YouTube has shut down a channel containing hundreds of videos of comments made by doctors and other influencers—including CBER Director Vinay Prasad, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya—during the pandemic. This comes as Prasad reveals further details about last week’s updated COVID-19 approvals.
Wave’s RNA editor resulted in protein levels that were “exceedingly close” to what investors were expecting, but nevertheless fell short of that bar, according to analysts at Truist Securities.
Albert Bourla heralded the president’s COVID-19 leadership and Operation Warp Speed initiative as a Nobel Prize–worthy achievement and said that Pfizer stands by the integrity of the data already shared.
In a series of memos last week, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Director Vinay Prasad outlined the FDA’s thinking on the recent limited approvals for updated COVID-19 vaccines.
In an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he will roll chronic disease programs into a new Administration for a Healthy America.
Novartis and Argo Biopharma go back to January 2024, when the pharma first bet up to $4.165 billion across two RNAi agreements targeting cardiovascular diseases.
FEATURED STORIES
Generate:Biomedicines’ Nicole Clouse is one of the key legal minds trying to understand who owns what AI creates. The answers are critical to the future of biotech.
If the trend holds, IQVIA expects 2025 deal volume between Chinese and multinational companies to easily eclipse the 100 agreements signed in 2024.
Companies have claimed improvements to yield, batch consistency and output while acknowledging the risks and challenges created by the technology.
The mad rush for safe and effective obesity drugs has winners—including Eli Lilly’s Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy—and losers. Here are five molecules that never made it to the market.
While it’s impossible to make apples-to-apples comparisons of the many obesity candidates with so many differences across clinical trials, we at BioSpace are giving it our best shot.
With results from highly anticipated trials of Eli Lilly’s orforglipron and Viking Therapeutics’ VK2735 “underwhelming” investors, William Blair’s Andy Hsieh predicts weight loss pills will play a bigger role in low- and middle-income countries than in the U.S.
FROM BIOSPACE INSIGHTS
Konstantina Katcheves, Senior VP of Innovative Global Business Development at Teva Pharmaceuticals brings insights from the World Economic Forum to SCOPE 2025.
LATEST PODCASTS
In this episode of Denatured, BioSpace’s head of insights Lori Ellis discusses the ‘enormous implications’ of patent policy changes with Aaron Cummings and Anne Li of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck.
Prasad Returns, Delany Departs, Lilly’s Weight Loss Pill Disappoints and Sarepta’s Fallout Continues
CBER Chief Vinay Prasad reclaimed his job less than two weeks after his mysterious exit; MAHA implementor Gray Delany is out after reportedly sparring with other agency officials over communications strategy; Eli Lilly’s first Phase III readout for oral obesity drug orforglipron missed analyst expectations; and Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals addresses the recent woes of its of partner Sarepta.
In this episode presented by Cresset, BioSpace’s head of insights Lori Ellis discusses the emerging geopolitical battle for AI supremacy and global AI governance with Mutlu Dogruel, VP of AI and Mark Mackey, CSO of Cresset.
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SPECIAL EDITIONS
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.
Year-over-year BioSpace data show there were fewer job postings live on the website in the fourth quarter of 2024, and the decrease was higher than the third quarter’s drop.
The J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference started off with a flurry of deals that reinvigorated excitement across the biopharma industry. Johnson & Johnson moved to acquire Intra-Cellular Therapies for $14.6 billion, breaking a dealmaking barrier that kept Big Pharma’s 2024 biotech buyouts to under $5 billion.
DEALS
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The star of GSK’s Hengrui partnership is the COPD candidate HRS-9821, which will complement the pharma’s respiratory pipeline that’s anchored by the anti-asthma drug Nucala. -
The collaboration focuses on ‘molecular gates,’ a class of molecules that the startup company Gate Bioscience says can stop pathogenic proteins from leaving the cell. -
The partnership with Matchpoint Therapeutics gets Novartis global rights on all molecules for several unannounced inflammatory diseases identified through the biotech’s discovery platform. -
What will Boston Pharmaceuticals CEO Sophie Kornowski do now that the company is selling off its pipeline and winding down operations? Whatever it is, data will take her there. -
The deal, which involves a $700 million upfront payment, gives AbbVie access to ISB 2001, a clinical-stage first-in-class trispecific antibody currently being tested for certain kinds of multiple myeloma as well as autoimmune indications.
WEIGHT LOSS
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Patients who are prescribed Wegovy or Ozempic can now use GoodRx to access the medications at just $499 a month if they skip insurance. This is not the first time Novo has partnered with a pharmacy to offer the blockbuster drugs. -
The Boston-based AI/ML startup focuses on endocrine and cardiometabolic diseases and will use that expertise to generate new small molecule obesity medications for Lilly. -
Prasad Returns, Delany Departs, Lilly’s Weight Loss Pill Disappoints and Sarepta’s Fallout ContinuesCBER Chief Vinay Prasad reclaimed his job less than two weeks after his mysterious exit; MAHA implementor Gray Delany is out after reportedly sparring with other agency officials over communications strategy; Eli Lilly’s first Phase III readout for oral obesity drug orforglipron missed analyst expectations; and Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals addresses the recent woes of its of partner Sarepta. -
Novo Nordisk has plummeted back to Earth after a stunning rise driven by Ozempic and Wegovy. Can the storied Danish pharma recover? -
Leaders at Eli Lilly believe heavy investment in the company’s manufacturing footprint “sets a high standard that newcomers may find challenging to match.” At least one of those newcomers disagrees.
