Roche’s up to $1 billion investment will provide access to Oxford BioTherapeutics’ antibody-drug conjugate platform for undisclosed cancer targets.
The biotech is exploring opportunities for a reverse merger or other business combinations. CFO and now interim CEO Anup Radhakrishnan will take charge of these negotiations.
The CDC budget cuts could pose headwinds for HIV drugmakers like Gilead and Merck but are unlikely to severely cripple their HIV divisions, according to analysts.
Sarepta will update Elevidys’ label after a patient died following treatment; the FDA issues flu vaccine recommendations without advisor input; Trump CDC nominee Dave Weldon pulled at last minute; and FDA decisions expected for Alnylam’s Amvuttra in ATTR-CM and Milestone’s etripamil in tachycardia.
After a patient taking the Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy Elevydis died of liver injury, Sarepta will update the label to reflect the safety signal.
In the third podcast in a special series focused on BioSpace’s NextGen Class of 2025, Senior Editor Annalee Armstrong speaks with Mark McKenna, CEO of Mirador Therapeutics.
FEATURED STORIES
Emboldened by technological advances and a deeper knowledge of glioblastoma, Merck, Kazia Therapeutics, CorriXR Therapeutics and others are targeting the often-fatal brain tumor.
Despite hotly debated biomarkers and failed or delayed confirmatory trials, the accelerated approval program has a track record of propelling R&D for some of medicine’s most challenging illnesses.
Eli Lilly topped the list of the 20 biggest pharmas by market cap with a more than 39% improvement year-to-date in its share price. Other companies have not been so lucky.
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 presented by IQVIA, BioSpace’s head of insights Lori Ellis discusses the importance of target product profiles, particularly when navigating funding challenges, with Ian Fisher, head of development analytics.
China continues to be a source of innovation as Pfizer strikes biggest pact yet; HHS provides more info on Trump’s Most Favored Nation executive order; FDA Commissioner Marty Makary and CBER director Vinay Prasad reveal new COVID-19 vaccine strategy following Novavax approval; ODAC underway after chaotic planning; more.
President Donald Trump unwrapped a massive drug pricing policy as CMS prepares for the next round of Medicare drug price negotiations; Vinay Prasad to take the helm at the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research; Bayer cuts 2,000 more employees; Eli Lilly’s Zepbound scores again; and the Galapagos story turns again.
Job Trends
Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) today announced an update following the initial analysis of results from the first of two induction studies in the Phase 3 YELLOWSTONE clinical trial program evaluating Zeposia (ozanimod) in adult patients with moderate to severe active Crohn’s disease.
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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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Sail Biomedicines combines Laronde’s circular eRNA platform with Senda’s nanoparticle delivery technology in the pursuit of a new class of programmable medicines across therapeutic areas. -
The Danish pharma announced Monday that it is buying a Phase III hypertension candidate from Singapore-based KBP Biosciences. It is Novo Nordisk’s third high-value purchase in as many months. -
The first two weeks of October saw BMS’s $4.8 billion buyout of Mirati, Lilly’s $1.4 billion purchase of Point, Kyowa Kirin’s $387 million acquisition of Orchard and AbbVie’s $110 million Mitokinin deal. -
An increase in funding share and available lab space helps to keep the Bay State’s biotech and pharma sectors strong. -
The European Commission on Thursday ordered Illumina to divest Grail, opening the next chapter in the years-long regulatory saga. Illumina is reviewing the order, Reuters reported.
WEIGHT LOSS
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Now in Phase III with its small molecule orforglipron, Eli Lilly is leading the oral GLP-1 race against Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Roche and others. -
Altimmune on Wednesday said it is ending development of HepTcell, a hepatitis B candidate, following disappointing trial results as it focuses on obesity and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis. -
Citing a JAMA study that found Ozempic could be profitably produced at under $5 per month, Senator Bernie Sanders on Wednesday called on Novo Nordisk to lower prices for the diabetes treatment and the weight-loss drug Wegovy. -
Bayer cut its C-suite nearly in half amid a massive restructuring. Meanwhile, the U.S. government says it will pay for Wegovy for patients with heart disease. -
The early-stage study showed that Viking Therapeutics’ oral obesity candidate VK2735, a dual agonist of the GLP-1 and GIP receptors, elicited a 3.3% reduction in mean body weight. The company plans to start a Phase II trial.
