News

A surprising deal from Vertex Pharmaceuticals adds to Big Pharma’s acquisitive streak as Crinetics folds into the cystic fibrosis drugmaker. Meanwhile, IPOs and venture capital raises trend upward, but mostly for derisked companies. Plus, FDA decisions slow only slightly as the hunt for a permanent leader drags on.
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IPO
After debuting on the public markets with $256.3 million and raking in an additional $472 million, Veradermics has emerged as one of biotech’s biggest post-IPO standouts. CEO Reid Waldman credits the weight loss craze for establishing consumer-driven channels.
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.
FROM OUR EDITORS
Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
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.
THE LATEST
Boehringer Ingelheim has paid $27.3 million upfront to Sosei Heptares to develop a small molecule agonist of GPR52 to treat the positive, negative and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia.
The Chinese biopharma company will be closing its U.S. headquarters and wet lab in the D.C. suburbs, according to scientists who recently lost their jobs.
With Monday’s FDA rejection of their long-acting glatiramer acetate formulation, Viatris and Mapi Pharma continue the biopharma industry’s recent losing streak in multiple sclerosis.
Early Phase IIb data from 66 patients showed Novartis’ BTK inhibitor remibrutinib has potential outside chronic spontaneous urticaria, leading to symptomatic relief in patients with hidradenitis suppurativa.
Fresh off its $259 million Series C funding round, Alumis unveiled mid-stage data Saturday for its TYK2 inhibitor ESK-001 demonstrating strong symptomatic improvement in moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis.
Johnson & Johnson’s Protagonist-partnered oral psoriasis candidate was able to sustain its therapeutic benefit through one year, according to data presented on Saturday at the American Academy of Dermatology annual meeting.
FDA
Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy was approved on Friday by the FDA to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death, heart attack and stroke in adults who have cardiovascular disease and are obese or overweight.
In this deep dive, BioSpace examines what’s next for Leqembi, the true cost of anti-amyloid antibodies, and what other Alzheimer’s treatments are coming down the pipeline.
FDA
The approval, which Bristol Myers Squibb reported on Thursday, positions the company to compete with Astellas and Pfizer’s Padcev.
FDA
According to Fresenius Kabi, Tyenne is the first biosimilar to Genentech’s Acterma which has both IV and subcutaneous formulations approved by the FDA.