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FDA Commissioner Marty Makary intends to resign on Tuesday, according to several sources. This report follows a tumultuous 13-month tenure in which Makary oversaw the controversial rejections of several rare disease drugs and “predictable volatility” within the agency.
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New guidelines from two leading medical associations suggest that efforts to reduce bad cholesterol should focus on maintaining low levels of two key lipoproteins. Big pharma is all in, looking to improve on the standard statins to help vanquish America’s number one killer: heart disease.
The FDA’s decision last year to make complete response letters public provides new insight into why therapies sometimes fail to get the regulatory greenlight. Analysts say the information could help sponsors refine their regulatory strategies.
The Department of Health and Human Services is spinning its wheels, unable to establish steady leadership at three major divisions—the CDC and the FDA’s two primary review units.
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s health department has consistently touted radical transparency as being key to its mission. Recent instances—the FDA’s decision not to disclose the recipients of three Commissioner’s National Priority Vouchers and FDA and CDC choices not to publish vaccine-related papers—call this intent into question.
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Chiesi Group is taking KalVista Pharmaceuticals under its wing, paying $1.9 billion for the biotech’s oral therapy Ekterly to treat severe swelling episodes caused by the rare genetic disorder hereditary angioedema.
After a quarter in which sales topped $15 billion and key readouts went AstraZeneca’s way, the company is increasingly confident that its 2030 revenue target is in reach.
While sales for most of GSK’s shots slumped as vaccine skepticism continues to climb in the U.S., Shingrix jumped 20% to almost $1.4 billion in the first quarter, emerging as the pharma’s top-selling product.
The settlements delay the entry of generic copies of Pfizer’s Vyndamax by almost three years, stabilizing sales of a drug that generated $3.8 billion in the U.S. last year.
In briefing documents released Wednesday, the FDA raises doubts about two AstraZeneca assets set to be discussed Friday at the agency’s first drug-related advisory committee meeting in nine months.
Analysts will be watching as a generic version of semaglutide—marketed by Novo Nordisk as Wegovy for weight loss—launches in Canada as a test case for future price erosion in the U.S.
The FDA’s real-time clinical trial mechanism allows drug sponsors to transmit data immediately to the regulator through the cloud—a system that could “compress drug development timelines,” Jefferies analysts said.
Phase 2 data from PTC Therapeutics showed that the Novartis-partnered Huntington’s disease asset slowed progression by more than 50%. Analysts say the decision to initiate a last-stage trial reflects a lack of confidence in an accelerated FDA nod.
Sanofi and Novartis kick off the heart of earnings season; Lilly strikes its fourth pact in as many weeks; Regeneron earns landmark approval for a gene therapy for a type of genetic deafness, and also strikes a White House deal; FDA asks Amgen to withdraw Tavneos and, separately, issues Commissioner’s National Priority Vouches to three unnamed psychedelics companies.
Angel investors are raising the bar with tighter criteria, backing strong teams, realistic markets and clear paths to exit while applying deeper, domain-specific diligence to early stage bets.