Biotech companies are already seeing regulatory delays and plenty of uncertainty after around 3,500 FDA employees were cut by the Trump administration.
According to Tempest, its options include a partnership or licensing deal, as well as a merger or an acquisition.
In this episode presented by DIA, BioSpace’s head of insights Lori Ellis discusses the underrepresentation of women in clinical trials with Martin Hodosi, partner at Kearney and Melissa Laitner, director of strategic initiatives at the National Academy of Medicine.
Jefferies analysts predict Annexon’s tanruprubart could be approved by mid-2026.
Leerink analysts noted, however, that Uplizna’s slow onset of therapeutic efficacy compares unfavorably to would-be competitors in generalized myasthenia gravis.
The Fourth Circuit’s ruling follows a Supreme Court verdict that also allowed the Trump administration to move forward with its mass layoffs at federal agencies.
FEATURED STORIES
Riding recent momentum in the Duchenne muscular dystrophy space, Capricor Therapeutics, Wave Life Sciences, Regenxbio and more aim to deliver the next wave of progress with near-term data and regulatory milestones.
The Japanese pharma had one asset rejected by the FDA and withdrew a regulatory application for another, but already this month the company has secured an approval for AstraZeneca-partnered Dato-DXd, to be marketed as Datroway.
While the last decade has brought considerable progress for patients with DMD, substantial unmet need remains. Several companies including Wave, Dyne and Avidity are looking to answer the call with investigational therapies targeting greater efficacy and broader reach.
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, hear from senior leaders at Microsoft and IQVIA to get their take on how generative AI is impacting productivity, employee engagement and how to mitigate risks.
This week we discuss ups and downs in the weight loss and ADC markets - including Altimmune, Pfizer setbacks, AbbVie’s ImmunoGen buy and more.
In this third episode of Denatured’s series on AI in drug discovery, we discuss patient behavior and its influence on clinical trials and AI models with guests from GSK, IQVIA, Exelixis and DataHow.
Job Trends
Metagenomi, Inc. announced it has regained full global rights to research, develop, manufacture, and commercialize its wholly-owned gene editing technologies, including base editors and RNA-mediated integration systems, which were previously subject to exclusive rights granted to Moderna, Inc.
Subscribe to Genepool
Subscribe to BioSpace’s flagship publication including top headlines, special editions and life sciences’ most important breaking news
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
-
Mergers and acquisitions are trending upward as Novo Nordisk, Gilead, and Johnson & Johnson kick off the year with big deals. AI and other scientific advances will likely be the focus of M&As yet to come.
-
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.
-
Claiming that Karuna Therapeutics’ board of directors withheld crucial information, a shareholder has filed a lawsuit seeking to block the $14 billion merger with Bristol Myers Squibb.
-
The neuroscience space saw a late push in merger and acquisition activity, while oncology start-ups reeled in the most venture capital funds. Industry leaders expect these trends to continue.
-
Analysts say Novo Holdings made the right decision last week in scooping up the CDMO to increase manufacturing capacity for Novo Nordisk’s diabetes and weight-loss drugs.
WEIGHT LOSS
-
Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro outperformed Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic at inducing weight loss in obese or overweight adults, according to an observational study published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine.
-
GLP-1 receptor agonists could reduce the risk of 10 obesity-associated cancers, such as meningioma, multiple myeloma and colorectal cancer, according to an analysis of electronic health records.
-
Eli Lilly, Rivus Pharmaceuticals and more target different biological processes in hopes of generating higher-quality weight loss and avoiding metabolic issues.
-
President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders in a Tuesday op-ed in USA Today called on Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly to “stop ripping off Americans” with “unconscionably high prices” for their GLP-1 medicines.
-
Eli Lilly, Rivus Pharmaceuticals and more target different biological processes in hopes of generating higher-quality weight loss and avoiding metabolic issues.
POLICY
-
Two months after winning FDA approval in the same indication, AbbVie and Genmab on Monday secured the European Commission’s nod for its bispecific antibody Tepkinly for the most common type of low-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
-
Amgen’s Enbrel, Bristol Myers Squibb’s Eliquis and Johnson & Johnson’s Stelara will account for 51.4% of the Inflation Reduction Act’s drug price negotiation savings in 2026, according to the Brookings Institution.
