While Vaxart can proceed with its study, fellow COVID-19 vaccine developers GeoVax and Novavax continue to be hamstrung by various regulatory roadblocks.
A BioSpace survey found that 56% of employed and 81% of unemployed respondents are considering jobs outside biopharma. Some are also seriously thinking about leaving the U.S. to find employment in the field.
In this episode presented by IQVIA, BioSpace’s head of insights Lori Ellis discusses the importance of target product profiles, particularly when navigating funding challenges, with Ian Fisher, head of development analytics.
Looking for a manufacturing job? Check out the BioSpace list of 11 companies hiring life sciences professionals like you.
Nine states in the Southeast showed growth in bioscience employment and establishments from 2019 to 2023, according to 2024 data from BIO and TEConomy Partners. NCBiotech and Bexion executives discuss the area and the pros and cons of setting up shop far from major hubs.
Canada’s health agency says it has been “taking all necessary action safeguard the drug supply and ensure Canadians have access to the prescription drugs they need.”
The FDA’s independent advisors found Pfizer’s data lacked the precision needed to establish the efficacy of Talzenna in patients with prostate cancer who do not carry HRR mutations.
FEATURED STORIES
Hundreds of companies are currently running clinical trials in the increasingly lucrative obesity space. BioSpace looks at five candidates with data expected before the end of the year.
Clinical trial concerns and a negative advisory committee vote ultimately sunk the treatment.
This week, Q2 earnings from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly revealed that the competition between the pharma giants’ weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Zepbound is getting closer.
After Merck noted the issue in its Q2 earnings call without providing specifics, analysts are left in the dark about the HPV vaccine’s future in China.
Experts say the time is now to develop and provide widespread access to genetic medicines for the rarest diseases. What’s more, they say it is a moral imperative.
Longeveron and Lexeo Therapeutics are working on CGT therapies to treat Alzheimer’s disease, but it’s not clear whether they have a better chance of success than traditional approaches.
LATEST PODCASTS
In this episode presented by IQVIA, BioSpace’s head of insights Lori Ellis discusses the concerns and opportunities of patient data driving AI tasks with Louise Molloy, associate director medical information and pharmacovigilance.
Sarepta’s Elevidys is back on the market for ambulatory patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reportedly plans to dissolve the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and “fix” the vaccine injury compensation program, Merck, AstraZeneca and more report Q2 earnings, Novo names a new leader and Roche’s trontinemab impresses at AAIC25.
Sarepta Therapeutics faces serious FDA action after news broke of a third patient death, the FDA gets a new top drug regulator in George Tidmarsh, a handful of new drugs get turned away from the market and pharma companies continue to commit billions to reshoring manufacturing.
Job Trends
Nurix Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing targeted protein modulation drugs designed to treat patients with cancer and inflammatory diseases, announced that Gilead Sciences has elected to extend the research term of the companies’ ongoing collaboration, originally established in 2019, by an additional two years.
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SPECIAL EDITIONS
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.
Peter Marks, the venerable head of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, has been forced out. In this special edition of BioPharm Executive, BioSpace takes a deep dive into the instability of the HHS.
DEALS
  1. Following in the footsteps of Novartis, J&J and Merck, GSK jumped into the J.P. Morgan dealmaking frenzy Tuesday, picking up respiratory and inflammation-focused Aiolos Bio.
  2. From the rising trend of royalty financing to other adaptive funding strategies, firms think outside the box in responding to unprecedented challenges.
  3. Harpoon has several antibodies in its pipeline that are engineered to redirect a patient’s T cells to recognize and kill cancer cells.
  4. The pharmaceutical giant will pay $28 a share to acquire Ambrx’s pipeline of ADCs, particularly its lead candidate for prostate cancer.
  5. 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.
WEIGHT LOSS
  1. It wasn’t calls from lawmakers but market competition with Eli Lilly’s Zepbound that prompted Novo Nordisk to lower the prices of its blockbuster weight-loss drug.
  2. Following strong Phase II data, Amgen is going all in on its next-generation obesity treatment MariTide, with plans to run a Phase III trial and a separate mid-stage study for diabetes.
  3. Novo Nordisk on Thursday reported a jump in first-quarter 2024 revenue, driven by a more than 100% increase in sales of weight-loss drug Wegovy and the strong performance of type 2 diabetes medication Ozempic.
  4. In a bid to improve competition in the industry, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is challenging the patents of 20 different pharmaceutical products, disputing the accuracy and relevance of their patents.
  5. Thanks to strong sales of its blockbuster drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound, Eli Lilly on Tuesday reported nearly $8.77 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2024, while raising its full-year revenue guidance by $2 billion.
