Drug Development
Analysts said the outcome is disappointing because there are no approved treatments for dyskinetic cerebral palsy, but the setback had little impact on Neurocrine’s valuation.
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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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In a Type B meeting, the FDA signified that it will allow uniQure to use a natural history control, the composite Unified Huntington’s Disease Rating Scale, and neurofilament light chain levels to support the accelerated approval of its gene therapy AMT-130.
The overall survival edge over J&J’s Darzalex will help GSK strengthen its case as it plots the market comeback of Blenrep, which was pulled after a failed confirmatory study.
Anito-cel has shown no signs of delayed neurotoxicity at around 9 months of follow-up, hinting at a safety profile that could set it apart from J&J and Legend’s Carvykti.
According to Jake Van Naarden, president of Lilly Oncology, the excess deaths could be due to the high rate of crossover in BRUIN CLL-321.
Relmada Therapeutics will halt two Phase III trials of a major depressive disorder drug after a futility assessment and explore strategic alternatives including a potential sale to maximize shareholder value.
Tavapadon improved motor and daily living complications at week 26. The news comes nearly one month to the day after AbbVie announced the Phase II failure of another key Cerevel asset, emraclidine.
Analysts called the data “very competitive” but raised questions about safety. Merck gained ownership of the ADC when it acquired VelosBio in November 2020 for $2.75 billion.
The discontinuation of STRIDES is a rare stumble for the next-generation obesity field and comes just weeks after Amgen announced underwhelming mid-stage data for MariTide.
Vertex unveiled long-term durability data for Casgevy, while Beam presented Phase I/II findings for its investigational base editor BEAM-101, building up to a BLA by late 2026.
Not developing potency assays and gaining knowledge about MOAs early in the drug development process not only can break ATMP success but can cause costs and delays that lead to company closures.