With tariffs pushing manufacturing home to the U.S., Pitchbook warns of reduced M&A activity and venture capital funding.
The French pharma giant has made multiple trips to the artificial intelligence well over the past few years, this time with Delaware-based Earendial Labs.
The Health and Human Services Secretary said that he will find and eliminate the cause of autism by September, an idea that suggests how little he knows about the condition.
Eli Lilly’s shares shot up 11% pre-market on Thursday after orforglipron became the first small-molecule GLP-1 drug to ace a late-stage study in type 2 diabetes, eliciting significant reductions in body weight and improvements in glucose control.
GeoVax was using its HHS contract to develop its next-generation multi-antigen COVID-19 vaccine, which is in Phase IIb development.
Despite these cuts, the FDA should be able to stay above a “trigger” level that would prevent it from collecting fees from the pharma industry and deprive it of approximately half of its annual funding, according to The Washington Post.
FEATURED STORIES
Two recent documents—one from the FDA, the other from a commission organized by The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology—indicate an evolving mindset toward treating obesity as a chronic disease.
While at SCOPE 2025, Sam Srivastava, CEO at WCG Clinical discusses the challenges and responsibilities of the life sciences industry in building public trust amidst growing anger towards healthcare.
ITF, IntraBio and Orchard are among the companies that have won FDA nods in the past year for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Niemann-Pick disease type C, metachromatic leukodystrophy and more.
FROM BIOSPACE INSIGHTS
While Quantum computing has been reported to be five years away for many years now, companies are preparing for it by setting foundations with AI in development.
LATEST PODCASTS
Two CRLs from the FDA last week cited concerns with third-party manufacturers, while Indian CDMOs may make a bid for U.S. business if there is a decoupling from Chinese companies under the BIOSECURE Act.
This week on Denatured, Head of Insights Lori Ellis and guests discuss the implications of not addressing the DE&I data gaps for the future.
This week, we discuss the expanded approval of Sarepta’s Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy Elevidys, Alnylam’s high stakes ATTR-CM win and highlights from ADA.
Job Trends
4D Molecular Therapeutics today announced presentations at the Clinical Trials at the Summit (CTS) Meeting in Park City, Utah on June 8, 2024.
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SPECIAL EDITIONS
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.
In this deep dive, BioSpace explores the diverse therapeutic modalities now in development, as well as the opportunities and battles for market dominance in this emerging space.
DEALS
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With an upfront $800 million payment and $325 million in potential milestones, Otsuka Pharmaceutical is acquiring Jnana Therapeutics’ drug discovery platform and rare disease candidate, the companies announced Thursday.
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A report from J.P. Morgan shows an increase in biopharma activity so far this year and where some improvement can be made.
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Sangamo and Pfizer’s hemophilia A gene therapy candidate scored a Phase III victory last week. However, with the genomic medicine company soon to run out of cash, Sangamo’s short-term prospects look bleak but not unsalvageable, analysts say.
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Under the deal announced Monday with the California biotech, German pharma Boehringer Ingelheim is gaining access to novel immune checkpoint inhibitors designed to activate the immune system to fight cancer cells.
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A longtime biopharma exec and Moderna shareholder argues in an anonymous email to the companies’ CFOs that they have a fiduciary responsibility to close the deal. Analysts say the proposal is interesting but “too simplistic.”
WEIGHT LOSS
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While Amgen’s third-quarter financial results on Wednesday were “somewhat uneventful,” investors continue to be focused on the highly anticipated MariTide Phase II results slated for late 2024, according to BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman.
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Wednesday’s update to the regulator’s drug shortage database is good news for Novo Nordisk, which has struggled to keep up with demand for the blockbuster GLP-1 drugs.
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Eli Lilly’s blockbuster weight loss and diabetes drugs missed analysts’ expectations by 18% in the third quarter, which were negatively impacted by inventory stocking in the wholesaler channel. The company’s shares fell more than 13% in trading on Wednesday morning.
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The group of like-named companies that include Novo Holdings and Novo Nordisk—the two tied to a multibillion-dollar buyout of Catalent currently under FTC review—ultimately send proceeds to the Novo Nordisk Foundation, one of the world’s largest charitable foundations.
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Following an end-of-Phase II meeting with the FDA in the fourth quarter, Viking Therapeutics plans to push its subcutaneous obesity therapy VK2735 into late-stage development and to start a Phase II trial for an oral formulation.