POLICY
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Scott Gottlieb, who served as FDA commissioner during the first Trump administration, wrote in a JAMA editorial that China is speeding drugs to market and could potentially surpass the U.S. in the innovation game. -
The MIT professor of management, who already sits on the CDC’s revamped immunization advisory committee, is a known skeptic of vaccines, particularly mRNA technology. -
The White House has denied reports that the government could soon ban COVID-19 vaccines, noting that in the absence of an official announcement, “any discussion about HHS policy should be dismissed as baseless speculation.” -
Thousands of employees across the Department of Health and Human Services are set to lose their collective bargaining rights in a move that American Federation of Government Employees national president Everett Kelley called “illegal and immoral.” -
There’s still much more to come from the White House on tariffs, but the European Union has now reached a trade agreement with the U.S.
Layoffs leave more than empty desks—they leave uncertainty, guilt and anxiety. Three simple steps will help you regain control of your work, well-being and career.
As they navigate a competitive job market, biopharma professionals are making four key interview mistakes, according to two talent acquisition experts. They discuss those errors and offer tips for how to get those critical conversations right.
Executive coaches can help executives take their game to the next level in four key ways, from improving their self-awareness to reshaping their thinking.
A BioSpace LinkedIn poll found that job ghosting and ghost jobs are the biggest pet peeves for applicants now. Recruitment Manager Greg Clouse offers advice on dealing with them.
Plus, how to use your network effectively and create job opportunities before they exist
M&As are stressful for multiple reasons, including role changes and getting laid off when staffs combine. Two talent experts share tips for navigating the transition period of your company’s merger or acquisition.
HOTBEDS
REPORTS
Year-over-year BioSpace data show biopharma professionals faced increased competition for fewer employment opportunities during the first quarter of 2025.
The 9% average salary increase from 2023 to 2024 was the largest for life sciences professionals since 2021. Several factors could be behind the spike, including companies providing higher pay because bonuses and stock compensation went down.
Landing a job remains challenging for life sciences professionals, according to a new BioSpace report. While 59% of surveyed organizations are actively recruiting, nearly half of unemployed survey respondents had been out of work for at least six months, and 20% of surveyed employers expect to lay off employees this year.
CANCER
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Phase Ib data show Hernexeos can elicit a confirmed objective response rate of 44% in patients with HER2-mutated NSCLC who had previously been treated with a directed antibody-drug conjugate. -
The recent announcement of RFK Jr.’s termination of mRNA vaccine contracts is the latest effort to undermine this promising technology at the federal level. Pharmaceutical companies and private investors must fill the gap and ensure that research into this critical resource continues. -
Arguably the FDA’s most anticipated decision this month is for a subcutaneous induction formulation of Biogen and Eisai’s Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi, which, according to Eisai, could “help reduce the burden on healthcare professionals and patients.” -
Strand Therapeutics’ lead asset is STX-001, an intra-tumor self-replicating mRNA therapy that carries a payload expressing the immunomodulatory protein IL-12. -
The small molecule drug, acquired by Jazz Pharmaceuticals in its $935 million Chimerix pick-up this spring, is intended for relapsed adult and pediatric patients with H3 K27M mutations.
NEUROSCIENCE
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LB Pharma will test the IPO market to seek funding for a Phase III-ready schizophrenia asset. -
The deal extends AbbVie’s commitment to the psychedelics space and depression, after emraclidine’s high-profile flop in schizophrenia last November. -
The platform strategy of using one molecule to target an underlying biological pathway to address many different diseases can be a goldmine for smaller companies. But it also has a unique set of challenges. -
The small molecule, vatiquinone, had already flunked a Phase III trial, but the company pushed ahead with an approval bid anyway. -
Waltham, Massachusetts–based Skyhawk Therapeutics has been collecting collaborations with larger companies in spades since launching in 2018.
CELL AND GENE THERAPY
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From innovation in manufacturing to more-flexible regulation and better communication with payers, much needs to happen to make CGTs commercially viable. But it is possible, experts agreed at a recent panel. -
The primary focus in scaling up production should first be the adoption of lean manufacturing principles used in virtually every other industry. -
The pivotal Phase II trial is testing Allogene’s CAR T candidate cemacabtagene ansegedleucel for large B-cell lymphoma. ALLO-647 was being used as a preparative lymphodepletion therapy. -
The FDA greenlit multiple new drugs this month and issued some notable label expansions, including for Eli Lilly’s Kisunla. Meanwhile, the regulator turned away a cell therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy and a gene therapy for the rare disease Sanfilippo syndrome. -
As analysts parsed news of Vinay Prasad’s ouster, worries over drug approval delays, cell and gene therapy impacts and more were top of mind.
