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Heather McKenzie

Heather McKenzie

Senior Editor

Heather McKenzie is a professional journalist with more than 8 years’ experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. Since joining BioSpace, she has written more than 300 features and breaking news articles, including multiple award-winning stories. Her particular focuses are neuroscience, rare disease and regulatory science. She has also traveled internationally to cover global biotech hubs, including Israel. In previous roles, she has covered current affairs, sports, education and politics. She previously spent eight years as a senior content producer for executive-level business conferences in the pharma/biotech, legal, energy and business strategy sectors. In her free time, Heather enjoys creative writing, watching her American League champion Toronto Blue Jays, spending time with family and playing with her energetic Russian Blue cat Roofus. She hails from Toronto and has also lived in Chicago and Chesapeake, Virginia. You can reach her at heather.mckenzie@biospace.com.

Pictured: A doctor looks at a CT scan/iStock, goro
Drug Development
ASCO: French Pharma’s Drug Slows Tumors in Brain Cancer Patients
Servier Pharmaceuticals’ Vorasidenib, acquired from Agios in a $1.8 billion deal, slowed the growth of a certain type of low-grade glioma by 61% in a Phase III trial.
June 5, 2023
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3 min read
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Heather McKenzie
Pictured: shRNA sense and antisense sequences
Drug Development
The Promise and Perils of Antisense Therapies in CNS Diseases
The recent approval of Biogen’s Qalsody in SOD1–ALS highlighted the potential of ASOs in CNS diseases, while recent failures make it clear there is still work to be done.
June 2, 2023
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5 min read
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Heather McKenzie
Pictured: San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge/iStoc
Deals
Eikon Acquires Broad Development Pipeline, Raises $106M in Series C Funding
Roger Perlmutter’s company announced the addition Thursday of myriad early- to mid-stage assets in the cancer and neurodegenerative disease spaces.
June 1, 2023
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2 min read
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Heather McKenzie
Pictured: AbbVie sign on a building/courtesy of Ad
Drug Development
AbbVie’s Rinvoq Maintains Durability in Phase II Lupus Study
The company’s blockbuster JAK inhibitor, alone or as a combination therapy, showed durable improvements in systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity at 48 weeks.
May 31, 2023
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3 min read
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Heather McKenzie
Pictured: Amylyx co-CEOs Josh Cohen and Justin Klee
Policy
European Regulator Leaning Toward Rejecting Amylyx’s ALS Drug
Known as Relyvrio in the U.S., Amylyx’s AMX0035 may face a longer road to approval in Europe as the company reported that CHMP could reject its marketing authorization application.
May 30, 2023
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3 min read
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Heather McKenzie
Pictured: Regeneron headquarters in Tarrytown, N.Y.
Drug Development
ASCO: Regeneron Touts New Data in Bid to Become Next Big LAG-3 Player
The New York–based biotech will present data from a Phase I trial of 98 patients showing that fianlimab combined with Libtayo led to an overall response rate of 61% in advanced melanoma.
May 26, 2023
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2 min read
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Heather McKenzie
Pictured: Illustration of a motor neuron being deg
Drug Development
Wave’s Antisense ALS Therapy Is Company’s Latest Miss
Wave will discontinue development of WVE-004 in C9-associated ALS and frontotemporal dementia after the therapy failed to show any clinical benefit in a mid-stage trial.
May 24, 2023
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3 min read
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Heather McKenzie
Pictured: 3D rendering of amyloid-beta oligomers
Amyloid-Beta Structure Revelation Sheds Light on Leqembi’s Function
Researchers elucidate the component structure of Alzheimer’s-associated plaques, shedding light on anti-amyloid antibodies’ mechanism of action.
May 24, 2023
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3 min read
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Heather McKenzie
Pictured: Front of FDA headquarters/Grandbrothers/
Business
Billy Dunn’s Prothena Board Position Reignites Ethical Debate
Ex-FDA Neuroscience Director Billy Dunn was appointed to Prothena’s board of directors last week. Industry representatives and regulatory experts weigh in on the potential ethical implications.
May 23, 2023
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5 min read
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Heather McKenzie
Pictured: Illustration of a human body with the liver highlighted
Drug Development
Hepion Claims Phase II NASH Victory Following Intercept’s Adcomm Defeat
The 61-patient study met the primary endpoint of improved physiologic liver function and secondary endpoints, which included established non-alcoholic steatohepatitis biomarkers, Hepion reported Monday.
May 22, 2023
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3 min read
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Heather McKenzie
Pictured: an abstract of a woman's face/agsandrew,
Drug Development
Biopharma Targets the Untapped Potential of the Human Healthspan
More than $5 billion poured into the longevity space in 2022, and experts say the science is now primed to make a real difference in extending human healthspan.
May 18, 2023
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6 min read
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Heather McKenzie
FDA Headquarters_Grandbrothers/Adobe Stock
Drug Development
Intercept’s NASH Treatment Fails to Win Support of FDA Advisory Committee
In a 12-2 vote with two abstentions, the advisers said the benefits did not outweigh the risks.
May 17, 2023
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5 min read
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Heather McKenzie
Courtesy of Amgen
Policy
Amgen ‘Remains Committed’ to $27.8B Horizon Acquisition After FTC Challenge
The Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking an injunction to prevent Amgen’s buyout of Horizon Therapeutics, which the agency says would “entrench monopoly drugs.”
May 16, 2023
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3 min read
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Heather McKenzie
Transmition Electron microscopy of an epithelial c
Drug Development
Therapies for Rare Mitochondrial Diseases Begin to See Traction
The approval of Reata Pharmaceuticals’ Skyclarys for Friedreich’s ataxia highlights progress being made in the treatment of rare mitochondrial diseases.
May 10, 2023
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7 min read
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Heather McKenzie
Pictured: Sarepta sign on a brick building/courtes
Policy
Update: FDA Delays Decision on Sarepta’s DMD Gene Therapy
The FDA set a new action date of June 22 for Sarepta’s gene therapy for the neuromuscular disease, approximately three weeks after the original date of May 29.
May 10, 2023
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6 min read
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Heather McKenzie
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