BioSpace News Archive

Talks between pharma and successive U.K. governments have failed to deliver the market access terms that the industry wants, contributing to a pullback in investment.

As major pharmas pull away from the U.K. and the U.S. risks ceding its lead through a national brain drain, the U.K. must create a new, more robust model for innovation.

A new analysis from SRS Acquiom puts into perspective the headline values seen when a company announces a backloaded M&A deal. Biotechs have much on the line when they agree to deals with massive potential but little upfront.

The two most historically deal-conservative Big Pharmas have the most money to play with for a major M&A transaction, according to a recent Stifel analysis.

J&J still holds the top deal of the year by value with its $14.6 billion buy of Intra-Cellular in January, but the next four biggest acquisitions came in the past four months.

M&A headlined for a second straight week as Genmab acquired Merus for $8 billion; Pfizer strikes most-favored-nation deal with White House; CDER Director George Tidmarsh caused a stir with a now-deleted LinkedIn post; GSK CEO Emma Walmsley will step down from her role; and uniQure’s gene therapy offers new hope for patients with Huntington’s disease.

Novo Nordisk and Heartseed first partnered in 2021 to develop an investigational cell therapy for heart failure.

The business separation, expected to be completed by the end of 2026, will result in two new companies, one focused on biopharma operations and the other on royalty management.

Due to policies regarding industry user fees, the FDA will not be able to accept any new drug applications for the duration of the government shutdown, according to Leerink Partners.

As with recent rejections for Biogen and Scholar Rock, manufacturing issues stymied a regulatory bid from Fortress Biotech and Sentynl Therapeutics. Fortress said the FDA did not flag problems with the drug’s safety or efficacy.