The all-cash buyout, which gives AbbVie access to Capstan Therapeutics’ in vivo edited CAR T therapy for B cell–mediated autoimmune diseases, adds to a growing sense of momentum in M&A, according to BMO Capital Markets.
BMS is letting go of 68 employees in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. The pharma has now cut over 1,000 employees there since April 2024 as part of its cost-cutting measures.
The rise of monoclonal antibodies brought back hope for stalling or reversing the devastating neurodegenerative disease. Big Pharma has taken notice with a handful of high-value deals, GlobalData reports.
Digging into a prespecified analysis for the mid-stage study, INmune Bio identified some clinical and biological benefits of its TNF inhibitor in patients with early Alzheimer’s disease who have at least two biomarkers of inflammation.
In an open letter addressing the Trump administration’s proposed budget cuts to HHS, the executives urged Congress to continue “robust federal funding” for scientific research, which they say will help maintain U.S. biotech leadership globally.
In adults 50 and older, Moderna’s flu shot was more than 26% better than an unspecified commercial vaccine. In May, the company pulled its application for a combo flu/COVID-19 shot, saying it would refile following data from this Phase III trial.
FEATURED STORIES
No patients have received Casgevy, CRISPR Therapeutics and Vertex Pharmeceuticals’ recently approved sickle cell gene therapy. Experts weigh in on the path to profit for the treatment and the therapeutic class in general.
Healthcare players are pointing fingers amid regulatory crackdowns on pharmacy benefit managers, but proposed reforms wouldn’t address a dearth of competition in the larger market.
A recent study estimated that Wegovy’s label expansion beyond obesity could push Medicare spending to $145 billion annually, but analysts remain dubious of the estimate.
The next generation of Alzheimer’s therapeutics is moving away from amyloid plaques and tau tangles, offering multiple approaches to slow cognitive decline.
Bispecific antibodies and anti-TIGIT therapies both appear to be writing comeback stories as cancer experts head to Barcelona for the 2024 European Society for Medical Oncology Congress. Radioligand therapies and synthetic lethality assets are also attracting attention.
Roche’s fenebrutinib this week scored a mid-stage win in relapsing multiple sclerosis, while Sanofi’s tolebrutinib met the primary endpoint in a Phase III trial for progressive MS but flopped in two late-stage relapsing MS studies.
LATEST PODCASTS
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.
This week’s release of the Make America Health Again report revealed continued emphasis on vaccine safety; Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s faceoff with senators last week amounted to political theater; the FDA promises complete response letters in real time and shares details on a new rare disease framework; and Summit disappoints at the World Conference on Lung Cancer in Barcelona.
Job Trends
Johnson & Johnson today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved OPSYNVI® – a single-tablet combination of macitentan, an endothelin receptor antagonist (ERA), and tadalafil, a phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE5) inhibitor – for the chronic treatment of adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH, World Health Organization [WHO] Group I) and WHO functional class (FC) II-III.
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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
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After a “reasonably strong year” in 2023, next year will see “similar levels” of M&A activity with increased investor interest in weight loss and cardiovascular diseases, contends professional services firm PwC. -
BioSpace and guests from Halia Therapeutics, Triumvira Immunologics and the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation will discuss alternative financing strategies to consider for 2024. Watch now. -
The companies have received all required regulatory approvals to complete the deal, the largest for the sector in the past three years and the biggest for the hot antibody-drug conjugate market. -
With the acquisition, AstraZeneca will gain access to Icosavax’s investigational combination vaccine IVX-A12, which is being developed for respiratory syncytial virus and human metapneumovirus in older adults. -
Friday’s FDA approval of Vertex-CRISPR’s Casgevy and bluebird bio’s Lyfgenia has immediately revealed startling differences between these two gene therapies: price and a black-box warning.
