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Dan Samorodnitsky

Dan Samorodnitsky

News Editor

Dan Samorodnitsky is the news editor at BioSpace. He has a decade of experience covering biotech, genetics and medicine. Before coming to BioSpace he was an editor at Drug Discovery News and Massive Science, and his writing has appeared in outlets such as Quanta, STAT, GROW and many others. He is based in Minneapolis. You can reach him at dan.samorodnitsky@biospace.com.

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Obesity
Hengrui’s Dual GLP-1/GIP Elicits 17.7% Weight Loss in Phase III
The molecule, developed in collaboration with Massachusetts-based Kailera Therapeutics, is headed for a new drug application in China and global clinical trials.
July 15, 2025
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2 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
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Cardiovascular disease
AstraZeneca’s Baxdrostat Pushes Blood Pressure Lower in Phase III Trial
The drug came to AstraZeneca through its acquisition of CinCor Pharma in 2023, with the hopes of beefing up its cardiovascular and kidney disease pipelines.
July 14, 2025
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1 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
Complete response letters
FDA Publishes Cache of Complete Response Letters in Bid for ‘Radical Transparency’
The trove of more than 200 letters is part of a pledge of transparency from the agency, with the intention to increase public insight into the reasons new drug and biologics applications got rejected.
July 10, 2025
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2 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
AbbVie's office in South San Francisco, California
Cancer
AbbVie Scoops Up Ichnos Glenmark’s Lead Myeloma Antibody for Nearly $2B
The deal, which involves a $700 million upfront payment, gives AbbVie access to ISB 2001, a clinical-stage first-in-class trispecific antibody currently being tested for certain kinds of multiple myeloma as well as autoimmune indications.
July 10, 2025
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1 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
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Gene therapy
AstraZeneca Gains More Gene Therapy AAVs in JCR Deal Worth up to $825M
The deal gives AstraZeneca’s rare disease unit Alexion access to specialized capsids developed by the Japanese biotech JCR Pharmaceuticals for use in up to five of Alexion’s gene therapies.
July 9, 2025
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1 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
Podcast
Second Half Milestones, KalVista’s Surprise Approval, Another RFK Jr. Lawsuit, More
H2 2025 catalysts to watch, biopharma implications of President Trump’s tax law, KalVista’s new hereditary angioedema drug that Marty Makary reportedly tried to reject, another lawsuit aimed at Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and a plea from patients with ALS for access to BrainStorm’s NurOwn.
July 9, 2025
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1 min read
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Heather McKenzie
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Immunology and inflammation
Cogent Jumps on Positive Mid-Stage Mastocytosis Data and NDA Plans
A readout from the company’s SUMMIT trial put its small molecule bezuclastinib on a collision course with rival Blueprint’s Ayvakit, which Leerink analysts said does not sufficiently treat all patients.
July 7, 2025
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1 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
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Artificial intelligence
Roche’s Chugai Breaks Into Aging via Potential $1B+ Deal With AI Outfit Gero
The partnership will give Chugai access to Gero’s artificial intelligence technology to discover novel targets in aging-related diseases. Chugai will then develop antibody-based drugs based on the findings.
July 7, 2025
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2 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
Podcast
CAR T Expands, M&A Ticks Up, Two Psychedelics Read Out, and the Supreme Court Rules on PrEP
The high court sides with HHS on HIV PrEP drugs; Health Secretary RFK Jr.’s newly appointed CDC vaccine advisors discuss thimerosal in flu vaccines, skip vote on Moderna’s mRNA-based RSV vaccine; FDA removes CAR T guardrails; AbbVie snaps up Capstan for $1.2B to end first half; and psychedelics take off again with data from Compass and Beckley.
July 2, 2025
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1 min read
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Heather McKenzie
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Cancer
Amgen’s Antibody Improves Overall Survival in Phase III Gastric Cancer Test
In a detail-thin announcement, Amgen said that adding bemarituzumab to chemotherapy improved overall survival, though analysts pledged to wait for more data on safety and tolerability before assessing the drug.
June 30, 2025
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2 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
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Mergers & acquisitions
AbbVie Plunks Down $2.1B for Capstan and Its Novel CAR T Therapies
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.
June 30, 2025
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2 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
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Rare diseases
Ultrarare Therapies Could Be Reality with Advances in Tech, Delivery and Regulation
Changing how biopharmas package their products, how regulators review new drugs and how mutated genes are fixed could make ultrarare disease treatments possible.
June 30, 2025
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6 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
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Policy
Novavax Approval Process a Potential ‘Harbinger’ of Threat to FDA Integrity: Former Regulators
Writing in JAMA, four former government officials warn that the Trump administration’s involvement in delaying the approval of Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine could indicate a politicization of the drug approval processes that could ‘imperil public health.’
June 26, 2025
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5 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
2006 James Gathany Captured by James Gathany, Centers for Disease Control's biomedical photographer, this 2006 image depicted the exterior of the new "Tom Harkin Global Communications Center", otherwise known as Building 19, located on the organization's Roybal Campus in Atlanta, Georgia. The facility houses the CDC's Information Center/Library, auditoria and meeting halls, which are used to accommodate in-house staff meetings, and national/international conferences hosted by the CDC, and the National Center for Health Marketing's, Division of Creative Services, which includes a full service television broadcast facility. The exhibit area currently features the "Global Symphony", the first of several permanently installed exhibitions, and changing exhibitions that focus on a variety of public health topics. The exhibits in the Center are self-guided, and require no advance reservations. Additional curriculum-based exhibits and programming will be added in the future. Tom Harkin Global Communications Center Exhibit Area Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - 1600 Clifton Road, N.E., Atlanta, Georgia 30333 - Hours: Monday – Friday, 9 am – 5 pm, except for federal holidays Admission is free - Government-issue photo ID is required for entry. Please note that CDC is a working federal facility and as such does not provide public tours of its campus and laboratories. - For more information please call 404-639-0830.
Vaccines
What To Watch for as ACIP’s New Era Begins
The newly appointed members of the CDC’s influential vaccine committee meet Wednesday and Thursday under an unusually rapid timeline, with unexpected topics on the agenda.
June 25, 2025
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3 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
Podcast
FDA Churn Continues, RFK Faces Congress, Obesity Insights at ADA, BIO2025 Recap
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified in front of largely combative congresspeople on vaccine policy, his MAHA report and more; the mass leadership exodus at the FDA continues as CDER and CBER shed key staff; Kennedy’s revamped CDC vaccine advisors convene for their first meeting; Novo and Lilly present new data at the American Diabetes Association’s annual meeting; and BioSpace recaps BIO2025.
June 25, 2025
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2 min read
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Heather McKenzie
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