While the FDA did not announce the recipient names of the Commissioner’s National Priority Vouchers, the agency’s descriptions of the awarded products match those in development at Compass Pathways, Transcend Therapeutics and Usona Institute.
Follow along as BioSpace tracks job cuts and restructuring initiatives.
Pfizer’s decision to cut its early-stage cancer asset was due to “strategic business reasons” and not driven by safety or efficacy concerns.
Analysts are cautiously optimistic about an IPO rebound for biopharma. BioSpace is keeping track of companies that seek to trade on the public markets this year.
Of the 17 companies that were implored by the White House last July to apply Most Favored Nation pricing to their drugs, Regeneron is the last to agree—the same day the FDA greenlit its gene therapy for hearing loss in kids.
The takeover will give Amneal control of four facilities to manufacture biosimilars for a planned wave of launches in the coming years.
Sanofi’s interim leadership sought on a Thursday earnings call to quell concerns that its sudden defense of Dupixent’s patents had anything to do with the departure of CEO Paul Hudson.
FEATURED STORIES
The FDA is signaling change, but actual success depends on more than simply bringing in a new leader at the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research; it requires accountability, transparency and consistent action.
Approved Thursday via the FDA’s Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher program, Otarmeni is the first gene therapy for hearing loss—and the first treatment to target an underlying cause of the condition.
In nuclear medicine, innovation alone isn’t enough. What matters is whether it can be delivered on time, every time, because timing is critical for our patients. And that delivery promise must hold up under real-world pressure – from routine variability to sudden disruptions that can reroute global logistics overnight.
With a greenlight for ibogaine to enter clinical testing and three unnamed products set to receive Commissioner’s National Priority Vouchers this week, it’s full speed ahead for psychedelics. But will sidestepping normal regulatory protocols actually be a net negative for the field?
IPO
With an IPO raise of $625 million, Kailera Therapeutics now holds the new record for the largest public market debut.
After receiving the FDA’s greenlight for Hunter syndrome drug Avlayah, Denali Therapeutics CEO Ryan Watts saw the culmination of 20 years of hard work unraveling the mysteries of the blood-brain barrier.
FROM BIOSPACE INSIGHTS
As technology becomes more integrated and personalized, experts say the biggest opportunity in diabetes management is reducing everyday burdens.
UPCOMING EVENTS
LATEST PODCASTS
Pfizer deals again in obesity space as Wave and Structure drop splashy weight loss results; what CDER Director Richard Pazdur’s sudden retirement means for biopharma; neuro diseases take center stage at CTAD; and more.
FDA
In this episode of Denatured, Jennifer C. Smith-Parker speaks to Stacey Adam, PhD, Vice President of Science Partnerships at the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health and Patrick Smith, Senior Vice President, Translational Science at Certara, to discuss the latest regulatory news and the future for new approach methologies (NAMs) development.
Experts unpack the implications of CBER Director Vinay Prasad’s claim that COVID vaccines have caused 10+ child deaths; the 2025 Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease conference continues following two disappointing readouts; and Novo Nordisk’s amycretin yields promising weight loss results.
Job Trends
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SPECIAL EDITIONS
FDA
BioSpace looks back at 2025 and where the FDA is going in 2026.
The BioSpace team hit the ground running at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference earlier this month to bring you the news from the streets of San Francisco.
BioSpace data show job postings live increased quarter over quarter, while layoffs fell year over year.
DEALS
  1. The deals keep rolling in, with Lilly penning a $7 billion pact for gene delivery biotech Kelonia Therapeutics and UCB taking over cell therapy-focused Neurona Therapeutics; President Trump signed a new executive order supporting the development of psychedelic therapies, sparking fanfare and concern alike; and the FDA’s recent Replimune decision has triggered broader debate about the agency’s flexibility.
  2. With programs from Eisai and Hansoh Pharmaceutical in hand, Tortugas Neuroscience has emerged with hopes of delivering daily oral treatments to patients with central nervous system conditions.
  3. After entering the CAR T space in February, Eli Lilly is “jumping into in vivo CAR-T with both feet” with the acquisition of Kelonia Therapeutics and its gene delivery technology.
  4. The acquisition of Neurona will put UCB in both the epilepsy and cell therapy space, even as many of its fellow pharmas move away from the latter modality.
  5. J&J will hand over the rights to bota-vec for $25 million upfront, clearing MeiraGTx to seek regulatory approvals in the U.S. and EU in 2027.
WEIGHT LOSS
  1. Roche and Zealand Pharma announced last month that their amylin analog petrelintide elicited a 9% placebo-controlled weight reduction at 42 weeks—falling far below analyst and investor expectations.
  2. Two of the biggest insurance providers have expressed reluctance to participate in the government’s BALANCE program that would have made GLP-1 drugs more affordable to patients.
  3. While Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy pill reached more than 3,000 patients in its first week on the market, analysts at RBC Capital Markets said a direct comparison of the two figures could be misleading given the shorter data collection time for Foundayo.
  4. IPO
    Obesity-focused Kailera Therapeutics debuted on the Nasdaq Friday after raising a record $625 million, beating Moderna’s $600 million from 2018.
