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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.

ASD autism neurodevelopmental spectrum disorder, deficits in social communication and interaction, brain with impairment, hypersensitivity and abnormalities
Editorial
Kennedy’s Hunt for a Connection Between Vaccines and Autism Is a Sham
The Health and Human Services Secretary said that he will find and eliminate the cause of autism by September, an idea that suggests how little he knows about the condition.
April 17, 2025
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3 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
Find understanding between people. Reach your opponent. Building a bridge of understanding and reasoning. Discover common ground. Pave way for cooperation or peaceful disagreement. Resolving conflict
Mergers & acquisitions
Bluebird’s Second Suitor, Ayrmid, Fails To Produce an Offer
Despite making an unsolicited bid for gene therapy maker bluebird bio, Ayrmid failed to deliver a binding offer after weeks of due diligence. Bluebird’s board recommended that it go with Carlyle and SK Capital Partner’s original offer to take the company private for $30 million.
April 16, 2025
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1 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
Art 3d banner collage of business people dollar roll cooperation success payment capital profit transaction money corruption.
Rare diseases
Glycomine Gets $115M Series C for Rare Disease, Aims for Phase II Launch Mid-Year
The raise will go toward trialing the company’s lead drug for phosphomannomutase-2 congenital disorder of glycosylation, a rare disease that affects the entire body and produces a wide range of symptoms.
April 16, 2025
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2 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
Podcast
Tariff Turmoil, FDA’s Future, Pfizer’s Obesity Setback and CEO Salaries Revealed
Donald Trump takes biopharma on a tariff-themed rollercoaster ride; J&J kicks off the Q1 earnings season; experts express concern about the FDA’s future; Pfizer’s obesity setback could be Viking’s gain; and BioSpace reveals the highest paid pharma CEOs.
April 16, 2025
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1 min read
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Heather McKenzie
Scientists working with DNA. Doctors doing laboratory research. Medicine and technology. Genetic testing DNA testing genetic diagnosis concept. Vector, illustration, esp.
Gene editing
Verve’s Base Editor ‘Numerically Beats’ Other Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs
In a Phase Ib trial, VERVE-102 showed it could lower bad cholesterol across doses, setting up an opt-in decision for Eli Lilly and a showdown with Novartis.
April 14, 2025
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2 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
Podcast
Tariff-Triggered Recession Fears, Fallout From HHS Cuts, Knockoff GLP-1s and More
A consumer-driven weight loss market could put pharma at greater risk if a recession hits; the continued turmoil at FDA and other HHS agencies magnifies the uncertainty facing the industry; Lilly files a lawsuit against a med spa selling its drugs; and more.
April 9, 2025
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1 min read
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Heather McKenzie
The factor that changes everything. A critical break. A sudden change in plans. A threat and a danger. Recover from the blow and get back on course. Severe stress. Withstand the blow.
Rare diseases
Rallybio Pivots as Antibody for Rare Bleeding Disorder Flunks Dosing Trial
The company is dropping its former lead molecule in favor of another antibody, RLYB116, which is being developed for a variety of rare autoimmune disorders.
April 8, 2025
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1 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
Government
Kennedy Senate Appearance to Address HHS Cuts Won’t Proceed This Week
Senators Bill Cassidy and Bernie Sanders asked HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to make good on a pledge to appear before the committee regularly. It is not clear if or when the hearing, which was scheduled for Thursday, will take place.
April 7, 2025
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2 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
Woman checking her weight on a measuring device after dieting
Obesity
Rhythm Drug Leads to Reduced BMI in Rare Obesity Indication
Stifel analysts were bullish on the data, which showed a 16.5% drop in body-mass index among patients with damage to the hypothalamus taking Rhythm Pharmaceuticals’ Imcivree.
April 7, 2025
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2 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
Courtesy of Sarepta Therapeutics
Duchenne muscular dystrophy
Committee Recommends EU Trials of Sarepta’s Elevidys Continue, Day After Holds
One day after the European Medicines Agency requested that three clinical trials of Elevidys be placed on hold after the death of a U.S. teenager, a data monitoring committee concluded that they should continue unchanged.
April 4, 2025
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2 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
FDA
Scott Steele Steps In as FDA’s Interim CBER Head After Marks’ Departure
Following the dramatic late-night resignation of Peter Marks last Friday, Steele, a senior advisor to the division, takes the reins in a department inside an agency beset by cuts, layoffs, and confusion.
April 2, 2025
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3 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
Brain , concept idea art of thinking, surreal portrait painting, conceptual artwork, 3d illustration
Neurodegenerative disease
Denali Goes All In on Neuroscience’s Thorniest Hurdle: Crossing the Blood-Brain Barrier
After some high-profile crashes, the one-time biotech darling is inching toward success with its Hunter syndrome treatment, which today began a rolling BLA for accelerated approval.
April 2, 2025
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5 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
Podcast
FDA on Fire, Novo’s Mixed Bag of Semaglutide Cardio Data, Kisunla’s EU Miss, More
Biopharma leaders react to the forced resignation of CBER Head Peter Marks as RFK Jr.’s promised job cuts begin at the FDA; Novo Nordisk presents mixed results from oral semaglutide in cardiovascular disease; the EU’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use declines to recommend Eli Lilly’s Alzheimer’s drug; and pharma R&D returns grew in 2024.
April 2, 2025
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1 min read
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Heather McKenzie
Company downsizing, staff reduction and layoffs. Employee dismissal, firing and unemployment. Business concept.
Layoffs
Carisma Lays Off Most of Staff, Eyes Sale of Assets and Company
Cell therapy and oncology–focused Carisma Therapeutics started layoffs late last year. Now the company plans to wind down fully.
April 1, 2025
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1 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
Wooden blocks with arrow and error icon. Delays and disruptions, stop the process, critical error concept
Alzheimer’s disease
EU Rejects Lilly’s Alzheimer’s Drug Kisunla, Following Same Path as Rival Leqembi
The European Union’s CHMP said that the benefits of the drug, already approved in the U.S., do not outweigh the risk of potentially fatal brain swelling and bleeding.
March 28, 2025
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2 min read
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Dan Samorodnitsky
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