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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.

Business negotiation and cooperation vector concept. Symbol of a deal, handshake, success. Minimal design eps10 illustration.
Deals
Boehringer Links with Irish Drug Delivery Start-Up Re-Vana in $1B+ Eye Deal
The German giant is looking to develop new drugs for undisclosed eye diseases using Re-Vana’s extended-release injectable platform to supply drugs to the eye for months at a time.
July 28, 2025
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1 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
Confused businessman stands in front of different arrows . The concept of hard choices.
Regulatory
Drug Pricing Just One Point of Confusion Over New FDA Vouchers
The Commissioner’s National Priority Vouchers aim to offer accelerated pathways to drugs that meet certain criteria, perhaps including a low price-tag. But the policy is vaguely defined and was announced without public input, going against the FDA’s own published practices, experts say.
July 28, 2025
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4 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
Dollars as a global currency, loan, credit, and payment concept. A hand offering 100 US dollars. Minimalist art collage
Collaboration
Eli Lilly Commits $856M in Biobucks to Gate Bioscience for New Class of Medicines
The collaboration focuses on ‘molecular gates,’ a class of molecules that the startup company Gate Bioscience says can stop pathogenic proteins from leaving the cell.
July 25, 2025
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1 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
Facade of AstraZeneca's office in Shanghai, China
Autoimmune disease
AstraZeneca Claims PIII Win With Nanobody Treatment for Myasthenia Gravis
The company didn’t share specific data for the molecule, gefurulimab, but said it hit all endpoints in the Phase III PREVAIL trial and promised to share more at an upcoming scientific meeting.
July 24, 2025
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2 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
Cairo, Egypt, October 31 2024: Novartis CO building in Egypt, Novartis AG is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland, manufactures the drugs
I&I
Novartis Drops up to $1B+ for Drug Discovery Deal With Matchpoint
The partnership with Matchpoint Therapeutics gets Novartis global rights on all molecules for several unannounced inflammatory diseases identified through the biotech’s discovery platform.
July 24, 2025
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2 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem tours the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Cetner with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and U.S. Senator Rand Paul on Fort Detrick, Maryland, June 16, 2025. (DHS photo by Tia Dufour)
Vaccines
HHS To Remove Little-Used Thimerosal From All Influenza Vaccines
The decision follows last month’s vote of the CDC’s revamped vaccine advisory committee. Thimerosal, mostly removed from vaccines decades ago, has long been a target of anti-vaccine advocates for unfounded links to autism and adverse health outcomes.
July 23, 2025
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2 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
Podcast
Sarepta’s Wild Week, CDER’s New Leader, FDA Rejections, Manufacturing Billions
Sarepta Therapeutics faces serious FDA action after news broke of a third patient death, the FDA gets a new top drug regulator in George Tidmarsh, a handful of new drugs get turned away from the market and pharma companies continue to commit billions to reshoring manufacturing.
July 23, 2025
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1 min read
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Jef Akst
A finger presses down on a businessman. Art collage.
Immuno-oncology
Replimune Plummets Following FDA’s Surprise Rejection of Melanoma Treatment
BMO Capital Markets pointed to FDA leadership, and CBER Director Vinay Prasad in particular, as potential factors in the agency’s decision to issue a complete response letter for Replimune’s viral treatment RP1 for advanced melanomas. Shares of the company tumbled 75% on Tuesday.
July 22, 2025
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1 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
Searching for investments for a startup. Fundraising campaigns. Accumulation of funds. Search for investors and lending. New space race. A promising project
Funding
Avalyn Pharma Adds $100M Series D for Inhaled Pulmonary Fibrosis Drugs
The company is pushing inhaled versions of common oral drugs with the hope of avoiding severe side effects.
July 22, 2025
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2 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
A brick building with the sign Food and Drug Administration on the entrance
Regulatory
FDA’s CDER Gets New Chief in Biopharma Veteran George Tidmarsh
Tidmarsh, an adjunct professor at Stanford’s medical school, brings decades of industry experience to the table. Serving as director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research will be his first government position.
July 21, 2025
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2 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
Illustration of two syringes in a pop art style with pinks and blues
Vaccines
After Moderna Pulled Its Shot, Combination Flu/COVID Vaccines Hang in Limbo
Earlier this summer the FDA asked Moderna for more efficacy data on its flu vaccine before it could review an mRNA-based combination shot that targets both influenza and COVID-19. Now, the entire vaccine sector is sizing up a new regulatory world, companies’ next steps uncertain.
July 21, 2025
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7 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
Goal disorientation and lack of vision. Inability to set the right business objectives. Failure to achieve the objectives. Missing the unrealistic and inaccurate company goals.
Rare diseases
AstraZeneca’s Amyloidosis Asset Stumbles in Late-Stage Trials
The antibody anselamimab, which AstraZeneca picked up in its 2021 purchase of Caelum Biosciences, failed to improve survival and reduce hospitalizations, but the company sees promise in data from an unspecified patient subgroup.
July 16, 2025
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1 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
Podcast
FDA Layoffs, 200 Rejection Letters, User Fees and Priority Vouchers, Bad Week for Rare Disease
Around 3,500 FDA employees received termination emails; FDA Commissioner Marty Makary suggests lowering industry user fees and tying review times to drug prices; the regulator opens its trove of complete response letters in the name of transparency; and two companies receive rejections for rare disease therapies.
July 16, 2025
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1 min read
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Heather McKenzie
Contemporary art collage. Conceptual design with young woman, motivated employee running forward to reach goal, professional success. Concept of business, career development, achievement
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
3d rendering medical heart in yellow background
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
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