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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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The total of 52 mergers and acquisitions for the first half of 2026 reflects what analysts, industry watchers and executives are saying over and over: M&A is back.
At the BIO International Convention in San Diego, attendees marked the 50th anniversary of original biotech Genentech, reflecting on the immense challenges facing companies as China becomes a powerhouse innovator.
A recent FDA reversal sparked new hope for patients with Huntington’s disease. Flying under the radar, Skyhawk Therapeutics revealed 12-month functional data from a midstage trial of its own candidate showing improvements on a key disease measurement scale.
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If cell and gene therapy makers are going to achieve their mission to improve patients’ lives, the industry must come together to share information across stakeholders, from regulators to manufacturers to payers.
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The deal gets NextCure the rights to Simcere’s novel ADC for solid tumors outside of China.
At a satellite kickoff event to the annual BIO meeting, investment bankers and VCs gave reasons for optimism amid a ‘volatile’ period for the industry.
At 12 weeks, weight loss ranged from 2.6% to 11.3%, compared to a gain of 0.2% in the placebo group. Guggenheim analysts were also impressed by the tolerability profile.
Analysts at Jefferies give Roche and Prothena’s Phase III study just a 25% to 40% probability of success.
Regeneron did not bid higher on the genetic testing company because of “its assessment of 23andMe’s remaining value,” according to a spokesperson for the pharma.
Stifel analysts said the deal “feels like an unremarkable outcome for a company that was once one of the hottest stories in CNS.” Supernus’ offer beats Biogen’s unsolicited bid of about $7.22 per share, which arrived with a thud in late January.
Analysts at Truist Securities called J&J’s CAR T readout “compelling,” noting that the efficacy figures could position the cell therapy as a formidable competitor to the current standard of care, Gilead’s Yescarta.
According to an internal email, the agency may be in for more consolidation in areas including human resources, communications, travel and acquisitions.
Sarepta’s shares crashed 41% in premarket trading Monday morning to $21.01 after the biotech reported a second death from acute liver failure, a known side effect of adeno-associated virus-based gene therapies.
AstraZeneca, Pfizer and more are leveraging the computational power of AI to better design trials, predict the potential efficacy and safety profiles of their molecules and synthesize massive multi-omic information to gain a more complete understanding of challenging cancers.