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The Most Favored Nation order is unlikely to deliver broad, sustained savings without triggering legal challenges, administrative friction and unintended consequences for both the healthcare sector and patient access.
FDA
While sparking excitement among biopharma companies focused on rare and ultrarare indications, experts say FDA Commissioner Marty Makary’s proposal is light on details and raises potential concerns about safety, access and liability.
The FDA and NIH recently announced plans to phase out animal testing requirements for some therapies. While organoid and AI providers celebrate, scientists warn that questions over safety, applicability and implementation remain.
Job Trends
Atara Biotherapeutics’ layoffs could leave the biotech with around 80 employees. The cuts follow news that the FDA rejected Ebvallo, a T cell therapy approved in Europe for a transplant-related blood cancer, and placed a clinical hold on the company’s active drug applications.
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This year saw lofty highs and devastating lows for neuroscience drug developers like Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly and AbbVie, following the predictable pattern of successes and failures that characterizes this space.
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The acquisition of SiteOne provides a bit of diversification for Lilly, which has burrowed into the obesity and diabetes space with mega-blockbuster tirzepatide and several follow-on molecules.
In addition to a $140 million series D, GRIN Therapeutics has signed a global licensing deal for the epilepsy disorder drug radiprodil worth $50 million upfront.
GlycoEra’s lead candidate targets IgG4 autoantibodies, potentially addressing autoimmune diseases such as muscle-specific kinase myasthenia gravis and pemphigus.
Acute systemic infection caused the patient to develop fatal capillary leak syndrome, highlighting the unpredictability of gene therapies and potentially challenging investment in the space, analysts say.
With $90 million to start, Syndeio has a lead asset in Phase II clinical trials for major depressive disorder, with plans to soon launch a biomarker trial in Alzheimer’s disease.
According to President Trump, CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz is a “tough hombre” who can bring down drug costs “like a rock.”
Prothena has already discontinued the development of birtamimab, and anticipates further spending cuts, including workforce reduction.
Vocal skeptics of COVID-19 vaccinations gave mRNA a bad name and government funding for mRNA research is now being cut. On the flip side, at least one CEO said the pandemic also provided “elevated acceleration” for the field, which also holds promise in therapeutics for cancer and rare diseases.
As the World Health Organization initiates a new agreement for coordinating global responses to future pandemics, the future of vaccine development in the U.S. faces growing challenges, including waning funding and regulatory changes, that threaten next-gen COVID-19 vaccine candidates and pandemic preparedness more broadly.
Beginning this week in Chicago, the American Association for Cancer Research’s annual conference will feature presentations that could have far-reaching implications for breast and blood cancers and more.