The deal gives AstraZeneca’s rare disease unit Alexion access to specialized capsids developed by the Japanese biotech JCR Pharmaceuticals for use in up to five of Alexion’s gene therapies.
In the second biggest acquisition of the year, Merck gains the commercial COPD drug Ohtuvayre, which could help offset the loss of revenue when Keytruda’s patent expires later this decade.
The high court’s order blocks a May decision by a California court that temporarily blocked the efforts of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to drastically reduce the size of his agency’s workforce.
Leerink Partners called the announcement a ‘positive’ given the delayed timeframe and the uncertainty that the administration will implement tariffs at all.
The FDA will allow a new dosing schedule for Eli Lilly’s Alzheimer’s drug Kisunla that could lessen a known side effect of the monoclonal antibody drug class that has led to several deaths.
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.
FEATURED STORIES
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.
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.
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.
With Novo Holdings’ $16.5 billion buyout of Catalent being reviewed by regulators, what work the contract drug manufacturer may or may not be performing for Eli Lilly remains a point of contention.
With climbing biotech M&A and IPO activity following the post-pandemic slump, experts offer insights on maximizing value and otherwise capitalizing on exit opportunities.
In a tough fundraising space, cell therapy biotechs pursuing autoimmune indications review staffing to ensure the right expertise is in place to tackle the new disease area.
FROM BIOSPACE INSIGHTS
Establishing trust through thought leadership is no longer optional in today’s cautious biopharma market. This webinar will show leaders how strategic insights and targeted outreach can turn awareness into high-converting leads. Watch now.
LATEST PODCASTS
How can startup leaders support long-term sustainable growth and investment? BioSpace’s Lori Ellis speaks with venture capital guests Ansbert Gadicke, Martin Gershon and Mike Goguen for their advice and recommendations on how biopharma startups should approach funding.
What needs to happen for funding in biopharma to bounce back? BioSpace’s Lori Ellis discusses the macroeconomic environment and biopharma funding outlook with venture capital guests Ansbert Gadicke, Martin Gershon and Mike Goguen.
This week, we discuss the two major FDA approvals for sickle cell from Vertex/CRISPR and bluebird bio; Axcella and the future of long-covid treatments, Vanda’s $100m purchase and AI regulatory developments in Europe.
Job Trends
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced new and updated data from its oncology and hematology pipeline will be shared across 17 presentations at the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2024 Annual Meeting, taking place from May 31 to June 5 in Chicago, IL.
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SPECIAL EDITIONS
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.
BioSpace did a deep dive into executive pay, examining the highest compensation packages, pay ratios and golden parachutes—what a CEO would get paid to leave.
DEALS
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Antibody-drug conjugates are a breakthrough in targeted cancer therapy and will continue to attract big pharma investment over the next few years, finds a new report from market intelligence firm Evaluate. -
After a slow start to 2023 in an uncertain economic climate, biopharma mergers and acquisitions are on the rise. -
Mergers and acquisitions are trending upward as Novo Nordisk, Gilead, and Johnson & Johnson kick off the year with big deals. AI and other scientific advances will likely be the focus of M&As yet to come. -
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. -
Claiming that Karuna Therapeutics’ board of directors withheld crucial information, a shareholder has filed a lawsuit seeking to block the $14 billion merger with Bristol Myers Squibb.
WEIGHT LOSS
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All doses of Eli Lilly’s type 2 diabetes medication Mounjaro and weight-loss drug Zepbound are now available, according to an update on Friday to the FDA’s drug shortage database. -
Eli Lilly on Thursday released late-stage data showing a 38% reduction in the risk of heart failure outcomes, as it plays catch-up with Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide which won the FDA’s cardio nod in March. -
Second-quarter earnings season continues with Big Pharma beating Wall Street expectations, the author of an encrypted email sent to BioSpace has a proposal for Moderna and Merck, Roche and Viking seek quicker entry to the obesity market, and AAIC is in full swing. -
The regulator on Friday warned healthcare providers and patients about adverse events linked with dosing errors from compounded versions of Novo Nordisk’s weight-loss and diabetes drugs. -
Encouraged by the potential of the weight-loss candidates acquired from Carmot Therapeutics, Roche will speed up the development of its obesity programs, seeking to differentiate itself in the market.
