Nearly $30 million in tax incentive awards are expected to add 1,519 new life sciences jobs in Massachusetts, with about 52% of the positions spread over Boston and Cambridge. Vertex, which received the largest award, will create hundreds of roles in Boston.
Jefferies analysts said on Tuesday that Ventyx could leverage its mid-stage data for VTX3232 to position the oral drug candidate as a treatment for other neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s.
The pending deal was rumored overnight after a report from the Financial Times, spurring analysts to speculate that if true, the entire gene editing space would see a boost at the markets.
Venclexta, when combined with azacitidine, elicited an overall survival benefit below 10% in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes.
District Judge William Young, a nominee of Republican President Ronald Reagan, blasted the Trump administration’s NIH cuts as discriminatory and “bearing down on people of color because of their color.”
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s actions in recent months have raised concerns that he is taking a heavy-handed and unilateral approach to vaccine policy in the U.S.
FEATURED STORIES
Since the 2022 launch of ChatGPT, biopharma has poured money into this new form of artificial intelligence, but companies remain cautious with unproven technology.
The race is on to develop therapeutic cancer vaccines that could give immunotherapies an edge, and late-stage trials could soon provide more-robust data about candidates’ efficacy and safety.
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.
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
GenScript Biotech Corporation, the world’s leading provider of life-science research tools and services, proudly announces the initiation of the GenScript Life Science Research Grant Project.
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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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Amid mounting pressure from investors and shareholders, Bayer’s supervisory board unanimously appointed outsider Bill Anderson as its new CEO. -
Karuna Therapeutics acquired exclusive rights to Goldfinch Bio’s investigational TRPC4/5 channel candidates in a deal potentially worth $520 million. -
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) voiced concerns to the FTC regarding the prospective acquisitions of Horizon Pharmaceuticals and Opiant Pharmaceuticals by Amgen and Indivior. -
bluebird bio, Inc. is expecting gross proceeds of $120 million with its newly announced public offering of 20,000,000 shares. -
Editas announced the sale of its iPSC-derived iNK programs to Shoreline Biosciences. Shoreline also licensed Editas’ SLEEK technology.
WEIGHT LOSS
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To help cope with the high demand for weight-loss treatments, Eli Lilly is investing $2.5 billion in a German manufacturing facility after last week’s FDA approval of Zepbound for chronic weight management. -
Just a week after it secured FDA approval, Eli Lilly’s Zepbound now faces a challenge from Novo Nordisk’s investigational next-generation weight-loss candidate CagriSema in a Phase III trial. -
In this episode BioSpace’s Greg Slabodkin, Tyler Patchen and Lori Ellis discuss Zepbound, Wegovy, the weight loss race and the future of this drug class.
POLICY
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New recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention call for the use of respiratory syncytial virus vaccines in adults aged 75 and older, but limited its use in 60- to 74-year-olds. -
AbbVie and Genmab on Wednesday announced the FDA has expanded the label of their bispecific antibody Epkinly, allowing it to be used in patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma. -
Verona Pharma on Wednesday secured the FDA’s approval for Ohtuvayre, which the company contends is the first inhaled chronic obstructive pulmonary disease medicine with a new mechanism of action in over 20 years. -
Teva Pharmaceuticals has settled years of tax litigation with the Israel Tax Authority for $750 million, which the company will pay in installments starting in 2024 to 2029. -
After back-to-back failures in 2021, Wave Life Sciences has finally aced a Phase Ib/IIa Huntington’s disease trial and is looking to a potential accelerated approval for its investigational antisense oligonucleotide.
Have you thought about what benefits are important to you? Would you request certain benefits from your current employer, or during an interview for a new job?
Most people avoid networking connections due to uncomfortable situations. In contrast, strategic networking can be extremely beneficial for your career.
According to a recent BioSpace survey, 69% of employers indicated “finding quality talent” will be a significant challenge in 2019. Are you the quality talent life science employers are looking for? Don’t delay, apply now and show these employers you possess the quality skills they need!
There are many common misbeliefs around chronic procrastinators. they don’t care about work; they are lazy, etc. Here are some steps for overcoming procrastination.
Are you familiar with the medical writing profession? If not, you could be missing out on one of the most flexible and rewarding careers in life sciences.
The demand for professionals is increasing exponentially. Recruitments are happening at a rapid pace. Here is everything about bioinformatics careers.
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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Avenzo’s founders, who led Turning Point through its $4.1 billion sale to BMS, want to in-license three clinical-stage oncology candidates by early 2026. -
Bristol Myers Squibb’s $4.8 billion acquisition of Mirati pays off with strong data from the KRYSTAL-12 study of Krazati, showing that the KRAS inhibitor significantly improves progression-free survival. -
Keytruda can now be used in the European Union for patients with resectable non-small cell lung cancer at high risk of recurrence in combination with platinum chemotherapy, then continued as a monotherapy afterwards. -
Novocure’s stock spiked more than 15% Wednesday morning after the company announced its Tumor Treating Fields therapy met the primary endpoint in a late-stage trial. -
Regeneron’s bispecific antibody odronextamab was hit with Complete Response Letters from the FDA noting issues with the enrollment status of its confirmatory trials.
NEUROSCIENCE
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BIIB080 successfully reduced tau pathology in patients with early-stage disease across all six brain regions analyzed. -
Data released Wednesday from the Phase III A4 study showed solanezumab fell short of its primary endpoint, failing to slow cognitive decline in patients with preclinical Alzheimer’s disease. -
The FDA set a decision date of July 6, 2023 for Eisai and Biogen’s recently approved Alzheimer’s drug, Leqembi, Eisai announced Monday. -
Billy Dunn, director of the FDA’s Office of Neuroscience, is stepping down from his post to “explore other opportunities,” according to an internal FDA e-mail. -
If Leqembi is granted priority review from the agency, full approval could come as soon as July, Ivan Cheung, chairman and CEO, Eisai Inc., told CNBC Thursday.
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.