POLICY
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Following two deaths due to presumed sepsis, the FDA has placed a partial clinical hold on three trials for Zentalis’ azenosertib including a Phase I in solid tumors, Phase II in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer and Phase II in uterine serous carcinoma. -
Merck on Monday secured the FDA’s green light for its 21-valent pneumococcal vaccine Capvaxive, which covers serotypes responsible for around 84% of invasive pneumococcal disease cases. -
The FDA is facing four big target action dates in the final week of June, including one label expansion for a bispecific antibody and another for an investigational gene therapy. -
BioSpace’s Lori Ellis and Chantal Dresner bring live updates from the first day of #DIA2024 in San Diego. -
The hold on BioNTech and MediLink’s antibody-drug conjugate candidate BNT326/YL202 has halted enrollment in a Phase I U.S. trial in patients with non-small cell lung cancer or breast cancer, following multiple deaths.
Maryland has become a key part of the strategy for Kite, a Gilead company, and its mission to find a cure for cancer.
As your organization continues with hiring efforts, interviewers will face new questions from candidates that they’ve never been asked before.
If you are looking for a new job, it is crucial to have an ATS friendly resume. Let’s discuss how to do this and why they’re so popular with hiring managers.
Do you have soft skills but don’t know how to show them on your resume? Here are 6 of the most popular soft skills for resume and tips on how to make sure they get noticed.
Here are some of the top questions you should consider asking during an interview regarding COVID-19.
If you’re struggling to figure out how, exactly, to back up your accomplishments with facts, think about your impact, and then ask yourself some of these questions.
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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Coherus BioSciences and Junshi Biosciences’ PD-1 inhibitor Loqtorzi significantly boosted progression-free and overall survival in a late-stage study of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. -
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. -
AbbVie’s antibody-drug conjugate Elahere, developed by ImmunoGen, elicited a nearly 52% objective response rate in heavily pretreated patients with folate receptor-alpha-positive, platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer. -
BMS presented late-stage results on Tuesday at the ASCO annual meeting which showed the combination of Opdivo and Yervoy lowered the risk of death by 21% in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma, compared to two kinase inhibitors. -
In addition to missing the mark in overall survival, Gilead reported Thursday a higher number of deaths in the Trodelvy arm of the confirmatory metastatic urothelial cancer study.
NEUROSCIENCE
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The FDA will kick off March with three target action dates, including one for an insomnia treatment and another for a multiple sclerosis therapy.
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The FDA has rejected Minerva Neurosciences’ treatment for negative symptoms in schizophrenia, noting a lack of data and other factors that led to the Complete Response Letter.
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In a Phase II study, Sanofi and Denali’s RIPK1 inhibitor SAR443820/DNL788 failed to meet the primary endpoint of improved functional performance in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients. -
Novo Nordisk seems to believe it can do a better job managing troubled Catalent than the contract manufacturer. However, the Danish drugmaker has its work cut out for it. -
The French drugmaker Thursday touted trial results in The New England Journal of Medicine showing frexalimab significantly slowed disease activity in people with relapsing multiple sclerosis.
CELL AND GENE THERAPY
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Acute systemic infection caused the patient to develop fatal capillary leak syndrome, highlighting the unpredictability of gene therapies and potentially challenging investment in the space, analysts say. -
Taking center stage at the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy meeting was the first-ever reported case of a personalized in vivo CRISPR editing therapy, which substantially eased the symptom burden in an infant. -
Since Elevidys’ accelerated approval in 2023, experts have been clamoring for more data, particularly in older and non-ambulatory children. New results, presented Friday, show mobility improvements in 8- to 9-year-old patients after one year of follow-up. -
Lilly will use Rznomics’ proprietary ribozyme technology to develop RNA editing therapies for congenital hearing loss. -
After warnings that the dragged-out process was putting the cell therapy company at risk of bankruptcy, bluebird bio now has a new deal to offer shareholders.
