The latest Repare Therapeutics layoffs will include its chief medical officer and could leave the biotech with fewer than 35 employees as it works to advance two Phase I clinical programs.
BridGene strikes another partnership with Takeda as the latter company continues its dealmaking streak, following high-ticket agreements with Keros Therapeutics, AC Immune and Degron Therapeutics in the past nine months.
At the 2025 National Biotechnology Conference, gene therapies, bispecific antibodies and other novel modalities—relative newcomers to medicine—will be much discussed. In this curtain raiser, BioSpace speaks with conference chair Prathap Nagaraja Shastri of J&J about these highly anticipated topics.
The Outsourcing Facilities Association, a trade group representing compounders, filed a similar lawsuit in October last year after the FDA formally ended the tirzepaptide shortage.
Samsung Bioepis allegedly entered into an agreement with a third-party health company, allowing it to market its own private label of a Stelara biosimilar.
Deerfield Management claims that Alcon Research is seeking a discounted takeover of Aurion Biotech while blocking the startup’s efforts to go public.
FEATURED STORIES
Pharmaceutical companies are combining antibodies with radioisotopes in a bid to more precisely deliver radiation to cancers and tumors.
Massachusetts residents voted Tuesday against the Natural Psychedelic Substances Act, which would have seen some psychedelics, including psilocybin and dimethyltryptamine, legalized in the state.
This week marked the start of the third-quarter earnings season, with Johnson & Johnson exceeding Wall Street’s expectations. Pfizer is projected to have a strong quarter, while Eli Lilly could pull ahead of Novo Nordisk in the obesity space. Moderna, by contrast, has a decidedly negative outlook.
FROM BIOSPACE INSIGHTS
In a year when eradicated diseases are on the uptick in America, how will American children survive RFK Jr.’s vaccine scrutiny and inconsistency? Two experts call on pharma and regulatory bodies to rebuild trust.
LATEST PODCASTS
China continues to be a source of innovation as Pfizer strikes biggest pact yet; HHS provides more info on Trump’s Most Favored Nation executive order; FDA Commissioner Marty Makary and CBER director Vinay Prasad reveal new COVID-19 vaccine strategy following Novavax approval; ODAC underway after chaotic planning; more.
President Donald Trump unwrapped a massive drug pricing policy as CMS prepares for the next round of Medicare drug price negotiations; Vinay Prasad to take the helm at the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research; Bayer cuts 2,000 more employees; Eli Lilly’s Zepbound scores again; and the Galapagos story turns again.
In this episode of Denatured BioSpace’s head of insights Lori Ellis discusses the public health consequences of vaccine hesitancy and the critical distinction between skepticism and cynicism with Paul Offit, MD, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Job Trends
ATCC and Tissue Dynamics today announced a partnership to develop workflow friendly cardiac organoids-based kits for improved cardiac safety testing in drug development.
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SPECIAL EDITIONS
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.
Year-over-year BioSpace data show biopharma professionals faced increased competition for fewer employment opportunities during the first quarter of 2025.
DEALS
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The acquisition of Bellus Health will give GSK access to camlipixant, a potentially best-in-class P2X3 antagonist for chronic cough. -
Merck finalized the acquisition of immune-focused Prometheus Biosciences for approximately $10.8 billion, picking up mid-stage ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s asset. -
BioNTech will pay Shanghai-based Duality Biologics $170 million upfront for rights to two of its topoisomerase-1 inhibitor-based antibody drug conjugates. -
There have already been several big biotech licensing deals in Q1. See inside for some of this quarter’s biggest licensing deals — from the surprising and pivotal to the lucrative and consequential. -
Jounce Therapeutics has received an unsolicited and non-binding acquisition proposal from Concentra Biosciences, looking to buy 100% of Jounce’s equity at a per-share price of $1.80 in cash.
WEIGHT LOSS
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China continues to be a source of innovation as Pfizer strikes biggest pact yet; HHS provides more info on Trump’s Most Favored Nation executive order; FDA Commissioner Marty Makary and CBER director Vinay Prasad reveal new COVID-19 vaccine strategy following Novavax approval; ODAC underway after chaotic planning; more. -
Currently trailing Eli Lilly and Structure Therapeutics in the oral weight loss space, Novo Nordisk strikes a deal with Septerna to put new discovery-stage programs into play. -
President Donald Trump unwrapped a massive drug pricing policy as CMS prepares for the next round of Medicare drug price negotiations; Vinay Prasad to take the helm at the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research; Bayer cuts 2,000 more employees; Eli Lilly’s Zepbound scores again; and the Galapagos story turns again.
