The approvals come as a pleasant surprise for Regeneron, analysts say, helping bolster the overall product profile of high-dose Eylea despite outstanding manufacturing concerns.
Biopharma professionals will probably find decreasing employment opportunities this month and next even as layoffs continue, based on BioSpace data. However, hundreds of open roles are expected this year in Massachusetts, and a job market turnaround could start late next year.
If Eli Lilly’s obesity pill orforglipron is approved and priced around $200 per month, analysts at Truist predict patients will flock to it.
The CRO market in the APAC region is thriving, particularly in China, due to intense clinical trial and innovation development, with Western investors and pharma leaning in.
A spokesperson for the FDA said the agency is “considering a wide range of options to support American innovation.”
Lundbeck had tried to scoop the narcolepsy drug maker out from under Alkeremes with $2.4 billion, but Avadel has elected to go with its original suitor.
FEATURED STORIES
The FDA in September issued two rejections for spinal muscular atrophy therapies—both linked to manufacturing problems—and granted approvals in Barth syndrome and for a subcutaneous version of Merck’s Keytruda that could be key to the blockbuster’s future earnings.
By publishing complete response letters as soon as they are issued to drug sponsors, the FDA is expanding transparency in a way that, while positioned as a public health measure, also grants investors greater visibility into regulatory decisions. Experts question whether this is the agency’s proper remit.
In one of the first demonstrations of the impact of last year’s Loper Supreme Court decision on challenges to agency authority, a judge ruled that the FDA does not have authority to regulate tests developed by clinical laboratories.
From more than 30 target action dates in the last three months of the year, BioSpace has narrowed the list to six regulatory decisions that could have far-reaching implications for biopharma and patients.
While last week’s recommended changes by CDC advisors to the MMRV vaccine schedule are unlikely to have a tangible effect on Merck’s business, the company said the removal of choice for healthcare providers is “concerning.”
Small and large drugmakers alike have made big, proactive moves to secure the production capacity that will be vital to serving the weight loss market.
LATEST PODCASTS
H2 2025 catalysts to watch, biopharma implications of President Trump’s tax law, KalVista’s new hereditary angioedema drug that Marty Makary reportedly tried to reject, another lawsuit aimed at Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and a plea from patients with ALS for access to BrainStorm’s NurOwn.
The high court sides with HHS on HIV PrEP drugs; Health Secretary RFK Jr.’s newly appointed CDC vaccine advisors discuss thimerosal in flu vaccines, skip vote on Moderna’s mRNA-based RSV vaccine; FDA removes CAR T guardrails; AbbVie snaps up Capstan for $1.2B to end first half; and psychedelics take off again with data from Compass and Beckley.
In this episode presented by IQVIA, BioSpace’s head of insights Lori Ellis discusses the FDA’s first draft guidance for AI in drug development, published in January 2025, with Archana Hegde, senior director, pv systems and innovations at IQVIA.
Job Trends
Massachusetts’ increased investment in the life sciences industry includes boosting its life sciences tax incentive program by $10 million annually, aiding job creation in the state.
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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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The deal marks an end for CAR T company Cargo Therapeutics, which has been slashing its workforce and cutting programs since the January decision to halt its lead candidate for a certain type of aggressive large B cell lymphoma. -
After the FDA rejection of Zurzuvae in one type of depression and the triple failure of neuro asset dalzanemdor, Sage was searching for a path forward at the end of December 2024. Biogen CEO Chris Viehbacher spied a possible deal, but the smaller company wasn’t interested. -
Why did two private equity firms with more than $460 billion under management want a little old gene therapy biotech called bluebird bio? We wanted to know. -
Big Pharmas like Eli Lilly, Sanofi and Novartis headed back to the dealmakers table multiple times, with 32 total deals counted across the industry for the first half. -
The rise of monoclonal antibodies brought back hope for stalling or reversing the devastating neurodegenerative disease. Big Pharma has taken notice with a handful of high-value deals, GlobalData reports.
WEIGHT LOSS
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The mad rush for safe and effective obesity drugs has winners—including Eli Lilly’s Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy—and losers. Here are five molecules that never made it to the market. -
While it’s impossible to make apples-to-apples comparisons of the many obesity candidates with so many differences across clinical trials, we at BioSpace are giving it our best shot. -
With results from highly anticipated trials of Eli Lilly’s orforglipron and Viking Therapeutics’ VK2735 “underwhelming” investors, William Blair’s Andy Hsieh predicts weight loss pills will play a bigger role in low- and middle-income countries than in the U.S. -
A draft copy of an upcoming MAHA report reveals a strategy in lockstep with recent HHS actions such as reviving the Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines; Viking Therapeutics reports robust efficacy from mid-stage oral obesity candidate but is tripped up by tolerability concerns; Novo Nordisk wins approval for Wegovy in MASH; and Lilly takes a pricing stand. -
Viking Therapeutics’ VK2735 achieves a 10.9% placebo-adjusted weight loss at 13 weeks, but a less than ideal safety profile marred the results.
