CEO David Ricks wants Eli Lilly’s upcoming obesity pill to be accessible to patients who need it, but the company still needs to pay for the next generation of obesity medicines to come after that.
While the company’s sales outlook was otherwise rosy, Merck took sales hits on Gardisil, Proquad, Varivax and Vaxneuvance.
Bristol Myers Squibb beat analyst and consensus estimates for the third quarter with $12.2 billion in sales, but executives on the company’s investor call faced questions about a sluggish uptake for schizophrenia drug Cobenfy as well as a highly anticipated Alzheimer’s psychosis readout for the product.
To expand the population for the anti-amyloid Alzheimer’s drugs, Lilly and Biogen are testing presymptomatic patients. Will doctors be open to this paradigm-shifting change?
In this episode presented by Element Materials Technology, BioSpace’s head of insights discusses how China, historically focused on manufacturing, is increasingly becoming an innovation leader, particularly in pharmaceuticals, with guests Dr. Jihye Jang-Lee and Dr. Khanh Courtney. Ultimately, balanced strategies involve domestic capacity investments coupled with global collaboration.
Mounjaro and Zepbound contributed more than $10 billion to the $11.98 billion in sales Lilly recorded for key products in the third quarter, despite price decreases for the GLP-1 medicines.
FEATURED STORIES
Heading into the final quarter of a year that has seen dramatic upheaval at the FDA—from the exodus of numerous senior leaders to unclear policy changes and a safety saga that engulfed the gene therapy space—drug approvals appear roughly on par with recent years.
Therapies from industry leaders BioMarin and Ascendis Pharma supply a key hormone that promotes bone growth. In order to move the field forward, challengers are looking to address the underlying cause of the rare, genetic disease.
New analysis from Jefferies shows that rare disease and cancer drugs granted the status are especially likely to be approved.
Takeda wanted to create something new in the cell therapy world by combining the technology with T cell engagers. A series of acquisitions in 2021 started the process.
As the industry loses one of its key female leaders in GSK CEO Emma Walmsley, BioSpace profiles the women leading the industry’s smaller biopharmas.
Drug pricing criticism often fixates on a price at a single point in time but drug pricing is never static.
LATEST PODCASTS
The FDA is hoping to repurpose GSK’s Wellcovorin for cerebral folate deficiency; Pfizer acquired fast-moving weight-loss startup Metsera for nearly $5 billion after suffering a hat trick of R&D failures; psychedelics are primed for M&A action and Eli Lilly may be next in line; RFK Jr.’s revamped CDC advisory committee met last week with confounding results; and Stealth secured its Barth approval.
In this episode of Denatured, BioSpace’s head of insights Lori Ellis and Colin Zick, partner at Foley Hoag LLP, spend time discussing some of the points brought up in the Bioprocessing Summit last month. They explore the connections between hammers, AI, The Planet of the Apes and monoliths.
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.
Job Trends
The life sciences job market continues to shift. BioSpace’s Q2 2025 U.S. Life Sciences Job Market Report is now available, offering exclusive insights into the latest hiring trends, layoffs, and workforce dynamics across the life sciences industry.
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SPECIAL EDITIONS
Year-over-year BioSpace data shows there are fewer job postings live on the website and far more competition for them.
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.
In the battle over drug prices, one sector of the healthcare industry has risen above all the players as the boogeyman: pharmacy benefit managers. In this special edition of BioPharm Executive, BioSpace takes a deep dive into the lens now focused on PBMs’ business practices.
DEALS
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The acquisition will give BioCryst an investigational injectable drug for hereditary angioedema, potentially complementing its FDA-approved oral drug Orladeyo. -
AviadoBio will have the option to exclusively license UGX-202, a vision-restoring gene therapy for the rare eye condition retinitis pigmentosa. -
Novo will add Akero’s efruxifermin to its MASH portfolio, which includes Wegovy after the GLP-1 gained an FDA nod in the indication earlier this year. -
The centerpiece of the deal is orelabrutinib, a BTK inhibitor in late-stage development for multiple sclerosis that Biogen once paid $125 million for but abandoned after less than two years of testing. -
Regulatory documents show how 89bio’s board pushed Roche hard for a deal valued at $20 per share in upfront and milestone payments.
WEIGHT LOSS
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In this deep dive, BioSpace explores the next big thing in obesity. -
In letters to Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, the FDA accused the companies of downplaying the risks of their GLP-1 weight loss drugs during a prime time special with Oprah Winfrey. -
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. -
The over-representation of males and Hispanic patients in Eli Lilly’s Phase III ATTAIN-1 study could explain why orforglipron “underperformed” expectations in a previous readout, according to analysts at BMO Capital Markets. -
The FDA has vowed to fix a pharma ad loophole—but they’re targeting the wrong one.