WEIGHT LOSS
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Aiming to compete in the lucrative weight-loss drug market, Zealand Pharma on Thursday posted topline results showing its dapiglutide led to only a slight weight reduction in low doses. -
Full data from the FLOW study show that Novo Nordisk’s top-selling GLP-1 receptor agonist semaglutide can significantly reduce the risk of death by 20% in diabetes patients with chronic kidney disease. -
SixPeaks Bio emerged from stealth Wednesday with up to $110 million, a deal with AstraZeneca and plans to take weight-loss candidates designed to preserve muscle mass toward the clinic. -
While Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk currently dominate the GLP-1 receptor agonist space, there are more than 50 candidates in clinical development for obesity and type 2 diabetes, according to analytics firm GlobalData. -
A Senate health committee report published Wednesday forecasts spending on prescription drugs to hit $1 trillion a year in 2031, unless the prices of GLP-1 medicines such as Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy are cut.
POLICY
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Massachusetts residents voted Tuesday against the Natural Psychedelic Substances Act, which would have seen some psychedelics, including psilocybin and dimethyltryptamine, legalized in the state. -
Senator Elizabeth Warren told the Federal Trade Commission that the acquisition of contract manufacturer Catalent could increase Novo’s dominance over the hot GLP-1 market, reducing competition and increasing prices. -
The U.S. Department of Justice alleged that Teva violated the Anti-Kickback Statute and the False Claims Act. The payment is in addition to the criminal penalty paid by Teva USA under its deferred prosecution agreement. -
WuXi AppTec looks to unload its Philadelphia manufacturing sites and WuXi Biologics slows its rapid expansion in the U.S. as the companies await the Senate’s review of the BIOSECURE Act that threatens to cut them off from U.S. biopharma. -
Alongside the settlement, Novo and Viatris have asked the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to terminate its review of the validity of the Danish drugmaker’s semaglutide patents.
The interview goes both ways and in order to choose a perfect workplace, you must analyze a few things. Here are a few interview red flags to watch out for during an interview.
Questions about the future are not uncommon in job interviews and represent an opportunity for careful preparation.
It’s common to feel overwhelmed or stressed about a major career change. There are a few things you can do to position yourself as the right person for the job.
Once you have your job search spreadsheet organized and the hunt is officially underway, complete the tasks that come up with this method in mind.
Two effective focal components – deployed separately or together – are the resume headline and resume branding statement.
Going into an interview knowing that it’s OK to be yourself and perfection isn’t the goal can help alleviate that self-imposed pressure.
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
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The regulator’s Complete Response Letter flagged problems at a third-party fill/finish site, which Regeneron says it has already addressed. The manufacturing facility is currently awaiting reinspection. -
Johnson & Johnson announced Tuesday that the FDA has approved Rybrevant with Lazcluze as a first-line chemotherapy-free treatment for patients with EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer. -
Two months after winning FDA approval in the same indication, AbbVie and Genmab on Monday secured the European Commission’s nod for its bispecific antibody Tepkinly for the most common type of low-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma. -
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. -
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.
NEUROSCIENCE
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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. -
An undisclosed once-daily oral dose of Neurocrine Biosciences’ Takeda-partnered investigational drug significantly reduced symptom severity in adults with major depressive disorder. -
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. -
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. -
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
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Johnson & Johnson and Legend Biotech got a positive opinion from a European Medicines Agency panel for earlier lines of treatment, as they ready for a March FDA advisory committee meeting. -
After treatment with a CD19 CAR-T therapy, patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, idiopathic inflammatory myositis or systemic sclerosis achieved long-lasting remission, according to results published in the NEJM. -
The regulator has granted a priority review of the efficacy supplement for Sarepta Therapeutics’ gene therapy Elevidys with a target decision date of June 21, 2024. -
Kelonia Therapeutics’ in vivo gene placement system is being tapped to help Astellas Pharma expand its portfolio of in vivo CAR-T cell therapies for cancer. -
Citing the need for more time to review additional Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls information, the FDA has extended its target action date for Rocket Pharmaceuticals’ investigational gene therapy by three months.
