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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With what analysts are calling “strong” data, Amgen plans to file a regulatory submission for Uplizna, currently approved for a rare ocular autoimmune disorder, in myasthenia gravis, in the first half of 2025.
Gilead plans to go straight to Phase III studies for once-yearly lenacapavir, while GSK and ViiV will push forward with their long-acting antivirals after touting positive early-stage results.
Vepdegestrant did not improve progression-free survival broadly but saw improvements in one specific patient cohort. Arvinas’ stock took a 43% tumble on the news, and analysts are downcast on the drug’s prospects.
As we reflect on five years of COVID-19, it’s clear that the impacts are still unfolding. The life sciences—and we as individuals—will never be the same again.
BEAM-302 “has set the bar for efficacy in this space,” William Blair analysts wrote in an investor note on Monday.
In this deep dive, BioSpace explores the diverse therapeutic modalities now in development, as well as the opportunities and battles for market dominance in this emerging space.
Mineralys’ shares got a more than 50% boost Monday morning as new data showed its hypertension drug reduced blood pressure in a pair of clinical trials.
The latest data showed 15.7% weight loss in patients with diabetes after 68 weeks. In December 2024, CagriSema returned another disappointing readout for Novo, eliciting weight-loss of 22.7% in patients without diabetes, below the pharma’s prior projection of 25%.
In the plaque psoriasis arena, Sotyktu is facing off against Amgen’s Otezla and is facing the threat of upcoming competition from Alumis’ investigational TYK2 inhibitor.
Late-stage data also showed that Johnson & Johnson’s icotrokinra was superior to Bristol Myers Squibb’s Sotyktu at clearing skin and easing symptom severity in patients with plaque psoriasis.