POLICY
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Companies that have broken ground on or are actively constructing manufacturing facilities in the U.S. are exempted from the tariffs, according to President Donald Trump’s social media post on Thursday. -
Though details remain scant, the pending order is expected to be the latest effort in President Donald Trump’s campaign to bring drug prices down to the same level as economically similar countries. -
While last week’s recommended changes by CDC advisors to the MMRV vaccine schedule are unlikely to have a tangible effect on Merck’s business, the company said the removal of choice for healthcare providers is “concerning.” -
The FDA’s proposed Rare Disease Evidence Principles review process is a starting point for getting rare disease therapies across the finish line, but industry leaders say there are more concrete steps the regulator could take to help patients. -
After a tension-packed two days that saw recommended changes to the MMRV vaccine schedule and COVID-19 vaccine access, as well as a delayed hepatitis B vaccine vote, policy experts expressed concern with the reconstituted committee’s dearth of previous experience and understanding of their role.
Turn your career aspirations into reality with this step-by-step guide to creating and implementing a strategic professional development plan for 2025.
Being laid off is bad enough. When companies mishandle the layoff process, it can make the situation even worse. Four biopharma professionals share how some employers are getting it wrong.
Job postings in California took a dip in December during the holiday period, but activity is expected to pick up in January.
As market values increase for computational biology and data science, biopharma companies are looking to hire R&D professionals in those areas. A biotech talent acquisition expert shares his insights on these in-demand roles.
Gratitude, a key part of stoicism, can benefit those working in—and being served by—the pharmaceutical industry.
Businessman and entrepreneur Mark Cuban recently discussed leadership with Leadership Lab columnist Michael Pietrack. The three lessons that came out of that conversation start with one word: caring.
HOTBEDS
REPORTS
For the second quarter of 2024, there were 25% fewer jobs posted live on BioSpace compared to the same quarter of 2023. The year-over-year job response rate rose from 14.6% to 15.3%.
The job response rate has risen year over year, according to BioSpace data, indicating competition for roles posted on our website has increased.
BioSpace’s 2024 Salary Report explores the average salaries and salary trends of life sciences professionals.
CANCER
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From more than 30 target action dates in the last three months of the year, BioSpace has narrowed the list to six regulatory decisions that could have far-reaching implications for biopharma and patients. -
The company was awaiting $70 million from HealthCare Royalty but missed an agreed-upon payment condition. -
Phase III data showed that Inluriyo improves progression-free survival versus standard endocrine therapy. -
Truist analysts called the results “encouraging” while pointing out certain unknowns in the data. Immuneering plans to kick off a registrational trial for atebimetinib later this year. -
For the last two years, Keytruda has reigned as the world’s top-selling drug—a distinction under threat with key patent protections expiring in 2028.
NEUROSCIENCE
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By improving gait stability, Ionis’ zilganersen could be “potentially disease modifying,” according to analysts at William Blair. -
The company was expecting a decision from the FDA by Sept. 28 for its oral drug tolebrutinib, but an update to the drug’s application package convinced the agency to take more time to review. -
With AbbVie’s $1.2 billion acquisition of Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals’ lead depression drug, the psychedelic therapeutics space has soundly rebounded from Lykos’ rejection last year. There are now seven programs in Phase III trials across the sector, with multiple companies vying for that first approval. -
VectorY Therapeutics will evaluate the use of SHP-DB1, a capsid developed by Shape Therapeutics, to deliver therapies to the brain, including VectorY’s developmental Huntington’s and Alzheimer’s disease treatments. -
LB Pharma landed on the Nasdaq Thursday, with 3 million additional shares sold than expected.
CELL AND GENE THERAPY
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The $48 million award, granted through the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, will help Kernal take its in vivo mRNA-encoded CAR T therapy forward. -
The U.S. government remains shut down, with the FDA closed for new drug applications until further notice; cell and gene therapy leaders gather for the annual meeting in Phoenix with the field in a state of flux; Pfizer and Amgen will make drugs available at a discount as President Donald Trump’s tariffs still loom; and new regulatory documents show how Pfizer beat out the competition for Metsera.
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Rocket Pharmaceuticals’ strategic realignment initiative in July pulled funding from fanca-cel, which the biotech was developing for Fanconi anemia. -
The centerpiece of the collaboration is the gene editor ABO-101, being developed for primary hyperoxaluria type 1, a rare disease that leads to severe kidney stones. -
As industry leaders gather at the annual event in Phoenix, the cell and gene therapy space remains in a state of flux, with M&A activity and regulatory support signaling momentum while commercialization challenges continue to hinder broader investor interest.
