Drug Development
Despite the definitive failure of Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide in Alzheimer’s, biotech executives, analysts and other industry experts see potential in more testing of GLP-1s for the neurodegenerative disease, particularly in a combination approach.
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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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AstraZeneca announced that it will voluntarily pull Vaxzevria from the global market amid a sharp decline in demand and following the company’s recent admission that its vaccine is linked with a rare side effect.
Pfizer’s investigational Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy fordadistrogene movaparvovec has been hit with another patient death, forcing the pharma to pause dosing in its Phase III study.
As Sarepta Therapeutics moves closer to full approval and an expanded label for its gene therapy, some experts push back on clinical efficacy and cost while others note the hope it provides patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
The biotech touted its prime editing technology at ASGCT on Tuesday after receiving FDA clearance last week for a clinical study of a drug candidate based on the platform.
Tuesday afternoon’s session was standing room only as representatives from various biopharma companies presented on their work to improve the efficiency and quality of AAV production.
AAVs and accelerated approval are just two of the topics being discussed at ASGCT. Meanwhile, the race between Vertex and bluebird bio’s gene therapies Casgevy and Lyfgenia is heating up.
The FDA is looking at four decision deadlines in the coming three weeks, including two for a CAR-T therapy and another for a hepatitis B vaccine.
With a total revenue of nearly $2.7 billion, Vertex exceeded analyst estimates in the first quarter, bolstered by strong uptake of its cystic fibrosis products.
ADC Therapeutics is positioning Zynlonta for a label expansion with new Phase II data showing that the treatment can elicit high rates of complete response in patients with relapsed or refractory marginal zone lymphoma.
In a joint conference event on Monday, cell therapy pioneer Carl June revealed unpublished results showing that in around 1,500 patients treated with CAR-T therapies, no cases of secondary malignancy could be definitively linked to the treatment.