News
FDA reviewers flag “discordant results” in a briefing document published ahead of Friday’s advisory committee meeting for the partners’ application for the antipsychotic in post-traumatic stress disorder.
FEATURED STORIES
Nearly two years in with Zurzuvae, Biogen tackles an ‘all of the above market’ to find patients and battle stigma in postpartum depression.
R&D spending across the global pharmaceutical sector climbed 1.5% in 2024, according to unreleased data from Evaluate Pharma.
Vocal skeptics of COVID-19 vaccinations gave mRNA a bad name and government funding for mRNA research is now being cut. On the flip side, at least one CEO said the pandemic also provided “elevated acceleration” for the field, which also holds promise in therapeutics for cancer and rare diseases.
Job Trends
Although Massachusetts’ life sciences job growth increased by just 2.5% in 2023, the state continues to grow the industry, according to a new MassBioEd report.
FROM OUR EDITORS
Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
When talking to some of the most impressive women in biopharma, the conversation inevitably turned to what these women wanted other entrepreneurs to know. Here’s the best of the best of that advice.
THE LATEST
In this episode presented by IQVIA, BioSpace’s head of insights Lori Ellis discusses the FDA’s first draft guidance for AI in drug development, published in January 2025, with Archana Hegde, senior director, pv systems and innovations at IQVIA.
Cell and gene therapy leaders say the agency’s decision to remove the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies that had been attached to approved CAR T cancer therapies reflects “thoughtful consideration of real-world evidence” and “regulatory trust.”
BPL-003 showed “robust” efficacy data in treatment-resistant depression, according to analysts from Jefferies, who noted that the asset could hit peak market sales of $1 billion. The results clear the way for the asset’s late-stage development and for the completion of a proposed merger with atai Life Sciences.
Macrocyclic peptides are designed to engage complex targets like biologics but pass through cell membranes like small molecule drugs.
The pivotal trial for Neurogene’s Rett syndrome gene therapy makes use of baseline controls and a rigorous endpoint that could help ensure a broader label for the drug product, if approved, according to analysts.
With PN-477, Protagonist is directly going up against Eli Lilly, which is advancing retatrutide, also a triple-G agonist, in a Phase II trial.
Pfizer insists that the discontinuation of the Phase II study was due to recruitment difficulties and was not linked to maplirpacept’s safety or efficacy.
Big Pharmas like Eli Lilly, Sanofi and Novartis headed back to the dealmakers table multiple times, with 32 total deals counted across the industry for the first half.
In a detail-thin announcement, Amgen said that adding bemarituzumab to chemotherapy improved overall survival, though analysts pledged to wait for more data on safety and tolerability before assessing the drug.
The all-cash buyout, which gives AbbVie access to Capstan Therapeutics’ in vivo edited CAR T therapy for B cell–mediated autoimmune diseases, adds to a growing sense of momentum in M&A, according to BMO Capital Markets.