Drug Development

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In the midst of regulatory and political upheaval, biopharma’s R&D engine kept running, churning out highs and lows in equal parts. Here are some of this year’s most glorious clinical trial victories.
Every year in biopharma brings its share of grueling defeats, and 2025 was no different, especially for companies targeting neurological diseases. Some failures split up partners, and one particularly egregious case even led to the demise of an entire company.
The R&D pipeline for depression therapies faced a demoralizing 2025 as five high-profile candidates, including KOR antagonists by Johnson & Johnson and Neumora Therapeutics, flunked late-stage clinical trials, underscoring the persistent challenges of CNS drug development.
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The U.K.’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has endorsed the use of Eli Lilly’s Zepboundfor weight management in patients with BMI of 35 kg/m2 and above and at least one weight-related comorbidity.
Viking Therapeutics’ nonalcoholic steatohepatitis candidate VK2809 significantly improved secondary histologic endpoints at 52 weeks with no worsening of fibrosis, as assessed by hepatic biopsy.
In this deep dive BioSpace analyzes the neuropsychedelic therapeutics pipeline, which grabbed headlines in February when the FDA accepted the New Drug Application for Lykos Therapeutics’ MDMA capsules for PTSD.
Annexon’s late-stage Guillain-Barré syndrome trial has hit its primary endpoint and laid the foundation for a filing for approval next year, the company said Tuesday.
BridgeBio’s oral small molecule infigratinib is proceeding with a late-stage study in children with achondroplasia after it improved body proportionality and height in children with dwarfism, the company announced Tuesday.
BMS presented late-stage results on Tuesday at the ASCO annual meeting which showed the combination of Opdivo and Yervoy lowered the risk of death by 21% in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma, compared to two kinase inhibitors.
Structure Therapeutics’ GLP-1 receptor agonist GSBR-1290 achieved mean weight loss of 6.2% in overweight or obese patients. The company’s shares jumped to a six-month high on the news Monday.
Agios Pharmaceuticals’ Pyrukynd met both the primary and secondary endpoints in patients with transfusion-dependent alpha- or beta-thalassemia.
While more programs now involve candidates with different targets, experts say anti-amyloid therapies will remain a primary player in treating the memory-robbing disease.
LSD, ketamine, ibogaine and related treatments are moving forward in clinical trials for substance use disorders, including alcohol use disorder and opioid use disorder.