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New data on Hengrui Pharma and Kailera Therapeutics’ investigational oral GLP-1 have validated the late-stage weight loss asset and paved the road for a regulatory submission in China, but analysts pointed to high rates of nausea and vomiting that could challenge the ongoing U.S. study.
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Molecular glue degraders are gaining traction in the clinic as well as funding from Big Pharma, with their potential to treat previously “undruggable” cancers and immunological diseases. Here are five clinical programs worth keeping an eye on.
Last month, the FDA launched TrialBlazer, intended to streamline the IND path and bring early clinical trials and medical innovation home to the U.S. It’s a start, but new agency leadership must see it through.
FDA
Significant leadership instability at the FDA—compounded by continued workforce attrition—led to a slight slowdown in overall regulatory productivity in the first half of this year, but the agency has been catching up of late.
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Congressional letters sent to the CEOs of Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Merck, BMS and AbbVie this week voicing concerns about the pharmas’ clinical trials in China highlight an ongoing discrepancy in how government and industry think about the rise of the Asian country’s biotech industry.
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Gilead’s median employee compensation in 2025 was $238,979. Daniel O’Day’s compensation package is 119 times larger.
Following last month’s $7.8 billion purchase of CAR T biotech Arcellx, Gilead’s dealmaking train chugs along with yet another acquisition—this time securing Ouro Medicines’ pipeline of T cell engagers for inflammatory diseases.
The biotech industry needs to stop waiting for a rebound. The pandemic changed everything, though not in the ways most people think.
If the U.S. can help Japan reform its drug pricing controls, both countries stand to benefit.
Healthcare investor Kevin Tang and his allies now hold almost every leadership position at Aurinia Pharmaceuticals, the company at the heart of former CDER Director George Tidmarsh’s exit from the FDA.
The multivalent candidate, being developed by Pfizer and French partner Valneva under a 2020 pact, generated higher than 73% efficacy against the tick-borne disease in a Phase 3 trial—but failed to hit a predetermined confidence interval.
Kali Therapeutics’ T cell engager, for which Sanofi is initially paying $180 million, could potentially be developed for a range of B cell–driven autoimmune disorders.
The FDA detected 14 cases of vitamin B6 deficiency–linked seizures and two deaths in patients with Parkinson’s disease taking carbidopa/levodopa drugs. Both AbbVie and Novartis market levodopa-based products.
Earendil Labs’ AI-centered platform has produced more than 40 programs, including anti-inflammatory assets that have attracted a pair of partnership agreements with Sanofi.
Oryon Cell Therapies’ lead cell therapy is an autologous treatment designed to replace dopaminergic neurons in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Phase 1b/2a data showed that the asset can improve motor function and mobility in patients.