The candidate is being positioned as a potential oral competitor to Sanofi and Regeneron’s blockbuster Dupixent in allergy and inflammation indications.
Analysts said the data suggest “a strong treatment effect.” Jazz has filed for FDA approval for the combination, which could offer an alternative to monotherapy treatments from Roche and AstraZeneca.
In comments posted in response to the Trump administration’s pharma tariff investigation, companies and industry groups offered solutions to ease the impacts if the plan must go ahead.
Regeneron’s shares have declined nearly 17% following the failure of the company’s Dupixent follow-up itepekimab.
Blueprint has a next-generation systemic mastocytosis treatment, called elenestinib, that Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson told analysts provides an “opportunity to grow through the ‘30s.”
Bristol Myers Squibb is dropping at least $3.5 billion to jointly develop the bispecific antibody, which will race with Summit Therapeutics, Merck and Pfizer in the crowded PD-1/PD-L1xVEGF space.
FEATURED STORIES
On June 10, the FDA will convene its Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee to discuss the New Drug Application for Lilly’s Alzheimer’s drug.
The Celularity CEO and founder tells BioSpace he believes that placenta-derived cells are the future of stem cell therapies to fight autoimmune disease, cancer, even aging.
In this deep dive, BioSpace takes a closer look at the drug price crisis in the U.S. As President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump gear up for a rematch in the 2024 election, we explore how federal reforms to lower costs could be leveraged on the campaign trail.
In this deep dive, BioSpace examines how small, medium and large companies are using artificial intelligence and machine learning to enhance their drug discovery efforts.
In this special report, BioSpace examines how the biopharma industry is grappling with impending consequences of the Inflation Reduction Act.
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
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.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will appear before the Senate Finance Committee Thursday, ahead of a vaccine advisory committee meeting later in September. Meanwhile, deal-making appetite appears healthy, and the weight loss space continues generating clinical data and other news.
Job Trends
Takeda Canada Inc. is pleased to announce its support of the Canadian Inflammatory Bowel Disease Research Consortium’s $1 million PIONEER Grant in its second year.
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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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Novel therapies often pass through several owners on their way to the market. Here’s a look at some of the drugs that got dropped before they hit primetime. -
Japanese biopharma scoops up Iveric’s investigational drug for age-related blindness disease. The drug, which trails Apellis’ Syfovre, is awaiting FDA approval with a decision expected by August. -
The acquisition of Bellus Health will give GSK access to camlipixant, a potentially best-in-class P2X3 antagonist for chronic cough. -
Merck finalized the acquisition of immune-focused Prometheus Biosciences for approximately $10.8 billion, picking up mid-stage ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s asset. -
BioNTech will pay Shanghai-based Duality Biologics $170 million upfront for rights to two of its topoisomerase-1 inhibitor-based antibody drug conjugates.
WEIGHT LOSS
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The acquisition will give Roche access to Carmot’s clinical portfolio of three GLP-1 receptor agonists, placing it squarely in the middle of the competition to treat overweight and obesity. -
AbbVie’s $10.1 billion ImmunoGen buy and Altimmune’s Phase II win demonstrate that the antibody-drug conjugate market is red hot in cancer and GLP-1 drugs for weight loss are an absolute craze. -
While Pfizer’s oral GLP-1 candidate met its primary endpoint in a Phase IIb obesity trial, twice-daily dosing of danuglipron resulted in high rates of adverse events including nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. -
Patients treated with Altimmune’s investigational GLP-1/glucagon dual receptor agonist saw up to 15.6% weight loss, and nearly a third of those taking the highest dose lost at least 20% of their body weight. -
This week on The Weekly we talk struggles with GLP-1 drug shortages and what that might mean for Novo and Lilly competitors; Regeneron and Sanofi positive results for Dupixent in COPD. Plus, Merck buys Caraway, Beigene’s deal with Ensem, ups and downs for Flagship.
