Praxis’ vormatrigine reduced seizures by 56.3%, an effect size that, according to analysts at Truist Securities, exceeds that of its closest competitors.
While the deaths occurred in patients who had been treated with Agios’ anemia treatment Pyrukynd, the biotech insisted in an SEC filing midday Monday that the drug’s risk-benefit profile remains unchanged.
In an open letter, 22 experts who designed and ran Replimune’s Phase III IGNYTE trial answered the FDA’s issues, as outlined in the complete response letter for the melanoma candidate RP1.
According to reporting from multiple outlets, Richard Pazdur, head of the Oncology Center of Excellence at CDER, opposed the consensus opinion of CBER staff to approve the drug. Replimune’s stock has dropped precipitously since the rejection.
The company expects that the U.S. COVID-19 vaccination rate will be “maybe a couple of points lower” than the prior level of around 20% but that pricing and Comirnaty’s market share will hold steady.
The pivotal Phase II trial is testing Allogene’s CAR T candidate cemacabtagene ansegedleucel for large B-cell lymphoma. ALLO-647 was being used as a preparative lymphodepletion therapy.
FEATURED STORIES
Congress did not reauthorize the rare pediatric disease priority review program at the end of 2024. Advocates say the ripple effect is already being felt across biopharma.
In the current legal and political landscape, it is all about survival for DEI initiatives.
Two recent documents—one from the FDA, the other from a commission organized by The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology—indicate an evolving mindset toward treating obesity as a chronic disease.
More than a decade after Merck’s Keytruda and BMS’ Yervoy ushered in the immuno-oncology revolution, the space is at a crossroads, with experts highlighting novel targets, combinations and pre-emptive immunization as the next wave for IO.
While at SCOPE 2025, Sam Srivastava, CEO at WCG Clinical discusses the challenges and responsibilities of the life sciences industry in building public trust amidst growing anger towards healthcare.
ITF, IntraBio and Orchard are among the companies that have won FDA nods in the past year for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Niemann-Pick disease type C, metachromatic leukodystrophy and more.
LATEST PODCASTS
In this episode, Lori and guests discuss the pursuit of adequate representation and how clinical trials are being shaped by the legal environment they operate within.
Second-quarter earnings season continues with Big Pharma beating Wall Street expectations, the author of an encrypted email sent to BioSpace has a proposal for Moderna and Merck, Roche and Viking seek quicker entry to the obesity market, and AAIC is in full swing.
Despite early 2024 optimism, BioSpace’s Job Market Trends report outlines a still sluggish situation in the biopharma industry, Novartis and J&J announce Q2 earnings, GLP-1 market leaders expand into China and the Cassava Sciences saga continues.
Job Trends
Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) today announced topline results from the confirmatory Phase 3 TROPiCS-04 study in locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer (mUC).
Subscribe to Genepool
Subscribe to BioSpace’s flagship publication including top headlines, special editions and life sciences’ most important breaking news
SPECIAL EDITIONS
In this deep dive, BioSpace explores the next big thing in obesity.
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.
DEALS
-
Belgium-based biopharma UCB is selling its Chinese neurology and allergy business to Singapore asset management firm CBC Group and Abu Dhabi investment company Mubadala.
-
Venture capital in the sector hit $9.2 billion in the second quarter of 2024, up from $7.4 billion in Q1, while exits fell on a slower M&A cycle and picky IPO market.
-
M&A activity surges and IPOs return as the biotech industry navigates a changing business landscape marked by strategic consolidation and renewed investor focus on innovation.
-
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.
-
Armed with a combined $850 million in cash, the companies said Thursday the resulting biotech will have a pipeline that could deliver 10 clinical readouts over the next 18 months.
WEIGHT LOSS
-
According to the World Health Organization, GLP-1 receptor agonists are currently being used in a highly medicalized manner. Healthcare systems need to enact more holistic solutions, focusing on health promotion, disease prevention and policy interventions.
-
Following an appeal by the Danish Medicines Agency, the European Union’s drug regulator will review two new studies that have strengthened the link between Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster GLP-1 and a rare eye disease.
