With PN-477, Protagonist is directly going up against Eli Lilly, which is advancing retatrutide, also a triple-G agonist, in a Phase II trial.
Pfizer insists that the discontinuation of the Phase II study was due to recruitment difficulties and was not linked to maplirpacept’s safety or efficacy.
In a detail-thin announcement, Amgen said that adding bemarituzumab to chemotherapy improved overall survival, though analysts pledged to wait for more data on safety and tolerability before assessing the drug.
The all-cash buyout, which gives AbbVie access to Capstan Therapeutics’ in vivo edited CAR T therapy for B cell–mediated autoimmune diseases, adds to a growing sense of momentum in M&A, according to BMO Capital Markets.
BMS is letting go of 68 employees in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. The pharma has now cut over 1,000 employees there since April 2024 as part of its cost-cutting measures.
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.
FEATURED STORIES
Halia Therapeutics, NodThera and Gain Therapeutics target neuroinflammatory processes in hopes of modifying the course of Parkinson’s progression.
The Federal Trade Commission criticized the business practices of pharmacy benefit managers this week, but drugmakers are also at fault for the high costs of medicines.
Artificial intelligence is making it faster to get drug candidates to the clinic, but to gain a competitive advantage, companies must have a strong foundation of data.
Investment in the development of new antimicrobials is falling rapidly, even as the global public health threat of antimicrobial resistance is growing increasingly severe worldwide.
The groundwork being done in 2024 is building the foundation for global collaboration in the future.
With the antibody drug conjugate market projected to hit $28 billion by 2028, some companies are looking to harness the drugs for immunotherapy.
LATEST PODCASTS
In this episode presented by PII, BioSpace’s head of insights discusses with guests Oliver Eden and Travis Webb how autoinjectors offer opportunities to improve delivery systems, patient compliance and clinical trial processes.
M&A headlined for a second straight week as Genmab acquired Merus for $8 billion; Pfizer strikes most-favored-nation deal with White House; CDER Director George Tidmarsh caused a stir with a now-deleted LinkedIn post; GSK CEO Emma Walmsley will step down from her role; and uniQure’s gene therapy offers new hope for patients with Huntington’s disease.
The FDA is hoping to repurpose GSK’s Wellcovorin for cerebral folate deficiency; Pfizer acquired fast-moving weight-loss startup Metsera for nearly $5 billion after suffering a hat trick of R&D failures; psychedelics are primed for M&A action and Eli Lilly may be next in line; RFK Jr.’s revamped CDC advisory committee met last week with confounding results; and Stealth secured its Barth approval.
Job Trends
Bristol Myers Squibb Announces New Data from the Long-Term DAYBREAK Study Reinforcing Efficacy and Safety of Zeposia (ozanimod) in Patients with Relapsing Forms of Multiple Sclerosis.
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SPECIAL EDITIONS
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.
BioSpace data show biopharma professionals faced increased competition for fewer employment opportunities during the second quarter of 2025, with increased pressure from further layoffs.
DEALS
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The Securities and Exchange Commission has joined the mounting antitrust scrutiny of Illumina’s acquisition of the cancer diagnostics company, according to an SEC filing by the DNA sequencing giant. -
Amid record sales of its obesity treatment Wegovy, as well as diabetes drugs Ozempic and Rybelsus, Novo is buying Canadian biotech Inversago Pharma to further boost its weight-loss pipeline. -
The acquisition will bring gene therapy company Decibel Therapeutics into Regeneron’s fold after a six-year partnership, targeting different forms of congenital and monogenic hearing loss. -
Following difficult recent months for EQRx, the biotech is being bought by Revolution Medicines in an all-stock transaction that secures $1 billion in additional capital for the oncology company. -
Biogen’s $7.3 billion Reata acquisition and layoffs dominated this week’s news, while BMS and Roche reported second-quarter earnings and BioSpace looked at 12 late-stage neuro companies.
