Though specific data for bepirovirsen remain under wraps, GSK plans to file for approval in the first quarter of 2026.
Jazz’s Ziihera and BeOne’s Tevimbra plus chemotherapy led to what Truist Securities dubbed one of the strongest overall survival signals ever reported in a type of gastroesophageal cancer.
Cartography will hunt for novel tumor antigens, which Pfizer can opt into and advance into clinical development.
The acquisition is centered on Dark Blue Therapeutics’ small-molecule degrader of the MLLT1 and MLLT3 proteins, which is being tested for acute myeloid leukemia.
Novo Nordisk follows Christmas oral Wegovy approval with quick launch; Eli Lilly is headed for $94.3 billion in annual revenue by 2027, analysts predict; nine more pharmas strike Most Favored Nation deals but half remain unsigned; experts call for stability and rare disease action at FDA, and all eyes are on M&A ahead of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference next week.
After a prolonged funding chill, investors say 2026 is shaping up for continued dealmaking and diversified bets beyond oncology and immunology.
FEATURED STORIES
This week’s legal losses by J&J and BMS reinforce the notion that Medicare drug price negotiation is here to stay, and investors continue to favor biologics over small molecules.
On June 10, the FDA will convene its Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee to discuss the New Drug Application for Lilly’s Alzheimer’s drug.
The Celularity CEO and founder tells BioSpace he believes that placenta-derived cells are the future of stem cell therapies to fight autoimmune disease, cancer, even aging.
In this deep dive, BioSpace takes a closer look at the drug price crisis in the U.S. As President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump gear up for a rematch in the 2024 election, we explore how federal reforms to lower costs could be leveraged on the campaign trail.
In this deep dive, BioSpace examines how small, medium and large companies are using artificial intelligence and machine learning to enhance their drug discovery efforts.
In this special report, BioSpace examines how the biopharma industry is grappling with impending consequences of the Inflation Reduction Act.
LATEST PODCASTS
Novo Nordisk follows Christmas oral Wegovy approval with quick launch; Eli Lilly is headed for $94.3 billion in annual revenue by 2027, analysts predict; nine more pharmas strike Most Favored Nation deals but half remain unsigned; experts call for stability and rare disease action at FDA, and all eyes are on M&A ahead of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference next week.
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.
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SPECIAL EDITIONS
Recent breakthroughs and three decades of progress in treating Huntington’s disease
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.
DEALS
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Eli Lilly kicked off a pivotal 2026 campaign with a multi-year collaboration with current partner Nimbus Therapeutics worth a potential $1.3 billion for a preclinical obesity therapeutic. The deal follows a 2022 partnership struck by the companies to target the AMPK protein in cardiometabolic diseases.
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The agreement, which BMO Capital Markets called a “mild positive” for Structure, appears to address Roche’s concerns about the composition of investigational weight loss drug CT-996.
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OncoNano’s platform, called ON-BOARD, packages drugs in pH-sensitive micelles that ensure their specific delivery near tumors, while also preventing systemic exposure.
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After a strong open to the year, the public markets suffered a six-month drought that led to biotech’s tightest IPO window in years.
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The Illinois-based pharma has committed more than $1 billion in milestones to secure rights to ZG006 and join a who’s who of drugmakers targeting the DLL3 protein.
WEIGHT LOSS
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Arrowhead heralded the results as proof of concept that inhibiting the Activin E pathway can improve body composition and enhance weight loss as compared to tirzepatide alone, particularly in patients with type 2 diabetes.
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The fierce rivalry between Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly is alive and well, as the two companies are expected to face off with their new obesity pills this year.
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After getting the crucial first-mover advantage with an FDA approval for a weight loss pill, Novo Nordisk looks to win the market before rival Lilly can arrive with its own oral option for obesity.
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As 2026 begins, a slate of high-stakes clinical readouts—from a pivotal study of Novartis’ cardiovascular candidate pelacarsen to a Phase III test of Eli Lilly’s next-gen Alzheimer’s drug—are poised to reshape therapeutic landscapes.
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Analysts called the approval a much-needed win for Novo Nordisk, but warned that the company could struggle to grow sales once rival drugs come to market.
