Krystal Biotech’s decision follows the FDA’s rejection last month of Replimune’s RP1, which works similarly to Krystal Biotech’s KB707. The biotech said this has introduced “heightened uncertainty” regarding a potential accelerated pathway for the candidate.
Among the problems cited were cat hair, bacterial contamination and instrument defects.
Washington has had notable life sciences job growth over the past 10 years, according to a Life Science Washington report. The association’s CEO and a biopharma CEO discuss what makes the state stand out, including its talent pool, AI leadership and entrepreneurship support.
In this episode presented by Cresset, BioSpace’s head of insights Lori Ellis discusses clinical trial fail rates and AI’s potential to reduce preclinical costs with Mutlu Dogruel, VP of AI and Mark Mackey, CSO of Cresset.
Stealth BioTherapeutics originally submitted elamipretide for approval in January 2024, only to receive a rejection in May of this year. In addition to accepting the biotech’s resubmission, the FDA has promised to take action on the candidate by Sept. 26.
President Donald Trump first threatened pharma tariffs in February and recently said they were imminent. Johnson & Johnson’s new investment adds to a $55 billion pledge made by the company in March.
FEATURED STORIES
Industry watchers responded mostly positively to the commissioner’s new voucher program, but worries remain over staffing cuts at the agency.
Findings that U.S. companies can sue foreign rivals despite limited business operations in the country could dissuade drug developers from targeting the U.S. market, potentially benefiting domestic producers of biosimilars.
BioNTech said in 2022 that it faced “threats of a groundless patent infringement suit” from a company that was “unable to bring to market any product to help in the fight against COVID-19.” Now, the mRNA biotech is buying that very company.
Sanofi paid a more than 300% premium on its acquisition of Vigil Neuroscience, suggesting a fierce battle to seal the deal. Across biopharma, companies are sometimes willing to put it all on the line for the right buyout. Novartis’ recent acquisition of Regulus for $800 million upfront provides a case study.
AstraZeneca, Pfizer and more are leveraging the computational power of AI to better design trials, predict the potential efficacy and safety profiles of their molecules and synthesize massive multi-omic information to gain a more complete understanding of challenging cancers.
Looking at licensing deals struck in the past 10 years, Jefferies found that many Big Pharmas do not ultimately follow through with M&A after earning a right of first negotiation. Sanofi, on the other hand, almost always does, as it did with Vigil recently.
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
In the third podcast in a special series focused on BioSpace’s NextGen Class of 2025, Senior Editor Annalee Armstrong speaks with Mark McKenna, CEO of Mirador Therapeutics.
In this episode of Denatured, BioSpace’s Head of Insights Lori Ellis and Miruna Sasu, CEO of COTA, discuss the challenges of inclusion and exclusion criteria of clinical trial patients, and reflect on current investment approaches around women’s health.
BioSpace remembers COVID-19 five years after the pandemic was declared, Novo Nordisk’s CagriSema again misses expectations as the company joins a lawsuit filed by drug compounders against the FDA, Viking secures ample supply of its investigational obesity medication, J&J strikes out in depression, and Makary and Bhattacharya near confirmation.
Job Trends
For reasons including downsizing, avoiding retirement and a tight labor market, senior-level biopharma professionals are increasingly turning to fractional roles, according to two recruitment experts.
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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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At the heart of the deal is the drug candidate dordaviprone, which is months away from a regulatory verdict for its use in H3 K27M-mutated diffuse glioma. -
In a move straight out of 2021, BridgeBio Oncology is taking the SPAC route to the public markets in a deal with Helix Acquisition Corp. II worth $450 million in proceeds. -
In this episode of Denatured, BioSpace’s Head of Insights Lori Ellis and Miruna Sasu, CEO of COTA, discuss life sciences investment and the potential for disruption. -
Our CEO accidentally started a book club. Now we’re all dreaming of mega pharma mergers. -
As high prices and supply issues drive consumers to alternative markets for GLP-1s, physicians aren’t too interested in using these therapies to treat conditions like heart disease risk that have existing cheap standards of care.
WEIGHT LOSS
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In December 2024, the FDA affirmed that the shortage of tirzepatide, marketed as Zepbound for weight loss, had ended, formally barring compounders from producing their knockoff versions of the drug. -
FDA Commissioner Marty Makary talks about his plans to revamp drug development and reduce ‘conflicts of interest’ between the agency and pharma industry; Roche and Regeneron jump on the U.S. manufacturing train as Trump’s tariffs loom; and Eli Lilly scores a big win for orforglipron while Novo Nordisk reveals it has applied for FDA approval of its oral semaglutide. -
Novo Nordisk filed for approval of an oral, 25-mg formulation of its weight loss blockbuster “earlier this year,” according to a company spokesperson. -
President Donald Trump in February threatened top pharma leaders, including Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks, with tariffs unless they reshore their manufacturing operations. -
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.