  5. More patients on Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide lost over 5% of their lean mass versus those on Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide, according to a study that has yet to be peer reviewed.
POLICY
  1. The FDA in July 2025 made publicly available over 200 complete response letters—an initiative that the investment community sees as “unanimously positive,” analysts told BioSpace.
  2. A year of significant policy change at the FDA brought momentum and scrutiny into the new year. As 2026 gets underway, biopharma companies are responding to sweeping vaccine changes while concerns surface about the politicization of the agency.
  3. A new executive order could usher in psychedelics as the “key next wave” of mental health therapies, according to analysts at RBC Capital Markets.
  4. The pharma industry “own Congress, they own the media,” Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. told lawmakers by way of explaining the bad press against FDA Commissioner Marty Makary following the second rejection of Replimune’s advanced melanoma drug.
  5. CDC
    Erica Schwartz, a former deputy surgeon general and member of the U.S. military, will take over from what has amounted to a rapid succession of CDC leaders over the past year.
CAREER HUB
Chief Scientific Officer Pedro Beltran will succeed Eli Wallace as CEO of BridgeBio Oncology Therapeutics, as the board eyes a busy period of clinical advancement in the RAS oncology space.
Some bosses stretch you. Others make work more bearable. Both can earn your loyalty. Only one is building your future. Leadership coach Angela Justice explains how to tell the difference.
Looking for a biopharma job? Check out the BioSpace list of 12 top companies hiring life sciences professionals like you.
As AI reshapes deeply specialized scientific work, R&D professionals must learn to navigate the shift to a skills-centered market. The key is knowing which skills to develop and how to leverage AI as scientific modalities evolve, technologies advance and regulatory complexity increases.
Recruiters can play a significant role in biopharma professionals getting hired, especially in an employer-driven job market. However, when working with them, candidates need to avoid making six key mistakes, from waiting too long to ask for help to prematurely contacting hiring companies.
While you should never rely solely on AI tools when applying for jobs, they can greatly benefit the application process. Recruiting expert Bryan Blair discusses how using large language models can set you apart from the competition and includes a prompt framework to get you started.

In a competitive job market, how applicants present themselves in interviews is critical. Asking about promotions and expressing dislike for the work they’d be doing are just a few reasons hiring managers don’t extend job offers.
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
In the U.S., Moderna withdrew its approval application for the combination vaccine in May last year and the timeline for resubmission remains uncertain.
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. A triplet regimen comprising Merck’s Welireg and PD-1 blockbuster Keytruda and Eisai’s Lenvima flopped in a Phase 3 renal cell carcinoma trial.
  2. Moderna, Revolution Medicines and Zymeworks record wins in melanoma, lung and breast cancers, while BeOne swings and misses at head and neck cancer.
  3. The Phase 3 failure has prompted Gilead Sciences and Arcus Biosciences to terminate a mid-stage study of their TIGIT asset in lung cancer.
  4. Doubling survival in pancreatic cancer, a long-fought rare disease approval, a massive IPO and ambitious biotech entrepreneurs have BioSpace Senior Editor Annalee Armstrong feeling upbeat about the biotech scene.
  5. An investigational cocktail was tied to a 0% overall response rate in patients with gastroesophageal cancer, but developers Agenus and MiNK Therapeutics aren’t giving up on the program just yet.
NEUROSCIENCE
  1. This year’s American Academy of Neurology meeting included a presentation that could one day set a new treatment standard for myasthenia gravis.
  2. The pivotal study of zilganersen in Alexander disease missed a secondary endpoint, but analysts expect the FDA to approve the asset given the unmet need and overall data.
  3. GSK discontinued Wellcovorin in 1999, but the FDA in September last year asked the pharma to refile an application, pointing to its potential to treat cerebral folate deficiency with “autistic features.”
  4. Takeda and Denali Therapeutics first partnered in early 2018 to advance drugs for neurodegenerative diseases. One asset, for Alzheimer’s disease, was previously discontinued after an FDA hold and disappointing early data.
  5. In the buyout, Eli Lilly picks up Centessa Pharmaceuticals’ lead asset cleminorexton, which could go toe-to-toe with Takeda’s oveporexton, currently under FDA review with a decision expected in the third quarter.
CELL AND GENE THERAPY
  1. At Sarepta Therapeutics, we’ve seen it all. Here are the questions I believe we should be asking to move forward in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
  2. The draft guidance supports the agency’s new pathway designed to speed up the development of custom gene therapies.
  3. In this episode of Denatured, you’ll hear from Jason Jones, head of global business development at Cellular Origins and Alexander Seyf, founder & CEO of Autolomous. They discuss how the push to scale cell and gene therapy manufacturing is accelerating interest in automation, digitization, robotics and deeper collaboration across the ecosystem.
  4. Gilead Sciences has inked three deals this year so far totaling $14.77 billion, a marked escalation of the company’s usual M&A pace. Executives detailed the rationale for buying Arcellx, Ouro Medicine and Tubulis GmbH and whether they are interested in further deals.
  5. As cell and gene therapy developers face rising pressure to produce therapies faster and at lower cost, the industry is leaning on robotics, digital systems and partnerships to bridge the gap between innovation and delivery.