WEIGHT LOSS
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A new analysis from the Congressional Budget Office predicts that Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide will likely be subjected to Medicare’s Drug Price Negotiation Program under the Inflation Reduction Act. -
The recent FDA decision will likely mean more Medicare patients gain access to the blockbuster weight loss drug, experts say. Meanwhile, results continue to roll in for GLP-1 agonists for conditions beyond diabetes and obesity. -
Novo Nordisk’s investment of more than half a billion dollars is meant to expand its production capabilities in China and help it meet the global drug demand. -
Heather, Greg and Tyler discuss a busy news week including Wegovy’s label expansion, biosimilars, surprise donanemab delays for Eli Lilly and speculate on election impact. -
Eli Lilly has partnered with Amazon Pharmacy to help fill online orders of its obesity drug Zepbound—as well as migraine and diabetes medicines—placed through the pharma’s online portal LillyDirect.
POLICY
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As the pharma industry awaits congressional action on the bill, gaping holes in the domestic drug manufacturing ecosystem have never been clearer. -
The recent invalidation of an AAV gene therapy patent overlooks the complexity of innovation in biotechnology and could put a broad swath of intellectual property at risk. -
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.
One of the challenges of getting an employer to pay attention to your cover letter is that it looks uninviting. Here are some cover letter formats you can use to perfect your resume.
As the first part of a six-part series describing the hottest careers in the biopharma industry, we discussed the rewarding career of genetic counselor. Now, let’s take a look at the high in demand biopharma careers of biostatistician and biometrician.
Case job interviews are aimed at gauging at least some of the skills used in a consulting practice.
No matter where in the process you are, here are the questions you should be asking your interviewer.
Here’s a breakdown of how to talk to a future employer about an employment gap in your resume depending on the situation that caused it. So keep reading.
Transferable skills are skills you’ve used in any sector of your life and career that are transferable and applicable to what you what you want to do next.
HOTBEDS
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Massachusetts biopharma workforce growth was fairly flat last year, and R&D and manufacturing employment declined, according to a new MassBio report. BioSpace data further highlight challenges facing the state, showing roughly 2,300 people out of work in 2025 and jobs live on the website falling.
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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One patient died of respiratory failure in a Phase I study of Lyell Immunopharma’s investigational CAR-T therapy. The company on Wednesday said it has not definitively linked the fatality to the treatment. -
AstraZeneca’s PD-L1 inhibitor failed to significantly improve disease-free survival in patients with non-small cell lung cancer, but hit its primary endpoint in a late-stage trial in muscle-invasive bladder cancer. -
The FDA’s calendar is relatively light in July, with only five major deadlines, including one for a PD-1 blocker and another for an opioid overdose drug. -
G1 Therapeutics on Monday reported Phase III study results showing its drug Cosela did not demonstrate a statistically significant effect in overall survival in triple-negative breast cancer patients. -
National Institutes of Health researchers in a Phase Ib/II study found a five-drug combination elicits strong remission rates in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patients without using chemotherapeutic agents.
NEUROSCIENCE
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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.
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A longer-acting formulation of Otsuka Pharmaceuticals’ aripiprazole could help soften the blow of Abilify Maintena’s loss of exclusivity coming later this year, according to a new report from GlobalData. -
In the fourth quarter of 2023, Biogen’s revenue from multiple sclerosis drugs fell 8% due to generics competition and the company paid $60 million in close out costs related to Alzheimer’s treatment Aduhelm.
CELL AND GENE THERAPY
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Rocket Pharmaceuticals’ strategic realignment initiative in July pulled funding from fanca-cel, which the biotech was developing for Fanconi anemia. -
The centerpiece of the collaboration is the gene editor ABO-101, being developed for primary hyperoxaluria type 1, a rare disease that leads to severe kidney stones. -
As industry leaders gather at the annual event in Phoenix, the cell and gene therapy space remains in a state of flux, with M&A activity and regulatory support signaling momentum while commercialization challenges continue to hinder broader investor interest. -
Smarter design through targeted delivery and human-relevant testing can save the industry from costly safety failures. -
Following up on previous, dimly received issuances, a new set of ideas published by the FDA to streamline regulatory pathways for cell and gene therapies ‘for small populations’ is receiving a warmer welcome—but experts warn it will take more to turn the tide for the fraught therapeutic space.
