News
President Donald Trump in February threatened top pharma leaders, including Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks, with tariffs unless they reshore their manufacturing operations.
FEATURED STORIES
While drug developers work to mitigate the side effects associated with GLP-1–based obesity drugs, recent studies reveal that myriad variables are causing patients to stop treatment.
As sales of its COVID vaccine plummet, Novavax is looking ahead toward other novel vaccines, brought to market with the help of the company’s pharma partners—something it opted not to do as the pandemic swept the globe in 2020.
The FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee recently voted to narrow the label for checkpoint inhibitors Keytruda and Opdivo in stomach and esophageal cancers based on PD-L1 expression levels—but the high unmet need in these patient populations should also be considered.
Job Trends
Takeda announced topline data from its SKYLINE and SKYWAY studies. SKYLINE was a multicenter, randomized, double-blind Phase 3 study that evaluated soticlestat plus standard of care versus placebo plus standard of care in patients with refractory Dravet syndrome.1 Soticlestat narrowly missed the primary endpoint of reduction from baseline in convulsive seizure frequency as compared to placebo.
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In a recent BioSpace LinkedIn poll, nearly half of respondents predicted the job market won’t turn around until 2027 or later. It’s easy to see why people are skeptical, especially when you consider recent hiring activity and layoffs.
THE LATEST
Billions in market cap are being shed as the markets reel over President Donald Trump’s escalating trade war. Eli Lilly’s value has dropped more than $95 billion in just one month.
Long considered resistant to economic downturns, the pharmaceutical industry may face a greater challenge this time around as GLP-1s dominate and the population grows older.
The company is dropping its former lead molecule in favor of another antibody, RLYB116, which is being developed for a variety of rare autoimmune disorders.
Merida is working on a selective therapy for Graves’ disease, leveraging targeted therapies that can deplete disease-causing autoantibodies.
Last week, The Trump administration reversed a Biden-era proposal for Medicare coverage of anti-obesity treatments. But on Monday, HHS suggested it is open to future policy considerations toward this end.
Stifel analysts said that Lexeo’s data showing reduced size and thickness of the heart’s left ventricle are “supportive of a drug effect” for the company’s gene therapy in Friedreich’s ataxia cardiomyopathy.
Senators Bill Cassidy and Bernie Sanders asked HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to make good on a pledge to appear before the committee regularly. It is not clear if or when the hearing, which was scheduled for Thursday, will take place.
After moving the manufacturing of a CAR T drug that was part of its ImmPACT Bio acquisition to Washington, Lyell Immunopharma is closing its Los Angeles manufacturing facility, eliminating dozens of jobs there.
Stifel analysts were bullish on the data, which showed a 16.5% drop in body-mass index among patients with damage to the hypothalamus taking Rhythm Pharmaceuticals’ Imcivree.
GSK is paying to access ABL Bio’s Grabody-B platform, which potentially enables therapies to cross the blood-brain barrier.