POLICY
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The US dramatically altered its recommendations for a series of vaccines, which drive billion-dollar earnings for giants like Merck and Pfizer.
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Only a handful of the top pharmas have signed Most Favored Nation drug pricing deals with the White House, while smaller biotechs continue to hang in limbo.
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Leerink analysts hailed the deals as a sign that President Trump “is unlikely to attack the industry in 2026.”
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The biologics center director reportedly became personally involved after the team reviewing the rare blood disorder filing asked for an extension to the CNPV-accelerated timeline.
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Policy initiatives have come fast and furious at the FDA this year. While guidances on rare diseases and vaccines have consumed most of the ink, policy shifts aimed at improving FDA efficiencies and reshoring U.S. manufacturing also got some attention. Here, BioSpace rounds up more than a dozen initiatives relevant to the biopharma industry.
Communication must be viewed as more than the last step of the research process. It is the structure that makes scientific work clear, trusted and remembered.
What should you do when belief in the mission remains, but the career path doesn’t?
Employees rarely leave companies for one reason alone. In this column, Kaye/Bassman’s Michael Pietrack shares a framework that helps leaders identify when their team members are thinking about heading for the exit—and how to address it.
Biopharma professionals aren’t typically hired right away, based on a BioSpace LinkedIn poll. In the past year, only about one-third of respondents found employment in three months or less. Several who did share their keys to success.
In a volatile industry, staying put might seem like a smart bet, but job hugging can quietly erode your visibility, growth and future opportunities.
Transparency doesn’t drive people away. It attracts the right ones and keeps them committed. Leadership coach Angela Justice discusses the problem with leaders only selling the upside and the value of setting accurate expectations from the start.
HOTBEDS
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
One way Takeda lives out its values is by striving to ensure that patients are aware of and can access the company’s clinical trials. Two employees from its research and development organization discuss why representation matters and the work their team is doing to benefit patients now and in the future.
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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Ceralasertib is part of AstraZeneca’s ambitious plan to hit $80 billion in revenue by 2030.
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Jacobio discovered JAB-23E73, which is designed to treat several KRAS mutation subtypes, and is testing the therapy in multiple Phase I trials.
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The fatalities were attributed to interstitial lung disease, a known side effect of Daiichi Sankyo’s DXd-based antibody-drug conjugates. A spokesperson declined to say how many patients died.
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The tickets could go to the lipid-lowering pill enlicitide decanoate and the antibody-drug conjugate sacituzumab tirumotecan, though a spokesperson for the HHS did not confirm the news.
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Roche CEO Thomas Schinecker said during the company’s Q3 call that it is “not done” with deals—a promise he delivered on with Tuesday’s solid tumor pact with AI-focused Caris Life Sciences.
NEUROSCIENCE
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Last month, the FDA declined to approve Sanofi’s tolebrutinib for a specific form of multiple sclerosis. In a recently published complete response letter, the agency detailed its reasoning behind the rejection.
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The major depressive disorder failure for BHV-7000 is the drug’s second, after Biohaven’s spinocerebellar ataxia treatment troriluzole was rejected by the FDA in November 2025.
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Despite the definitive failure of Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide in Alzheimer’s, biotech executives, analysts and other industry experts see potential in more testing of GLP-1s for the neurodegenerative disease, particularly in a combination approach.
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Analysts said the outcome is disappointing because there are no approved treatments for dyskinetic cerebral palsy, but the setback had little impact on Neurocrine’s valuation.
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A report from analysts at Jefferies suggested that new screenings for metachromatic leukodystrophy and Duchenne muscular dystrophy could bump sales of the gene therapy Libmeldy by more than $100 million.
CELL AND GENE THERAPY
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Next-generation automation is closing the gap between curative science and real-world demand, enabling faster development, global consistency and broader patient access to CAR T therapies.
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Industry leaders are focused on the resilience of key starting material supply and the knock-on effects of automation in the new year.
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With a pair of Phase III trial flops, Ultragenyx will explore cost reductions as analysts turn attention to an upcoming Angelman syndrome readout.
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A push to reshore some drug production and progress in advanced manufacturing technologies have been prominent trends this year, industry leaders say.
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Of all the stories we published this year, these deep dives by BioSpace editors stand out as relevant re-reads going into the New Year.