Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks is confident that weight loss med Zepbound is gaining market share at the expense of Wegovy, even as its rival strikes deals with CVS and Hims & Hers pharmacies.
Lexeo wants to more quickly move investigational gene therapy LX2006 into a registrational study and hopes for a potential efficacy readout in 2027.
The package revives President Donald Trump’s much-maligned Most Favored Nation rule but goes further into the private markets and beyond, leveraging the patent system, drug importation and more.
In addition to eliciting greater weight loss than Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy, Eli Lilly’s Zepbound does not come at the expense of safety, according to newly released comprehensive tolerability data—findings that Leerink analysts say confirm the GLP-1 drug’s edge in the closely watched market race.
Last month, Roche committed $50 billion in U.S. manufacturing funds, with which it will construct at least four new facilities.
The Plavix lawsuit dates back to 2014, when Hawaii first sued BMS and Sanofi, alleging that they failed to properly inform patients in the state that the drug is likely to be less effective for them.
The FDA and CDC have also recommended pausing the use of Ixchiq in seniors 60 years and older while safety investigations are ongoing.
FEATURED STORIES
Bo Wang is a renowned AI scientist at the University of Toronto. He’s bringing his open-source culture and computational biology to Xaira Therapeutics in June.
FDA
With the recently announced layoffs of 3,500 FDA staffers and exits of branch directors Patrizia Cavazzoni and Peter Marks, there could be a wealth of talent available to biopharma companies. Does this pose an ethical quandary? It depends on who you ask.
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.
LATEST PODCASTS
BioMarin’s new business strategy leaves investors with questions; Lykos CEO steps down; Terns releases compelling data on oral weight loss candidate; and more.
Eli Lilly offers weight loss drug Zepbound directly to consumers while Novo Nordisk continues to struggle with supply challenges for its own GLP-1s. Meanwhile, gene therapies for retinal diseases target competitive market, and layoffs persist.
In this episode, the third and final conversation of our mini-series on diversity in clinical trials, Lori and guests discuss framing strategies designed to protect DEI initiatives from legal challenges.
Job Trends
AbbVie and FutureGen Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd. announced a license agreement to develop FG-M701, a next generation TL1A antibody for the treatment of IBD currently in preclinical development.
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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
  1. M&A
    After four patient deaths, Kezar’s lupus trial is officially on hold, sparking investor Kevin Tang’s interest for acquisition.
  2. Big Pharma can’t seem to get enough radiopharmaceutical biotechs. With Lilly, Sanofi and BMS chasing Novartis into the complex space, all eyes are on these specialty biotechs.
  3. On the heels of Keytruda’s success in a Phase III perioperative trial for a disease where it had previously failed to improve event-free survival, Merck touts an I&I deal with UK biotech Mestag.
  4. As traditional fundraising methods falter for smaller firms, the rise of royalty deals is reshaping how companies access capital, offering an alternative that bypasses equity dilution and debt.
  5. M&A
    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.
WEIGHT LOSS
  1. Suddenly the hottest thing in biopharma isn’t a new indication, disease target or modality—it’s manufacturing, and all of pharma is going to be vying for capacity and talent.
  2. The Hansoh deal will let Merck compete in the crowded oral GLP-1 space alongside fellow pharma giants Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Roche.
  3. The letters come amid the Outsourcing Facilities Association’s ongoing lawsuit against the FDA over the regulator’s decision to end the shortage for tirzepatide.
  4. Now that they’ve received the go-signal from both U.S. and EU anti-trust regulators, Novo Holdings and Catalent expect to wrap up their deal in the coming days.
  5. The EMA approved a kidney disease–related label expansion for the blockbuster GLP-1 drug after a study showed reduced risk of death by 20%.
POLICY
  1. In the five weeks since Donald Trump returned as U.S. president, the FDA, NIH and CDC have been thrown into disarray, with meetings regarding vaccines and rare diseases canceled or indefinitely postponed—all without a clear reason why.
