The rise of monoclonal antibodies brought back hope for stalling or reversing the devastating neurodegenerative disease. Big Pharma has taken notice with a handful of high-value deals, GlobalData reports.
Digging into a prespecified analysis for the mid-stage study, INmune Bio identified some clinical and biological benefits of its TNF inhibitor in patients with early Alzheimer’s disease who have at least two biomarkers of inflammation.
In an open letter addressing the Trump administration’s proposed budget cuts to HHS, the executives urged Congress to continue “robust federal funding” for scientific research, which they say will help maintain U.S. biotech leadership globally.
In adults 50 and older, Moderna’s flu shot was more than 26% better than an unspecified commercial vaccine. In May, the company pulled its application for a combo flu/COVID-19 shot, saying it would refile following data from this Phase III trial.
As of Apr. 22, Sage had 338 full-time employees, all of whom will be laid off effective Aug. 22. The layoffs were announced a few weeks after Maryland’s Supernus Pharmaceuticals acquired Sage for up to $795 million.
The FDA’s clunky launch of Elsa, an AI tool to increase efficiency, has sparked concern from agency employees and outside experts.
FEATURED STORIES
Before companies and investors look towards the future, they must first understand the opportunities and challenges AI presents to them. From the benefits included in advancing processes to cybersecurity hazards, AI innovation is a balanced scale of oppportunities and risks.
As the FDA prepares to render a verdict on BMS’ closely watched schizophrenia drug, BioSpace takes a closer look at the late-stage pipeline for this neuropsychiatric disorder.
Summit Therapeutics’ ivonescimab has the potential to challenge Merck’s blockbuster checkpoint inhibitor in non-small cell lung cancer, but experts stress the need for diverse and overall survival data.
The release of early-stage data on three oral weight loss drug candidates hints at which companies have the strongest hand, but the comparisons are rife with confounding variables, leaving analysts unsure about where to place their bets.
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.
Launched in 2020 to more quickly bring to market an effective medicine for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the HEALEY Platform Trial has generated disappointing results for many but also continuing programs from Clene and Prilenia.
FROM BIOSPACE INSIGHTS
Listen now for a high-level discussion on overcoming pharmaceutical supply chain challenges through end-to-end integration.
LATEST PODCASTS
The White House is clamping down on pharma’s ability to buy new molecules from Chinese biotechs; Sanofi, Merck and others abandon the U.K. after the introduction of a sizeable levy; Novo CEO Maziar Mike Doustdar lays off 9,000 while the company presents new data at EASD; Capsida loses a patient in a gene therapy trial; and CDER Director George Tidmarsh walks back comments on FDA adcomms.
This week’s release of the Make America Health Again report revealed continued emphasis on vaccine safety; Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s faceoff with senators last week amounted to political theater; the FDA promises complete response letters in real time and shares details on a new rare disease framework; and Summit disappoints at the World Conference on Lung Cancer in Barcelona.
In this episode presented by Taconic Biosciences, BioSpace’s head of insights Lori Ellis discusses how preclinical research companies are helping drug developers navigate the current challenging funding environment with Mike Garrett, CEO.
Job Trends
Bristol Myers Squibb announced that the pivotal Phase 3 KRYSTAL-12 study, evaluating KRAZATI® as a monotherapy in patients with pretreated locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer harboring a KRASG12C mutation, met the primary endpoint of progression-free survival and the key secondary endpoint of overall response rate as assessed by Blinded Independent Central Review at final analysis for these endpoints.
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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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Harpoon has several antibodies in its pipeline that are engineered to redirect a patient’s T cells to recognize and kill cancer cells. -
The pharmaceutical giant will pay $28 a share to acquire Ambrx’s pipeline of ADCs, particularly its lead candidate for prostate cancer. -
The IPO window is starting to crack open this year, with Metagenomi and ArriVent making their offerings ahead of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. -
While initial public offering activity was light in 2023, the new year has recorded the first IPO plan—from California-based CG Oncology. -
BioSpace and guests from Halia Therapeutics, Triumvira Immunologics and the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation discuss alternative financing strategies to consider for 2024. Listen now.
WEIGHT LOSS
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Seeking to target the lucrative obesity market, Merck is focusing its R&D efforts on next-generation GLP-1 therapies that offer additional benefits beyond weight loss, according to company executives. -
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), chair of the Senate health committee, has proposed issuing a subpoena to Novo Nordisk President Doug Langa forcing him to testify regarding the company’s pricing for Wegovy and Ozempic. -
Seeking to carve out its own niche in the obesity space, Syntis Bio launched on Tuesday to develop an oral weight-loss treatment that mimics the effects of gastric bypass surgery. -
More patients are having to pay out-of-pocket for Eli Lilly’s weight-loss medication Zepbound than they did for type 2 diabetes drug Mounjaro, according to Lilly USA President Patrik Jonsson. -
Structure Therapeutics is offering over nine million shares on the heels of mid-stage data for its oral GLP-1 receptor agonist, which showed weight loss of 6.2% in overweight or obese patients.