POLICY
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Now that they’ve received the go-signal from both U.S. and EU anti-trust regulators, Novo Holdings and Catalent expect to wrap up their deal in the coming days.
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A week after dining with Trump and his team at Mar-a-Lago, leaders at Pfizer and Eli Lilly have publicly stated that they intend to collaborate with the incoming administration on key issues affecting the pharma industry.
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Former president and CEO of CytoDyn Nader Pourhassan along with Kazem Kazempour, former CEO of the CRO running CytoDyn’s trials, are awaiting sentencing but could face up to 20 years in prison for each count of securities and wire fraud and insider trading.
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The EPIC Act has been proposed with bipartisan and industry support to give small molecule drugs the same protection against price negotiation as biologics, but concerns over how to balance the federal budget could prevent a short-term fix to the IRA.
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In the U.S., the chorus of opposition against the proposed buyout continues to grow and now includes the CEOs of Roche and Lilly, a broad coalition of unions and consumer groups and at least one senator.
Q1 is the time when life science professionals are ramping up their job search efforts. If this applies to you, here are some tips to help you get a head start and prepare for your Q1 job search.
Teaming up with a recruiter can be a smart move in a tight job market or for job seekers looking for a specialized role. To help you in your job search, we’ve outlined how to get the best out of recruiters.
Whether a job search is voluntary or not, months of interviews, wrangling over pay and benefits and evaluating options has a weighty psychological toll.
The role of a clinical research nurse can be rewarding, but it’s not without challenges. Find out more about the role of a clinical research nurse and what it takes to become one in our guide.
Find out everything you need to know about research and development, including the skills it requires and what you should do if you’re ready to make the transition into R&D.
At the foundation of every clinical trial are the professionals who ensure its successful execution. Read on to find out more about how to know if clinical research is right for you.
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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Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, X4 Pharmaceuticals and Day One Biopharmaceuticals secured their maiden approvals this year in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, WHIM syndrome and pediatric low-grade glioma. Geron Corporation and ImmunityBio also notched wins.
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First approved in 2021, Jemperli has now become a cornerstone of GSK’s cancer business, earning more than $160 million in the third quarter.
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Both vibostolimab and favezelimab have had disappointing runs leading up to their termination, sustaining several late-stage failures.
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The FDA cited issues with a manufacturing facility as the reason for the rejection. J&J is currently “working closely” with the regulator to resolve these problems.
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Bristol Myers Squibb aims to generate around $1.5 billion in savings through 2025—a goal that it hopes to reach by lowering third-party expenditures, focusing only on key growth brands and cutting some 2,200 jobs by year-end.
NEUROSCIENCE
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The past four years have brought disappointment for the Huntington’s community, but optimism is growing as companies including Prilenia and Wave Life Sciences eye paths to approval of therapies that could address the underlying cause of the disease.
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A fatal, highly hereditary illness with no disease-modifying treatments, Huntington’s is long overdue for a therapeutic win. Here, BioSpace looks at five candidates that could change the trajectory for patients.
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With Eisai and Biogen’s Leqembi and Eli Lilly’s Kisunla launching onto the market, the 2024 Clinical Trials of Alzheimer’s Disease conference focused on the role these drugs might play, as well as combination therapies and innovative new treatment options.
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Leqembi’s sales continue to be underwhelming, according to analysts, who contend the companies’ Alzheimer’s disease therapy is being held back by barriers such as coverage, infusion centers and time to diagnosis.
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This year has seen several biopharma companies drop Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease programs, but experts say plenty are still chasing these multi-billion-dollar markets.
CELL AND GENE THERAPY
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4D Molecular Therapeutics reported its experimental gene therapy demonstrated a nearly 90% reduction in the need for annualized standard-of-care injections in patients with wet age-related macular degeneration.
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Last month, Vertex said sickle cell patients had not yet received infusions of its gene therapy Casgevy. That’s now changed, as the company races with bluebird bio’s Lyfgenia.
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As it nears a crucial FDA action date for its transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy candidate, BridgeBio focuses on its late-stage pipeline.
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No patients have received Casgevy, CRISPR Therapeutics and Vertex Pharmeceuticals’ recently approved sickle cell gene therapy. Experts weigh in on the path to profit for the treatment and the therapeutic class in general.
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BioMarin executives sought to calm an anxious investor base Wednesday with a public address and pledge to achieve a nearly 50% bump in annual revenue by 2027. But analysts were left wanting.