Drug Development

A month after reporting that its RAS inhibitor daraxonrasib doubled survival in advanced pancreatic cancer, Truist said Revolution Medicines “is evolving into a major revenue-generating oncology company,” and projects an approval in second-line disease by the end of the third quarter.
FEATURED STORIES
IPO
After years of suffering from a bear market and more than 14 months of geopolitical turmoil shaking the macroenvironment, biotech appears to be moving on.
New guidelines from two leading medical associations suggest that efforts to reduce bad cholesterol should focus on maintaining low levels of two key lipoproteins. Big pharma is all in, looking to improve on the standard statins to help vanquish America’s number one killer: heart disease.
ALS
Biogen’s Qalsody won FDA approval in 2023 to treat a rare, genetic form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. On Tuesday, QurAlis presented interim Phase 2 data showing the potential of a similar drug to more broadly treat the neurodegenerative disease.
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The U.S. Congress greenlit a historic $315 million in federal ALS research funding for 2026 amid Rare Disease Month, spotlighting biotech progress like VectorY Therapeutics’ first patient dosing in its TDP-43-targeting PIONEER-ALS trial and EverythingALS’ pharma consortia driving biomarker innovations and trial alignment.
The first gene therapies approved to treat sickle cell disease in December 2023 are struggling on the market. But there are glimpses of forward momentum as Vertex and Genetix Bio provide updates.
After last year’s ‘stampede’ for FGF21 assets, the focus for the metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis space has shifted toward differentiated approaches, such as THR-β agonists and combination treatments, that seek to mirror the commercial success of Madrigal’s Rezdiffra.
In this episode of Denatured, you’ll be listening to Jane Hughes, President of R&D and Co-founder of Verdiva Bio, and Jon Rees, CEO and Co-founder of MitoRx Therapeutics. We’ll discuss next-generation obesity solutions tackling GLP-1’s muscle loss and adherence challenges, through innovative muscle preservation, oral administration and combination therapy.
In the incredibly hot obesity drug space, with more than 700 clinical trials ongoing, Verdiva Bio and MitoRx leaders discuss how next-generation therapies are targeting lean muscle preservation, extended efficacy and better safety profiles to enable lifelong weight management.
FDA
The disagreement between Moderna and the FDA has reached a resolution just eight days after the biotech received a Refusal-to-File letter in response to its application for mRNA-1010. Moderna will now seek approval of the vaccine based on age.
The FDA outright refuses to review Moderna’s mRNA-based flu vaccine as CBER director Vinay Prasad’s conduct is scrutinized; Disc Medicine receives an unexpected rejection, which Prasad may also have had a hand in; Compass Pathways posts new late-stage data on its psilocybin-based depression drug; CDC is once again leaderless.
Disc Medicine’s leadership tried to express optimism that its rare disease therapy bitopertin can be approved based on a Phase 3 trial set to begin shortly. However, analysts are worried that the protocol was developed with former FDA leaders.
Evidence of durability of psilocybin-based COMP360 is a key point for the FDA, according to Compass Pathways Chief Medical Officer Guy Goodwin. By providing 26 weeks’ worth of such data instead of the requested 12, the company is delivering “in spades,” he said.
Competing with giants like Takeda and Moderna, the plucky biotech believes it has unlocked a future with an easy, yearly oral vaccine.