POLICY
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Novartis is locked in a legal back-and-forth with MSN Pharma over alleged patent infringement of its heart failure drug Entresto. -
Along with its gene editing therapy Casgevy, Vertex is offering fertility preservation support for its patients—a program that the HHS claims violates anti-kickback statutes. -
A report published Tuesday shows hundreds and thousands of percent markups on HIV, hypertension and cancer drugs for Medicare and commercial claims alike. -
Concurrently, a preprint from the industry-backed Vital Transformation found a 50% drop in company investments into small-molecule drug development. -
According to BMO Capital Markets, Medicare coverage of Lilly’s Zepbound opens the door to using secondary indications to secure CMS coverage for obesity drugs.
Let’s review the six tips for finding work during the coronavirus pandemic.
To help you kick off your yearly goal planning, we put together a series of prompts to get your brain mulling over achievable goals to set for 2021.
Use these ways to immediately make the a new co-worker feel at ease.
There are a few lessons from the pandemic about the work which everyone should learn to be more productive. We have compiled the list of them. So let’s take a look.
Think about why you are the best candidate for the position and sell yourself. Here are a few ways to do that.
How do you find success (and not feeling like you’re drowning) when you have to onboard to a new job virtually? We have a few ideas.
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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The move is a blow to Gilead’s cancer portfolio. Trodelvy, an antibody-drug conjugate granted accelerated approval for bladder cancer in 2021, failed its confirmatory trial earlier this year. -
The regulator has delayed its respective decision dates on whether to grant full approval to Amgen’s Lumakras in metastatic colorectal cancer and Intercept Pharmaceuticals’ Ocaliva for primary biliary cholangitis. -
Opdivo showed a 52% progression-free survival advantage over Adcetris in newly diagnosed Hodgkin’s lymphoma, according to a Phase III study that combined either therapy with doxorubicin, vinblastine and dacarbazine. -
Thursday’s agreement with Orano Med is the second in as many months. Sanofi in September made its first foray into the radioligand space with a $110 million licensing deal with Orano Med and Texas biotech RadioMedix. -
Jazz Pharmaceuticals contends that its alkylating agent Zepzelca significantly improved both overall survival and progression-free survival in patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer, when used as a front-line maintenance therapy with Roche’s Tecentriq.
NEUROSCIENCE
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Cognitive function in the liraglutide cohort declined 18% slower than in the placebo arm over one year of treatment, researchers announced Tuesday at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference. -
The European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use found that Leqembi’s benefits do not outweigh the risks of severe side effects associated with the treatment. -
Biogen and Sage Therapeutics’ investigational neuroactive steroid did not significantly improve upper limb tremors in patients with essential tremor, the companies announced Wednesday. -
While supportive of Amylyx’s acquisition of a GLP-1 drug, analysts say the company’s future hinges on key upcoming readouts from multiple products in its pipeline. -
After a long and challenging journey for its stem cell therapy NurOwn, BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics has aligned with the FDA on the parameters of a Phase IIIb ALS trial that is expected to begin by the end of 2024.
CELL AND GENE THERAPY
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Tuesday afternoon’s session was standing room only as representatives from various biopharma companies presented on their work to improve the efficiency and quality of AAV production. -
AAVs and accelerated approval are just two of the topics being discussed at ASGCT. Meanwhile, the race between Vertex and bluebird bio’s gene therapies Casgevy and Lyfgenia is heating up. -
The FDA is looking at four decision deadlines in the coming three weeks, including two for a CAR-T therapy and another for a hepatitis B vaccine. -
In a joint conference event on Monday, cell therapy pioneer Carl June revealed unpublished results showing that in around 1,500 patients treated with CAR-T therapies, no cases of secondary malignancy could be definitively linked to the treatment. -
BioSpace will be in attendance at the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy’s 27th annual meeting, along with thousands of others. Stay with us for updates throughout the week.
