds or even thousands of cuts. Experts hope for a better second half of the year.
Given their seven-figure price tags, it’s not clear how accessible the would-be cures will be to U.S. patients on public or private insurance.
Despite concerns raised in FDA briefing documents about Eli Lilly’s Alzheimer’s treatment, donanemab, the committee concluded that the benefits outweighed the risks.
The use of artificial intelligence in the development of cancer vaccines allows for individualized therapy, but the prospect of an ever-changing product poses new challenges for drug developers and regulators.
LATEST PODCASTS
In this episode of Denatured, Jennifer Smith-Parker speaks to Kenneth Galbraith, CEO of Zymeworks and Josh Smiley, president and COO of Zai Lab, about how renewed confidence is driving biotech entering 2026.
Eli Lilly’s retatrutide exceeds expectations in Phase III, capping off a sparkling 2025 for the obesity titan; an internal FDA safety review finds no confirmed pediatric deaths caused by COVID-19 vaccines, and Commissioner Marty Makary says no black box warning will be attached to the shots; and BioSpace looks at six biotechs that could be pharma’s next buy.
In this episode of Denatured presented by AnaptysBio, Jennifer Smith-Parker speaks to Dr. Joe Murray, Mayo Clinic; Marilyn Geller, the Celiac Disease Foundation; and Dr. Paul Lizzul, AnaptysBio, about the challenges and opportunities facing celiac disease treatment.
Job Trends
AIM ImmunoTech Inc. today announced that the first subject has been enrolled at Erasmus Medical Center (“Erasmus MC”) in a Phase 1b/2 clinical trial combining AIM’s Ampligen ® (rintatolimod) with AstraZeneca’s anti-PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitor Imfinzi ® (durvalumab) for the treatment of late-stage pancreatic cancer (the “DURIPANC Study”).
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SPECIAL EDITIONS
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.
BioSpace did a deep dive into biopharma female executives who navigated difficult markets to lead their companies to high-value exits.
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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While GLP-1 drugs have exploded in popularity, they don’t work for everyone, and experts say phenotyping based on a greater understanding of the disease is the future of obesity treatment. -
Over the past year, obesity treatments have become the focus of intense media attention and discussion in healthcare — with increased focus on Wegovy and Zepbound. This attention has highlighted the need to address the global obesity epidemic. -
Eli Lilly has signed a multi-year contract with animal genomics biotech Fauna Bio to use its artificial intelligence platform to discover drug targets for obesity in a deal worth nearly half a billion dollars. -
A GLP-1-based drug from Structure Therapeutics shows clinical promise but not enough for some on Wall Street. -
The study found only 19% of nearly 2,000 patients were still taking their prescribed anti-obesity medication at 12 months, compared to 40% that continued with Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy.
POLICY
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While Thursday’s label expansion and traditional approval for the gene therapy is an important milestone, many challenges still face the Duchenne muscular dystrophy community. -
On the heels of a Phase III flop for Pfizer’s Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy candidate, the FDA has green lighted the expanded use of Sarepta Therapeutics’ Elevidys. -
The pharma industry is staring down the barrel of a widespread loss of exclusivity, with more than 190 products going off-patent between 2022 and 2030. Here are some strategies company are employing to manage the drop in revenue. -
PTC Therapeutics said Thursday the FDA has lifted a partial clinical hold on its Huntington’s disease candidate PTC518 after displaying favorable clinical trends in a mid-stage study. -
Eli Lilly on Thursday said it is again suing spas and clinics over compounded and counterfeit forms of tirzepatide, the active ingredient in blockbusters Mounjaro and Zepbound, which the pharma says can cause harmful side effects.
What happens in the final moments of a job interview is probably one of the most overlooked aspects of the entire job seeking or hiring process, and how you conduct yourself at these critical final moments can sway the offer in your favor (or out of it), especially if you’re in tight competition with other highly-qualified applicants.
If you’re applying for multiple jobs at the same time, perhaps over several weeks or months, things can quickly spiral out of control. You can easily find yourself with 10 or 20 different versions of your resume or cover letter floating around on your desktop, requests for materials coming at you from every direction, and a long to-do list of follow-ups, thank you notes, and applications that need submitting.
Do you need a new job, like, yesterday? Whatever your reasons for needing (or wanting) a new employer as quickly as possible, if you’re looking to kick your job search into overdrive there are a number of things you can do to speed things along.
Many job seekers take it for granted that the holidays are not the best time to be on the job market, so they suspend their job hunt until after the new year. Others get distracted by all of the holiday hullabaloo and don’t put as much time and effort into their search as they need to.
Building an “Internal Network” is much the same as regular professional networking. Look at some of the reasons why it is important in contemporary times.
Sometimes you don’t have days or weeks to prepare for a job interview. Sometimes, you may only have a few hours… Here are some quick interview tips for moments like this.
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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Bristol Myers Squibb-backed TORL BioTherapeutics announced Wednesday it will use proceeds from the Series B-2 financing round to advance its pipeline of antibody-drug conjugate therapies. -
Merck and Kelun-Biotech’s antibody-drug conjugate achieved a 22% objective response rate and 80.5% disease control rate in heavily pretreated patients with gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer. -
2024 began with several biopharma players posting positive Phase III data that could mean new market share for the companies and longer survival times and quality of life for patients. -
Following disappointing Phase III results in less aggressive non-small cell lung cancer, AstraZeneca on Friday announced that Imfinzi improved progression-free and overall survival in patients with limited-stage small cell lung cancer. -
Seeking a potential slice of the challenging KRAS market, Merck has launched a Phase III NSCLC trial of its oral G12C inhibitor MK-1084, in combination with Keytruda, in pursuit of Amgen and Bristol Myers Squibb.
NEUROSCIENCE
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Neurologist David Weisman, with financial ties to the companies, was removed from the FDA’s upcoming advisory committee meeting slated to consider Leqembi’s traditional approval. -
The FDA has three high-profile events this week, including one target action date and two advisory committee meetings—one to discuss potential traditional approval for Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi. -
While donanemab showed impressive results in Phase III TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2, concerns regarding its safety remain compared with Biogen’s and Eisai’s Leqembi. -
The amyloid plaque targeting therapy met primary endpoint and all secondary endpoints, which Lilly will use in its submission to the FDA this quarter. -
Clinical results for experimental treatments in Alzheimer’s, ALS and more are expected over the coming months. BioSpace highlights a few of the more highly anticipated datasets.
CELL AND GENE THERAPY
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Addition joins a growing list of launches this year, following in the footsteps of startups like Crystalys Therapeutics and Ollin Biosciences. -
Eli Lilly’s retatrutide exceeds expectations in Phase III, capping off a sparkling 2025 for the obesity titan; an internal FDA safety review finds no confirmed pediatric deaths caused by COVID-19 vaccines, and Commissioner Marty Makary says no black box warning will be attached to the shots; and BioSpace looks at six biotechs that could be pharma’s next buy. -
These deals radically reshaped the biopharma world, either by one vaccine rival absorbing another, a Big Pharma doubling down after another failed acquisition or, in the case of Pfizer and Novo, two heavyweights duking it out over a hot obesity biotech. -
Backed by Italy-based Fondazione Telethon ETS, Waskyra, for Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome, is the first gene therapy from a non-profit sponsor to win FDA approval. -
For traditional approval, CAR T therapies will need to establish superiority over current standard treatments, including already-approved CAR T products.