  2. The back-to-back high-level disruptions in vaccine policy under Robert F. Kennedy Jr. comes as the U.S. records its first death from measles since 2015.
  3. While many industry players and observers have high hopes for the EPIC Act, some say budgetary headwinds could make it difficult for the current administration to make meaningful repeals or amendments to the IRA.
  4. The Outsourcing Facilities Association, a trade group representing compounders, filed a similar lawsuit in October last year after the FDA formally ended the tirzepaptide shortage.
  5. Samsung Bioepis allegedly entered into an agreement with a third-party health company, allowing it to market its own private label of a Stelara biosimilar.
CAREER HUB
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.
In this job market report we’re reviewing life sciences job market movement in Q3 and what to expect for Q4 and beyond.
With 88% of life sciences organizations using or planning to use AI in recruitment and/or hiring, AI regulation is a priority for the industry.
Despite a government report showing that hiring slowed over the month of June, job postings on BioSpace’s life sciences-focused job board saw a marked increase.
Here are 10 career paths to consider that don’t include bench work, along with role descriptions and links to jobs available now on BioSpace’s job board.
Here are the top biotech companies in California hiring now on BioSpace’s life sciences–focused job board.
To be self-employed in the life sciences, you must have a strong network and background and experience in a relevant area.
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
The acquisition of SiteOne provides a bit of diversification for Lilly, which has burrowed into the obesity and diabetes space with mega-blockbuster tirzepatide and several follow-on molecules.
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. 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.
  2. Topline data on a combo including Pfizer’s kinase inhibitor Braftovi point to improved progression-free survival and pave the way for its full approval for the treatment of certain colorectal cancers, according to the company.
  3. Novartis was among the most prolific pharma dealmakers in 2024, a trend that it expects to continue with more bolt-on deals this year to set up for sustainable long-term growth.
  4. 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.
  5. The layoffs follow an announcement in early January that I-Mab will re-prioritize resources to focus on advancing a CLDN18.2 and 4-1BB bispecific antibody for gastric cancers.
NEUROSCIENCE
  1. Some 90% of investigational drugs fail—and success rates are even more dire in the neuro space. Here, BioSpace looks at five clinical trial flops that stole headlines over the past 12 months.
  2. GSK, Gilead and Arcellx, Vertex and more present new data at the American Society of Hematology annual meeting just as sickle cell therapies Casgevy and Lyfgenia have a new outcomes-based payment model; Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk pump new funds into manufacturing; and AbbVie makes a Cerevel comeback while uniQure clears a path toward accelerated approval in Huntington’s disease.
  3. In a Type B meeting, the FDA signified that it will allow uniQure to use a natural history control, the composite Unified Huntington’s Disease Rating Scale, and neurofilament light chain levels to support the accelerated approval of its gene therapy AMT-130.
  4. Relmada Therapeutics will halt two Phase III trials of a major depressive disorder drug after a futility assessment and explore strategic alternatives including a potential sale to maximize shareholder value.
  5. Tavapadon improved motor and daily living complications at week 26. The news comes nearly one month to the day after AbbVie announced the Phase II failure of another key Cerevel asset, emraclidine.
CELL AND GENE THERAPY
  1. The FDA has followed in the footsteps of its European counterparts and granted accelerated approval to PTC Therapeutics’ gene therapy Kebilidi for AADC deficiency. It is the first approved gene therapy to be delivered directly to the brain.
  2. BioSpace takes a look at the headlines across a heavy earnings week for biotechs, checking in on Allogene, Rapport and more.
  3. Analysts did not seem very concerned by the treatment-related serious adverse event, noting that NGN-401 was well-tolerated at a lower dose and showed promising efficacy outcomes.
  4. The investigational therapy, vesleteplirsen, had been positioned as an updated version of Sarepta’s original exon 51-skipping Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug Exondys 51.
  5. Truist Securities analyst Asthika Goonewardene in an investor note said data for anito-cel—particularly its safety profile—will help differentiate the CAR T therapy from Legend Biotech and J&J’s entrenched Carvykti in relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma.