Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified in front of largely combative congresspeople on vaccine policy, his MAHA report and more; the mass leadership exodus at the FDA continues as CDER and CBER shed key staff; Kennedy’s revamped CDC vaccine advisors convene for their first meeting; Novo and Lilly present new data at the American Diabetes Association’s annual meeting; and BioSpace recaps BIO2025.
Partners Ultragenyx and Mereo BioPharma saw their stocks drop by 21% and 30%, respectively, after announcing that the Phase II/III study of their osteogenesis imperfecta candidate will proceed to final analysis, implying it did not show sufficiently strong results at an interim analysis.
The move has sparked concern that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force could soon be dismissed after a decision by the high court affirmed Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s power to remove its members at will.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria will work with Gilead and other private backers to ensure the HIV preventive Yeztugo, approved last month by the FDA, is available in low- and middle-income countries, concurrent with high-income nations.
The number of employees laid off and companies letting people go increased year over year during the first half of 2025. BioSpace recaps the five largest layoff rounds, including cuts at Bayer, BMS and Teva.
Nuclidium’s radiopharmaceutical platform is unique in its use of copper-based payloads, which the biotech claims can deliver higher doses while also being safer.
The deal gives AstraZeneca’s rare disease unit Alexion access to specialized capsids developed by the Japanese biotech JCR Pharmaceuticals for use in up to five of Alexion’s gene therapies.
FEATURED STORIES
Ahead of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation hearings, experts—and RFK’s own family—expressed concerns about his vaccine-related views, though the same experts are largely unfazed by the level of power he and Marty Makary could ultimately wield over the FDA.
After two years characterized by layoffs, pipeline reorganizations, FDA delays and clinical holds, Novavax CEO John Jacobs says the company is at a pivot point.
Riding recent momentum in the Duchenne muscular dystrophy space, Capricor Therapeutics, Wave Life Sciences, Regenxbio and more aim to deliver the next wave of progress with near-term data and regulatory milestones.
Achondroplasia, which affects around one in 20,000 babies, has just one approved treatment: BioMarin’s Voxzogo. However, new investigational treatments are vying to compete in the area.
The Japanese pharma had one asset rejected by the FDA and withdrew a regulatory application for another, but already this month the company has secured an approval for AstraZeneca-partnered Dato-DXd, to be marketed as Datroway.
While the last decade has brought considerable progress for patients with DMD, substantial unmet need remains. Several companies including Wave, Dyne and Avidity are looking to answer the call with investigational therapies targeting greater efficacy and broader reach.
FROM BIOSPACE INSIGHTS
Establishing trust through thought leadership is no longer optional in today’s cautious biopharma market. Learn how strategic insights and targeted outreach can turn awareness into high-converting leads.
LATEST PODCASTS
This week on Denatured, Head of Insights Lori Ellis and guests discuss the implications of not addressing the DE&I data gaps for the future.
This week, we discuss the expanded approval of Sarepta’s Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy Elevidys, Alnylam’s high stakes ATTR-CM win and highlights from ADA.
BioSpace’s Lori Ellis and Chantal Dresner bring live updates from day three of #DIA2024 in San Diego.
Job Trends
Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted the company’s New Drug Application and granted Priority Review to inavolisib, an investigational oral therapy, in combination with palbociclib and fulvestrant.
Subscribe to Genepool
Subscribe to BioSpace’s flagship publication including top headlines, special editions and life sciences’ most important breaking news
SPECIAL EDITIONS
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.
A new generation of checkpoint inhibitors is emerging, with some showing more promise than others. From recent TIGIT failures to high-potential targets like VEGF, BioSpace explores what’s on the horizon in immuno-oncology.
DEALS
-
Sangamo and Pfizer’s hemophilia A gene therapy candidate scored a Phase III victory last week. However, with the genomic medicine company soon to run out of cash, Sangamo’s short-term prospects look bleak but not unsalvageable, analysts say.
-
Under the deal announced Monday with the California biotech, German pharma Boehringer Ingelheim is gaining access to novel immune checkpoint inhibitors designed to activate the immune system to fight cancer cells. -
A longtime biopharma exec and Moderna shareholder argues in an anonymous email to the companies’ CFOs that they have a fiduciary responsibility to close the deal. Analysts say the proposal is interesting but “too simplistic.” -
While supportive of Amylyx’s acquisition of a GLP-1 drug, analysts say the company’s future hinges on key upcoming readouts from multiple products in its pipeline. -
The acquisition of the contract development and manufacturing organization will allow Agilent Technologies to provide a one-stop source for gene-editing services for its customers.
WEIGHT LOSS
-
Novo Nordisk’s total revenue in the third quarter missed analysts’ expectations but sales of weight loss drug Wegovy exceeded the consensus forecast. Still, the Danish drugmaker narrowed its full-year guidance for revenue and operating profit. -
While expected and seen as largely incremental, Jefferies analyst Peter Welford in a Tuesday note to investors said the detailed data for three early-stage assets support moving them into Phase IIb studies and creates a “foothold” for AstraZeneca in the weight loss space. -
Jefferies analyst Roger Song in an investor note said that Viking Therapeutics’ readout for its investigational therapy VK2735 exceeded expectations, with “class-leading” weight loss. Patients on 100-miligram doses of the pill lost 8.2% of their body weight after 28 days. -
In part 1 of the pivotal ESSENCE trial, Novo Nordisk’s weight loss drug Wegovy demonstrated “statistically significant and superior improvement” in liver fibrosis in patients with metabolic dysfunction–associated steatohepatitis. -
Lilly CEO Dave Ricks in Wednesday’s third-quarter earnings call acknowledged that the company is at the mercy of wholesaler stocking decisions.
POLICY
-
Trump has repeatedly called April 2 “Liberation Day,” alluding to a more sweeping and aggressive set of tariffs. Leerink Partners analysts said that the risks from Trump’s tariffs on the biopharma industry are “underappreciated.” -
Johnson & Johnson will not appeal the dismissal of its bankruptcy proposal. -
Nearly two dozen states on Tuesday sued the Department of Health and Human Services over a planned $11 billion funding cut for public health projects while New Jersey Senator Cory Booker spoke for 25 hours in protest of Trump administration policies. -
The latest cuts, which are part of a larger reduction of 10,000 at the Department of Health and Human Services, were reportedly underway Tuesday, with CDER Office of New Drugs Director Peter Stein added to the list of casualties. -
Analysts at financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald are urging President Donald Trump to rethink his appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
If you’re considering a career change from pharma to biotech, you’ll be happy to hear that according to industry experts, the transition is more common than you might think.
Keep reading to take a look at some of the best pharma jobs for travelers. These jobs will allow you to see different parts of the world while working in an exciting and fast-paced industry.
Thinking about starting a career in biotech? We’ve put together a guide to help you decide where to go within the biotech field and what steps you should take to get there.
The search for a biopharma job can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. Here is a complete guide to the biopharma job hunt, from researching job openings to writing resumes and cover letters.
Even if you aren’t looking for a new role in biopharma, nurturing relationships will only benefit you in the long run. To help, here is a complete guide to networking in the life science industry.
To help alleviate some of the stress related to finding a new job, we’ve created a comprehensive guide detailing how to prepare for your biopharma job search.
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
-
Bristol Myers Squibb’s Opdivo plus Yervoy, as well as Pfizer’s Braftovi, have each shown strong Phase III performances that could position them as new standards of care in certain subtypes of metastatic colorectal cancer. -
The unsuccessful Phase III results are the latest to suggest that the blockbuster cancer drug is finally bumping up against its limits after racking up around 50 approvals since getting its first FDA nod in September 2014. -
Protein degradation–focused Neomorph nabs its third Big Pharma deal of around $1.5 billion in less than a year. -
With an eye toward advancing a novel antibody-drug conjugate for gastrointestinal cancers, ArriVent is the latest biopharma player to ink a deal with a Chinese biotech. -
Ascentage is looking to use the IPO proceeds to advance its Phase III candidates for chronic or small lymphocytic leukemia and for certain types of chronic myeloid leukemia.
NEUROSCIENCE
-
Emboldened by technological advances and a deeper knowledge of glioblastoma, Merck, Kazia Therapeutics, CorriXR Therapeutics and others are targeting the often-fatal brain tumor. -
Despite the “unfortunate” failure, William Blair analysts do not believe that the utreloxastat readout will heavily affect PTC, instead postulating that the upcoming FDA decision on its phenylketonuria candidate sepiapterin will be a stronger driver of the biotech’s stock. -
Alector is kicking off a resource realignment effort that will include a workforce reduction. The biotech expects its current cash position to last it through 2026. -
While taldefgrobep alfa failed to show improved motor function in spinal muscular atrophy, treated patients saw a marked reduction in body fat. Biohaven plans to launch a Phase II trial in obesity by the end of the year. -
Cassava Sciences has revealed the late-stage clinical failure of controversial Alzheimer’s drug simulfilam. The company had pledged to share the results whether “good, bad or ambiguous.”
CELL AND GENE THERAPY
-
Tim Hunt, CEO of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, said Monday at the 2024 Cell & Gene Meeting on the Mesa that investments reached $10.9 billion in the first half of this year—outpacing 2019’s $9.8 billion total—but far below the pandemic peak. -
The Financial Times reported Thursday that WuXi AppTec is looking to sell its cell and gene therapy manufacturing unit, with facilities in Philadelphia, while WuXi Biologics wants to offload some of its production sites in Europe. -
Stephen Majors from the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, which hosts the conference, spoke with BioSpace about what the more than 2,000 attendees can expect to learn next week in Phoenix about the pressing issues confronting the industry. -
To say that 2seventy bio’s short two years of existence have been dramatic is an understatement. CEO Chip Baird told BioSpace transparency and a committed staff have kept the biotech going through thick and thin. -
District Judge Jesse Furman ruled that the plaintiff, UMB Bank, does not have standing to bring the case against Bristol Myers Squibb because it is not a properly appointed trustee for shareholders’ contingent value rights.
