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A year of significant policy change at the FDA brought momentum and scrutiny into the new year. As 2026 gets underway, biopharma companies are responding to sweeping vaccine changes while concerns surface about the politicization of the agency.
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After Replimune’s advanced melanoma drug was rejected for a second time, CEO Sushil Patel slammed the FDA for failing to exercise regulatory flexibility, while other experts bemoaned the agency’s lack of consistency. With new safety guidelines for gene editing therapies, the FDA has taken a first step toward fixing both problems.
The Merck update, which will shed light on a $588 million bet to succeed Keytruda, is part of a roster of presentations that could shape the future of ADCs, protein degraders and KRAS-targeted therapies.
Gilead, AstraZeneca and Vertex have acquired more than just a therapeutic asset in recent deals. BioSpace takes a look at five recent transactions where the staff was the real centerpiece.
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Novo Nordisk’s oral Wegovy has a few months’ head start on Eli Lilly’s newly approved pill. While the Indianapolis pharma has come from behind the Danish rival in the weight loss space before, last time it clearly had the better drug.
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Former ACIP vice chair Robert Malone claimed that Andrew Nixon, spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, “trashed” him with the media, adding that he resigned because “I do not like drama.”
While the accelerated approval unlocks only a small market opportunity for Rocket Pharmaceuticals, it will give the biotech a chance to prepare for future product launches, according to Jefferies.
The Excellergy acquisition will complement Novartis’ existing allergy profile, anchored by the IgE blocker Xolair that in February 2024 was approved to treat food allergies in children and adults.
At the AD/PD annual meeting, Eisai presented real-world data suggesting Leqembi’s long-term safety and efficacy in people homozygous for APOE4, who were identified in trials as being at higher risk of brain bleeds while on the treatment. Alzheon, meanwhile, added further detail to trial results of its candidate in patients with the same genetic profile.
While participants on a lower dose of Wave Life Sciences’ RNA therapy lost 5.3% total fat at the six-month mark, those receiving the higher dose saw a less than 1% drop at three months.
Beam is now in the strongest position of all companies advancing a genetic therapy for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, according to analysts at William Blair.
Avlayah is the first Hunter syndrome therapy approved to address the condition’s neurologic complications, according to Tracy Beth Høeg, acting director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.
Biomarker data for Sarepta Therapeutics’ RNA programs, licensed from Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, are “competitive” and “strong,” according to analysts at Jefferies, which projected over $1 billion in peak sales.
In this episode of Denatured, you’ll listen to Sergey Jakimov, managing partner at LongeVC and Artem Trotsyuk, operating partner, US, LongeVC. We speak about how developers in the longevity space should stop chasing aging as an abstract target and concentrate on specific mechanisms that can clearly tackle age-related conditions.
Among biopharma professionals surveyed by BioSpace, respect remains higher for managers than for CEOs, and unhappiness with company leadership had nearly 1 in 7 people looking to walk away from their employer.