POLICY
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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. -
President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, signed into law last week, reintroduces broader exemptions for orphan drugs from the IRA’s drug price negotiation program—a move welcomed by the biopharma industry. The new tax law also cuts Medicaid funding, posing a minimal risk to pharma’s bottomlines and potentially jeopardizing hospitals’ 340B status. It does not, however, include new rules for pharmacy benefit managers that had been in an earlier draft. -
Societies, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, allege that Kennedy’s directive to remove COVID-19 from vaccination guidelines for healthy pregnant women and healthy children puts these vulnerable groups at risk of serious illness. -
Despite rehiring hundreds of FDA, CDC and NIH employees, the Department of Health and Human Services is still a skeleton of its former self under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. -
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. endorsed the expanded use of RSV vaccines for people 50 through 59 years old who are at risk of severe disease.
By incorporating soft skills in your resume, you showcase your ability to work well with others, which is important to employers.
It’s important to quit your job the right way so you can exit on a positive note, which could benefit you in the future.
The FTC’s final rule banning most new noncompetes should go into effect later this year, although it faces opposition from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
By understanding the different types of difficult bosses, you can shift your perspective and approach the situation from a less stressful, more effective angle.
Despite the benefits of hiring foreign-born STEM employees, some companies avoid it largely due to unfamiliarity with the visa process, according to two recruitment experts.
Plus, what to expect in a phone screen and how to handle an impending layoff.
HOTBEDS
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
While the approval of Leqembi Iqlik bodes well for Biogen and Eisai’s planned application for a subcutaneous induction regimen next year, its financial impact remains “uncertain,” as potentially higher revenues from the injection could be offset by steeper costs of production, according to Jefferies.
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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iTeos expects to absorb nearly $25 million in one-time costs for severance and termination payments. The biotech had 173 full-time employees at the end of 2024. -
Beginning this week in Chicago, the American Association for Cancer Research’s annual conference will feature presentations that could have far-reaching implications for breast and blood cancers and more. -
Analysts were effusive about Merus’ new HNSCC data, writing that petosemtamab could “become the standard of care” in the first-line setting for this indication. -
The FDA’s independent advisors found Pfizer’s data lacked the precision needed to establish the efficacy of Talzenna in patients with prostate cancer who do not carry HRR mutations. -
Roche, along with Bristol Myers Squibb, Novo Nordisk, AbbVie, Eli Lilly and others, is making inroads into molecular glues to use in cancer, immunology and other applications.
NEUROSCIENCE
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Azafaros will use the Series B haul to push lead asset nizubaglustat into late-stage studies for Niemann-Pick disease Type C and GM1/GM2 gangliosidoses later this year. -
To more effectively treat neurodegenerative conditions, we first need diagnostic tools that lend a more complete picture of protein aggregates in the brain. -
The Alchemab deal will further strengthen Lilly’s early-stage pipeline for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, coming less than a year after the pharma licensed QurAlis’ antisense oligonucleotide to correct a specific protein alteration in ALS. -
The biotech’s Huntingtin-targeting molecule lowered blood levels of the protein and elicited functional improvements in earlier-stage patients, but results were not as robust in other biomarkers or with patients at later stages of the disease. -
Announcing first-quarter results, Biogen CEO Chris Viehbacher admitted that tariffs are “a new topic for us,” but said he does not expect major impacts—at least for 2025.
CELL AND GENE THERAPY
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Stifel analysts said that Lexeo’s data showing reduced size and thickness of the heart’s left ventricle are “supportive of a drug effect” for the company’s gene therapy in Friedreich’s ataxia cardiomyopathy. -
One day after the European Medicines Agency requested that three clinical trials of Elevidys be placed on hold after the death of a U.S. teenager, a data monitoring committee concluded that they should continue unchanged. -
Sangamo, which has been having cash problems, will receive $18 million upfront in licensing fees for its AAV capsid that in preclinical studies has shown the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier.
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Already reeling from years of market chaos, the announced departure of CBER chief Peter Marks sent a ripple across biopharma markets. -
Cell therapy and oncology–focused Carisma Therapeutics started layoffs late last year. Now the company plans to wind down fully.