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In addition to eliciting greater weight loss than Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy, Eli Lilly’s Zepbound does not come at the expense of safety, according to newly released comprehensive tolerability data—findings that Leerink analysts say confirm the GLP-1 drug’s edge in the closely watched market race. -
Following a similar decision in case the trade group Outsourcing Facilities Association brought against FDA over its decision to declare the end of the shortage of Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide, Judge Mark Pittman agreed that Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide is in sufficient supply, meaning compounding pharmacies can no longer sell the lucrative weight loss drugs.
POLICY
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This week’s legal losses by J&J and BMS reinforce the notion that Medicare drug price negotiation is here to stay, and investors continue to favor biologics over small molecules. -
The FDA has cleared a clinical trial of an ex vivo prime editing candidate in patients with a rare disease, Prime Medicine announced Monday. The technique taps CRISPR technology to rewrite defective genes without breaking DNA double helix strands. -
A federal court issued a summary judgment saying that the IRA provision does not represent an unconstitutional taking of property but did not rule on suits by Novartis and Novo Nordisk. -
Based on strong overall and progression-free survival data in its Phase III confirmatory study, Pfizer and Genmab’s antibody-drug conjugate Tivdak on Monday secured the FDA’s full approval for recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer that had progressed on or after chemotherapy. -
On June 10, the FDA will convene its Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee to discuss the New Drug Application for Lilly’s Alzheimer’s drug.
Understanding which direction to take can be challenging for many professionals, whether they are in an early career stage, or later in their career.
There are several ways to assess if a biotech company has plans in place to diversify their workplace or if they have already achieved this milestone.
Regardless of if your motivation is to increase your salary or find a job that is more interesting to you, preparing for a career change can take a lot of time and energy.
Let’s take a trip through the alphabet to pick up 26 tips to optimize your cover letters.
To help you in your job search, we’ve compiled a list of cover letter do’s and don’ts.
No matter how much you justify ghosting, it’s likely to be seen as an unprofessional reputation-killer you may never recover from. Here are some situations in which you might be tempted to ghost and what to do instead.
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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With the investment in the plant, Daiichi Sankyo is looking to create new laboratories for its antibody-drug conjugates used to develop and manufacture therapies for breast, lung and stomach cancers. -
In a late-stage study, Tagrisso induced a “statistically significant and highly clinically meaningful improvement” in progression-free survival in patients with unresectable stage III, EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer. -
The companies’ Biologics License Application for antibody-drug conjugate datopotamab deruxtecan has been accepted by the FDA for locally advanced or metastatic nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer. -
The regulator’s approval means AstraZeneca’s Tagrisso can now be used in combination with chemotherapy for locally advanced or metastatic EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer patients. -
The company’s immunotherapy, in combination with chemotherapy Avastin, showed favorable progression-free survival in a late-stage hepatocellular carcinoma study.
NEUROSCIENCE
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Two documents recently came to light: first, the results of a congressional investigation into the approval of Aduhelm; second, a revised clinical trial consent form for lecanemab. -
2022 featured pivotal data that could change the landscape in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, Alzheimer’s disease, sickle cell disease and many more indications. -
TauRx Pharmaceuticals and Anavex Life Sciences presented positive results from their candidates at the Clinical Trials in Alzheimer’s Disease (CTAD) conference in San Francisco, CA. -
Athira Pharma’s experimental Alzheimer’s therapy, fosgonimeton, continues to show signs of being able to improve cognition and function in patients. -
Eli Lilly’s investigational antibody donanemab met all of its primary and secondary endpoints in the Phase III TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 4 study, the company announced Wednesday.
CELL AND GENE THERAPY
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Taking center stage at the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy meeting was the first-ever reported case of a personalized in vivo CRISPR editing therapy, which substantially eased the symptom burden in an infant. -
Since Elevidys’ accelerated approval in 2023, experts have been clamoring for more data, particularly in older and non-ambulatory children. New results, presented Friday, show mobility improvements in 8- to 9-year-old patients after one year of follow-up. -
Lilly will use Rznomics’ proprietary ribozyme technology to develop RNA editing therapies for congenital hearing loss. -
After warnings that the dragged-out process was putting the cell therapy company at risk of bankruptcy, bluebird bio now has a new deal to offer shareholders. -
It’s another wild twist in the story of Galapagos, a company that has been around for more than 25 years but has yet to get a therapy approved.