POLICY
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The CDC director—the first to be confirmed by the Senate under new legislation—has been ousted after less than a month following internal unrest regarding new, more restrictive approvals for updated COVID-19 vaccines, according to multiple sources. -
Scott Gottlieb, who served as FDA commissioner during the first Trump administration, wrote in a JAMA editorial that China is speeding drugs to market and could potentially surpass the U.S. in the innovation game. -
The MIT professor of management, who already sits on the CDC’s revamped immunization advisory committee, is a known skeptic of vaccines, particularly mRNA technology. -
The White House has denied reports that the government could soon ban COVID-19 vaccines, noting that in the absence of an official announcement, “any discussion about HHS policy should be dismissed as baseless speculation.” -
Thousands of employees across the Department of Health and Human Services are set to lose their collective bargaining rights in a move that American Federation of Government Employees national president Everett Kelley called “illegal and immoral.”
When moving to a new role at the same company, it’s important to create a transition plan, understand your responsibilities and expectations and get to know your new team.
It’s important to maintain anonymity when seeking your next executive role, as your departure could impact other employees and the organization.
Interviews can be difficult in any field, but especially in a competitive industry like the life sciences. Read on to discover the best way to answer salary interview questions in our guide.
Plus, what to do if your offer is paused and how to manage work anxiety.
If you overidentify with your job, there are ways to find self-worth outside of work, starting with using your transferable skills somewhere else.
Transitioning from team member to manager has its challenges, including managing ex-peers. There are a few ways you can make the change easier.
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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In an open letter, 22 experts who designed and ran Replimune’s Phase III IGNYTE trial answered the FDA’s issues, as outlined in the complete response letter for the melanoma candidate RP1. -
According to reporting from multiple outlets, Richard Pazdur, head of the Oncology Center of Excellence at CDER, opposed the consensus opinion of CBER staff to approve the drug. Replimune’s stock has dropped precipitously since the rejection. -
The company expects that the U.S. COVID-19 vaccination rate will be “maybe a couple of points lower” than the prior level of around 20% but that pricing and Comirnaty’s market share will hold steady. -
The pivotal Phase II trial is testing Allogene’s CAR T candidate cemacabtagene ansegedleucel for large B-cell lymphoma. ALLO-647 was being used as a preparative lymphodepletion therapy. -
After decades of limited progress—owing to the difficulty of treating the disease and resultant market risk—glioblastoma research is entering a new phase spurred by smarter trials, targeted funding and renewed interest from companies like Merck and Jazz Pharmaceuticals.
NEUROSCIENCE
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The small molecule, vatiquinone, had already flunked a Phase III trial, but the company pushed ahead with an approval bid anyway. -
Waltham, Massachusetts–based Skyhawk Therapeutics has been collecting collaborations with larger companies in spades since launching in 2018. -
Arguably the FDA’s most anticipated decision this month is for a subcutaneous induction formulation of Biogen and Eisai’s Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi, which, according to Eisai, could “help reduce the burden on healthcare professionals and patients.” -
Praxis’ vormatrigine reduced seizures by 56.3%, an effect size that, according to analysts at Truist Securities, exceeds that of its closest competitors. -
The FDA greenlit multiple new drugs this month and issued some notable label expansions, including for Eli Lilly’s Kisunla. Meanwhile, the regulator turned away a cell therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy and a gene therapy for the rare disease Sanfilippo syndrome.
CELL AND GENE THERAPY
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The strategic reprioritization comes after the company hit two major hurdles in the past year, including a clinical hold for an investigational gene therapy and an FDA rejection for its lead asset. -
CBER is unanimously against Elevdiys’ return to the market without additional evidence, according to media reports citing an anonymous senior FDA official. Given Elevidys’ full approval, however, experts told BioSpace this path would set up a length legal battle between the regulator and Sarepta Therapeutics. -
Second-quarter earnings come amid many high-level challenges for the biopharma industry. How will these five closely watched biotechs fare? -
Dispatch seeks to address two main challenges of immunotherapies in solid tumors: the lack of a target and the immunosuppressive tumor environment. -
The voluntary pauses follow two patient deaths associated with the Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy.