POLICY
  1. Amgen’s Enbrel, Bristol Myers Squibb’s Eliquis and Johnson & Johnson’s Stelara will account for 51.4% of the Inflation Reduction Act’s drug price negotiation savings in 2026, according to the Brookings Institution.
  2. FDA
    In June, the regulator placed a partial clinical hold on a Phase I trial of the companies’ antibody-drug conjugate after three patient deaths were reported.
  3. For the Biden-Harris administration to compare the newly announced negotiated Medicare prices to the list prices for these drugs is, at best, not very meaningful. At worst, it’s disingenuous.
  4. Just months after a jury ordered payment to Pfizer in the patent infringement case, a Delaware judge has nullified the award and invalidated the patents behind the lawsuit involving AstraZeneca’s blockbuster lung cancer drug.
  5. The Biden administration on Thursday touted discounts of up to 79%, but many of these first 10 drugs are already sold well below list price.
CAREER HUB
Why are some people enthusiastic about going to work in the morning, while others are miserable? Is it the person or is it the job? Many people haven’t stopped to consider if they might be contributing to their own unhappiness at work.
Maryland has become a key part of the strategy for Kite, a Gilead company, and its mission to find a cure for cancer.
As your organization continues with hiring efforts, interviewers will face new questions from candidates that they’ve never been asked before.
If you are looking for a new job, it is crucial to have an ATS friendly resume. Let’s discuss how to do this and why they’re so popular with hiring managers.
Do you have soft skills but don’t know how to show them on your resume? Here are 6 of the most popular soft skills for resume and tips on how to make sure they get noticed.
Here are some of the top questions you should consider asking during an interview regarding COVID-19.
If you’re struggling to figure out how, exactly, to back up your accomplishments with facts, think about your impact, and then ask yourself some of these questions.
HOTBEDS
Where are the Best Places to Work in life sciences? BioSpace’s annual Best Places to Work list demonstrates a company’s desirability in the recruitment marketplace - find out who made the list this year.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Novartis is falling farther behind AbbVie, which expanded its JAK inhibitor Rinvoq into giant cell arteritis in April.
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
  1. The unit’s closure comes as Genentech’s parent Roche rethinks its cancer business, an effort that has included the discontinuation of three early-stage candidates and a T-cell partnership with Adaptimmune.
  2. Imfinzi’s perioperative approval comes after both the FDA’s staffers and a panel of external experts expressed concerns about overtreatment when using the PD-L1 blocker both before and after surgery.
  3. The European Union has approved the first-ever combination therapy consisting of an immunotherapy and a PARP inhibitor for the treatment of endometrial cancer, AstraZeneca announced Wednesday.
  4. The Connecticut-based biotech, which emerged from stealth last year, has secured $202 million to date as it looks to move two assets targeting prostate and breast cancer into the clinic.
  5. Gilead Sciences’ liver disease portfolio delivered surprisingly robust performance in the second quarter, jumping 17% as the company awaits next week’s potential FDA approval of seladelpar in primary biliary cholangitis.
NEUROSCIENCE
  1. Biogen on Wednesday exceeded analyst profit estimates for the first quarter of 2024 as the biotech’s cost-cutting measures took hold and sales of its Alzheimer’s disease therapy Leqembi started to pick up.
  2. An undisclosed once-daily oral dose of Neurocrine Biosciences’ Takeda-partnered investigational drug significantly reduced symptom severity in adults with major depressive disorder.
  3. As the Phase III amyotrophic lateral sclerosis pipeline thins out, the ALS community is placing its hopes on earlier-stage trials sponsored by Denali Therapeutics, PTC Therapeutics and more.
  4. As AbbVie and NeuroDerm race toward potential U.S. approvals later this year, the companies presented strong data at last week’s American Academy of Neurology 2024 annual meeting for their respective continuous subcutaneous levodopa infusions.
  5. A one-time treatment for Parkinson’s disease could be a ‘market changer,’ experts told BioSpace, adding that cell therapies could limit the adverse effects seen with current drugs.
CELL AND GENE THERAPY
  1. The FDA’s busy week ahead involves three decision dates for potential industry firsts and a highly anticipated advisory committee meeting for two CAR-T therapies.
  2. Separate challenges exist for companies developing gene therapies for rare and common cardiovascular conditions, experts told BioSpace.
  3. Formerly known as Ryne Bio, Kenai Therapeutics emerged on Thursday with backing from several groups and has a cell therapy candidate going after Parkinson’s disease.
  4. Sarepta Therapeutics on Wednesday called the launch of the gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy “exceptional” but the company does not expect to see significant growth in the first half of 2024 due to its currently limited patient pool.
  5. Cell and gene therapy professionals gathered in Miami last month to discuss new manufacturing approaches for these up-and-coming treatments.