-
In June, the regulator placed a partial clinical hold on a Phase I trial of the companies’ antibody-drug conjugate after three patient deaths were reported.
-
For the Biden-Harris administration to compare the newly announced negotiated Medicare prices to the list prices for these drugs is, at best, not very meaningful. At worst, it’s disingenuous.
-
Just months after a jury ordered payment to Pfizer in the patent infringement case, a Delaware judge has nullified the award and invalidated the patents behind the lawsuit involving AstraZeneca’s blockbuster lung cancer drug.
The salary expectation question is one of the most difficult questions asked during a job interview. Here’s how you can answer the question perfectly.
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic that has ravaged across the globe has demanded more experts in microbiology, particularly jobs in virology.
BioSpace’s Pharm Country Hotbed ranges from Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
“The Great Resignation” is a term that’s been coined to describe the wave of people leaving their jobs for other opportunities or exiting the workforce altogether.
A resume is your introduction to a potential employer, and as the saying goes, “You only get one chance to make a good first impression.” Follow these resume writing tips today.
Being confident about your skills and learning new things are some of the best career advice and tips a professional should know to become better at your workplace.
HOTBEDS
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
In this episode of Denatured BioSpace’s head of insights Lori Ellis discusses the public health consequences of vaccine hesitancy and the critical distinction between skepticism and cynicism with Paul Offit, MD, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
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
-
The FDA’s approval of Kisqali in combination with an aromatase inhibitor allows Novartis to target patients with earlier breast cancer who are at risk of recurrence.
-
Infusions of Vertex and CRISPR Therapeutics’ Casgevy and bluebird bio’s Lyfgenia have begun; Moderna targets 10 approvals through 2027; more oral obesity drug data; the latest from ESMO and more.
-
Despite meeting the primary endpoint in a Phase III study, two patients treated with Merck and Daiichi Sankyo’s experimental antibody-drug conjugate died in a Phase III non-small cell lung cancer study, though the deaths have not been linked to patritumab deruxtecan.
-
Bristol Myers Squibb presented the positive Phase III results on its already approved Opdivo-Yervoy combo at ESMO over the weekend, while separately announcing that it was returning Immatics’ bispecific T cell engager.
-
The result comes months after an FDA advisory committee flagged the risk of potential overtreatment with perioperative regimens.
NEUROSCIENCE
-
While Sage Therapeutics’ drug candidate showed a slight difference compared to placebo in a mid-stage Huntington’s disease trial, William Blair analysts in a Tuesday note to investors said they “remain cautious” on dalzanemdor and “do not view the small numerical changes as definitive.”
-
Despite concerns raised in FDA briefing documents about Eli Lilly’s Alzheimer’s treatment, donanemab, the committee concluded that the benefits outweighed the risks.
-
In advance of an advisory committee meeting on Monday, the FDA’s internal reviewers have raised issues regarding Eli Lilly’s Alzheimer’s disease candidate donanemab, flagging problems with its study design and safety outcomes.
-
In this deep dive BioSpace analyzes the neuropsychedelic therapeutics pipeline, which grabbed headlines in February when the FDA accepted the New Drug Application for Lykos Therapeutics’ MDMA capsules for PTSD.
-
While more programs now involve candidates with different targets, experts say anti-amyloid therapies will remain a primary player in treating the memory-robbing disease.
CELL AND GENE THERAPY
-
Following a months-long safety review, the regulator on Thursday said it is now requiring updated black box warnings for all commercially available CAR-T therapies to reflect the risk of secondary malignancies.
-
A one-time treatment for Parkinson’s disease could be a ‘market changer,’ experts told BioSpace, adding that cell therapies could limit the adverse effects seen with current drugs.
-
From gene-corrected cell therapies to a new CAR-T, the cell and gene therapy space looks to expand its reach into the market.
-
Cullinan Oncology, now renamed Cullinan Therapeutics, is riding the growing wave of interest in autoimmune disorders by refocusing its bispecific T cell-engager CLN-978 for systemic lupus erythematosus.
-
Roche’s Genentech subsidiary is terminating for undisclosed reasons its 2021 contract with Adaptimmune for the development of allogeneic T-cell therapeutics.