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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Regeneron and Sanofi will have to wait until September 2024 for the FDA to decide whether to expand Dupixent’s label to include uncontrolled chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
In addition to missing the mark in overall survival, Gilead reported Thursday a higher number of deaths in the Trodelvy arm of the confirmatory metastatic urothelial cancer study.
Novartis’ Scemblix posted stronger results with fewer discontinuation rates than both its own Gleevec and a stronger second-generation TKI, positioning it for a potential first-line indication in chronic myeloid leukemia.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting kicks off today in Chicago, with highly anticipated presentations that include reports on a bispecific antibody, an ADC and a BCMA-targeted CAR-T cell therapy.
The Roivant spinout is shifting its attention away from batoclimab to anti-FcRn candidate IMVT-1402, which will target autoimmune disorders, while allowing argenx’s Myasthenia Gravis drug Vyvgart to maintain its lead position for now.
Tempting as it may be to turn to full automation to meet burdensome requirements, the potential for hallucination and other issues means biopharma companies must proceed with caution.
Additional analyses from BridgeBio Pharma’s late-stage study show the oral drug candidate improved clinical outcomes in transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy patients.
As BioNTech struggles to establish its footing in a post-pandemic world, the biotech has secured $145 million from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations to expand its mRNA operations in Rwanda.
Despite Biohaven’s bispecific protein degrader cutting autoantibody IgG levels by up to 37% in an early-stage study, investors saw it as “below the high bar” of 60%, according to William Blair analysts.
FDA
In the next two weeks, the FDA is scheduled to decide on four drug applications and hold two highly anticipated advisory committee meetings.