-
Suddenly the hottest thing in biopharma isn’t a new indication, disease target or modality—it’s manufacturing, and all of pharma is going to be vying for capacity and talent.
-
The Hansoh deal will let Merck compete in the crowded oral GLP-1 space alongside fellow pharma giants Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Roche.
-
The letters come amid the Outsourcing Facilities Association’s ongoing lawsuit against the FDA over the regulator’s decision to end the shortage for tirzepatide.
POLICY
-
As Marty Makary nears the end of his first month on the job, the FDA Commissioner sat down for two interviews, offering statements that alternatively contradict and jibe with reported events.
-
Merck, Bristol Myers Squibb, Sanofi and Roche had little clarity on the potential impact of President Donald Trump’s pharmaceutical tariffs but many companies are already preparing for what’s to come.
-
The so-called ‘Most Favored Nations’ rule would set drug pricing for Medicare in line with the prices paid by other nations, where drugs can be much cheaper.
-
Such a change would put the U.S. more in line with guidance in other countries and with the World Health Organization, which recommends one dose for children and adolescents only if they have comorbidities.
-
In December 2024, the FDA affirmed that the shortage of tirzepatide, marketed as Zepbound for weight loss, had ended, formally barring compounders from producing their knockoff versions of the drug.
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
-
Despite significant dips in its vaccines sales, the British pharma narrowly beat consensus estimates for Q4 2024 and raised 2031 sales projections to just over $50 billion.
-
Faced with the encroaching threats of patent expirations and generics, biopharma companies in 2024 invested 33% more in licensing deals, on average, than in 2023 with an eye toward enriching their pipelines with novel and potentially more effective therapies.
-
Topline data on a combo including Pfizer’s kinase inhibitor Braftovi point to improved progression-free survival and pave the way for its full approval for the treatment of certain colorectal cancers, according to the company.
-
Novartis was among the most prolific pharma dealmakers in 2024, a trend that it expects to continue with more bolt-on deals this year to set up for sustainable long-term growth.
-
In this episode, presented by the Genscript Biotech Global Forum 2025, BioSpace’s Head of Insights Lori Ellis talks to Tom Whitehead, co-founder of the Emily Whitehead Foundation, about how standard care, cell and gene therapies and their impact on patients.
NEUROSCIENCE
-
This year saw lofty highs and devastating lows for neuroscience drug developers like Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly and AbbVie, following the predictable pattern of successes and failures that characterizes this space.
-
Already established as cornerstone therapies in diabetes and obesity, GLP-1 receptor agonists also show potential in several other indications, including cancer, addiction and neurodegenerative diseases.
-
BioArctic received $100 million upfront with another $1.25 billion in potential milestone payments on the line for two pyroglutamate-amyloid-beta antibodies.
-
The report comes just two days after Novartis announced its own Parkinson’s drug failure.
-
Even as Biogen and Eisai’s Leqembi and Eli Lilly’s Kisunla slowly roll out onto the market, experts question the efficacy of these anti-amyloid antibodies and the amyloid hypothesis overall.
CELL AND GENE THERAPY
-
The investigational therapy, vesleteplirsen, had been positioned as an updated version of Sarepta’s original exon 51-skipping Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug Exondys 51.
-
Truist Securities analyst Asthika Goonewardene in an investor note said data for anito-cel—particularly its safety profile—will help differentiate the CAR T therapy from Legend Biotech and J&J’s entrenched Carvykti in relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma.
-
In our anniversary episode, we discuss a rare earnings miss for Eli Lilly, a pivotal metabolic dysfunction–associated steatohepatitis victory for Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy, growing excitement about CAR Ts for autoimmune disease and the ongoing controversy over HeLa cells.
-
In a tough fundraising space, cell therapy biotechs pursuing autoimmune indications review staffing to ensure the right expertise is in place to tackle the new disease area.
-
BEAM-101 seems to be competitive with approved sickle cell treatments, William Blair analysts said in a note to investors, but a patient death underscores the need for less-toxic preconditioning treatments.