POLICY
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Teva Pharmaceuticals has settled years of tax litigation with the Israel Tax Authority for $750 million, which the company will pay in installments starting in 2024 to 2029. -
After back-to-back failures in 2021, Wave Life Sciences has finally aced a Phase Ib/IIa Huntington’s disease trial and is looking to a potential accelerated approval for its investigational antisense oligonucleotide. -
Scrutiny of WuXi Raises Potential Opportunities for Indian CDMOsAs congressional pressure increases on WuXi AppTec and other China-based companies over alleged ties to the Chinese government, India’s contract development and manufacturing organization sector could benefit. -
Citing issues with a third-party manufacturer, the FDA has issued another Complete Response Letter to AbbVie rejecting its New Drug Application for ABBV-951, a proposed treatment for motor fluctuations in adults with advanced Parkinson’s disease. -
If approved, ensifentrine would be the first non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drug for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, offering an option with potentially fewer side effects.
How will you ensure that you aren’t overqualified for your next position?
Have you ever wondered why some life science professionals seem very happy at work, and appear to love their jobs? At the same time, their co-workers in an identical position are miserable.
Arguments in the workplace are often unavoidable. There will be differences in opinion, strategy and planning efforts. To help, here are some tips on how to avoid arguments at work.
A recent BioSpace survey found that health insurance is one of the top considerations of life science professionals willing to relocate for a job. To learn more, we interviewed Carrie Richards Leary, a health insurance benefits professional.
According to a BioSpace poll, over half (56%) of respondents are not happy with their current life sciences position. Are you one of the 56%? You deserve to be happy! Start working towards your happiness and check out job opportunities at these top companies!
You want to take every opportunity you can find to incorporate resume action verbs. The main way to do that is to replace any weak verbs you’ve written.
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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Novartis on Thursday announced that it is making $150 million in upfront payments to protein degradation biotech Arvinas, while separately revealing that its tender offer for MorphoSys has begun. -
Bristol Myers Squibb-backed TORL BioTherapeutics announced Wednesday it will use proceeds from the Series B-2 financing round to advance its pipeline of antibody-drug conjugate therapies. -
Merck and Kelun-Biotech’s antibody-drug conjugate achieved a 22% objective response rate and 80.5% disease control rate in heavily pretreated patients with gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer. -
2024 began with several biopharma players posting positive Phase III data that could mean new market share for the companies and longer survival times and quality of life for patients. -
Following disappointing Phase III results in less aggressive non-small cell lung cancer, AstraZeneca on Friday announced that Imfinzi improved progression-free and overall survival in patients with limited-stage small cell lung cancer.
NEUROSCIENCE
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Thursday, Eisai and Biogen’s Leqembi also became the first disease-modifying treatment for Alzheimer’s to win traditional approval. CMS coverage is expected to begin immediately. -
After a series of milestone approvals in the first half of 2023, the FDA is slated to decide on four more firsts before the year’s end. -
After an FDA advisory committee unanimously recommended Leqembi’s full approval, questions linger around amyloid-related imaging abnormalities and a potentially cumbersome patient registry. -
Neurologist David Weisman, with financial ties to the companies, was removed from the FDA’s upcoming advisory committee meeting slated to consider Leqembi’s traditional approval.
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The FDA has three high-profile events this week, including one target action date and two advisory committee meetings—one to discuss potential traditional approval for Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi.
CELL AND GENE THERAPY
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Capsida has yet to disclose the exact cause of death. The patient had received the gene therapy CAP-002 for a type of epilepsy. -
Ori Biotech’s CEO said the prioritization of review by FDA, coupled to the impact of the technology, could shave up to three years off development timelines. -
As AAV9 and CRISPR programs navigate safety, delivery and scalability hurdles, small molecules offer a deployable, scalable bridge, complementing genetic approaches and accelerating meaningful impact for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. -
It can cure deadly diseases, save long-term healthcare costs and transform lives. But the U.S. insurance system still isn’t ready to pay for it. -
Vertex Pharmaceuticals commits $45 million upfront to leverage Enlaza Therapeutics’ War-Lock platform to create drug conjugates and T cell engagers for autoimmune diseases and gentler conditioning for sickle cell/beta thalassemia gene-editing therapy Casgevy.