POLICY
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On election day, Tuesday, November 5, Americans will choose between former President Donald Trump and current Vice President Kamala Harris for their next president. The election will also see the rearrangement of Congress. -
Monday’s lawsuits from Eli Lilly are the first to be filed by the pharma since the regulator officially removed tirzepatide from its drug shortage database earlier this month. -
With Friday’s ruling by New Jersey District Judge Zahid Quraishi, Novartis joins a growing list of pharmaceutical companies that have failed in their legal challenges to the Inflation Reduction Act. -
United States Pharmacopeia is recruiting expert volunteers from academia, industry, regulatory and healthcare to develop, revise and approve medicine, dietary supplement and food ingredient standards and solutions used in more than 150 countries to improve global public health. The volunteers will serve from 2025 to 2030. -
Massachusetts residents voted Tuesday against the Natural Psychedelic Substances Act, which would have seen some psychedelics, including psilocybin and dimethyltryptamine, legalized in the state.
The most effective job seekers know that standing out from the crowd goes a long way toward job search and career success. Less well-known is exactly how to differentiate oneself and gain that competitive advantage.
Going through a career transition can be stressful and difficult to navigate. Many professionals don’t know how to start the process or begin to explain the reasoning for making a shift.
What change can you make to stay positive during these uncertain times?
Working from home has its perks, like no commute time and a more flexible schedule. But work from home can help you in keeping connections with co-workers difficult.
If you’re on the job market now, here are a few key questions you should ask your potential new employer on how you can succeed in a work-from-home environment, whether for just a few weeks or months or even indefinitely
Here’s how smart prospective interviewees can optimally prepare for success in online interviews.
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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Set to start in 2025, Relay Therapeutics is moving toward a pivotal study of experimental treatment RLY-2608 in heavily pretreated locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer. -
In advanced non-small cell lung cancer, Summit Therapeutics’ ivonescimab appears to be 49% more effective at reducing the risk of disease progression or death versus Merck’s Keytruda in a late-stage study. However, analysts contend the caveat is that the trial was conducted in an entirely Chinese patient population. -
Follow-up data from the MARIPOSA study show a favorable overall survival trend versus Tagrisso in EGFR-mutated advanced non-small cell lung cancer. The findings come just weeks after the Rybrevant-Lazcluze combination was approved for the first-line treatment. -
Using a computational biomarker, the companies say they can identify which patients would derive significant clinical benefit from their experimental antibody-drug conjugate. AstraZeneca and Roche are co-developing and commercializing a companion diagnostic for the biomarker. -
Bispecific antibodies and anti-TIGIT therapies both appear to be writing comeback stories as cancer experts head to Barcelona for the 2024 European Society for Medical Oncology Congress. Radioligand therapies and synthetic lethality assets are also attracting attention.
NEUROSCIENCE
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Takeda on Monday said it is paying AC Immune $100 million upfront for an option on a Phase Ib/II Alzheimer’s disease candidate that could activate the immune system to clear amyloid beta plaques. -
With its $525 million investment, Royalty Pharma will acquire the royalties and milestones for ImmuNext’s anti-CD40 therapy frexalimab, which is currently in Phase III trials for multiple sclerosis. -
While Teva missed Wall Street expectations in the first quarter of 2024, it reported Wednesday a 5% increase in Q1 revenues while reporting that the company’s schizophrenia candidate scored a late-stage trial victory -
Amylyx’s recent decision to withdraw its ALS drug Relyvrio from the market highlights an important business decision for companies: when to continue marketing or investigating a drug that has failed a pivotal or confirmatory study. -
Neurocrine Biosciences on Tuesday won the FDA’s approval for a sprinkle capsule formulation of Ingrezza, providing a more convenient route of treatment for Huntington’s disease patients with trouble swallowing.
CELL AND GENE THERAPY
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The FDA approved Bristol Myers Squibb’s Breyanzi for chronic lymphocytic leukemia and small lymphocytic leukemia prior to Friday’s adcomm for the company’s other CAR-T therapy, Abecma. -
With an advisory committee meeting slated for Friday, the regulator has posted briefing documents in which it has raised concerns about early deaths in patients treated with Bristol Myers Squibb’s Abecma and Johnson & Johnson’s Carvykti. -
Allogene Therapeutics and Arbor Biotechnologies will use their allogeneic CAR T and next-generation gene-editing platforms to develop novel off-the-shelf CAR-T therapies for autoimmune diseases. -
Vertex and CRISPR Therapeutics are setting up treatment centers for patients with beta thalassemia and sickle cell disease to compete with bluebird’s established infrastructure. -
BMS and J&J will meet with the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee Friday to discuss their CAR-T therapies Abecma and Carvykti as the companies seek their approval as earlier lines of treatment.
