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Biotech’s slump may finally be over in 2026. In interviews with BioSpace, Zymeworks’ CEO Ken Galbraith and Zai Lab’s President and COO Josh Smiley explain what’s fueling the comeback.
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Coming up in the back half of December, the FDA will issue a verdict on Vanda Pharmaceuticals’ gastroparesis drug tradipitant, which it rejected last September, triggering a very public dispute with the company.
Every year in biopharma brings its share of grueling defeats, and 2025 was no different, especially for companies targeting neurological diseases. Some failures split up partners, and one particularly egregious case even led to the demise of an entire company.
With five CDER leaders in one year and regulatory proposals coming “by fiat,” the FDA is only making it more difficult to bring therapies to patients.
Job Trends
BioSpace has named 50 life sciences companies to its 2026 Best Places to Work list. AbbVie, Amneal Pharmaceuticals and BridgeBio executives share what makes their organizations special.
FROM OUR EDITORS
Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
Novo Nordisk, under new CEO Maziar Mike Doustdar, has a new attitude. It’s making Pfizer livid.
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Johnson & Johnson, which did not apply for the national priority voucher, was granted the ticket based on results from a Phase III study testing Tecvayli plus Darzalex in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.
Representatives of companies including AbbVie, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson and Merck have voiced concerns about the FDA’s approach to pre-approval inspections.
Varegacestat, a gamma secretase inhibitor, significantly improved progression-free survival while also meeting all key secondary endpoints in the pivotal RINGSIDE trial. Immunome is planning an FDA application for the second quarter of 2026.
Sanofi bought Dren’s DR-0201 program earlier this year for $600 million upfront and is running two Phase I trials in undisclosed inflammatory indications.
Vyvgart, an FcRn inhibitor already approved for generalized myasthenia gravis, is also being tested in myositis, Sjögren’s disease and the “clinically related” Graves disease.
Sanofi’s multiple sclerosis hopeful tolebrutinib faced dual setbacks on Monday, with a late-stage failure in one form of the disease and yet another regulatory setback in another.
The FDA had previously turned back the heart rhythm nasal spray twice, once in late 2023 with a refusal to file letter and again in March this year, when it flagged manufacturing issues.
For $950 million upfront, Sobi will gain ownership to pozdeutinurad, an oral URAT1 inhibitor that performed well in Phase II studies.
The FDA’s Vinay Prasad recently claimed in an internal memo that at least 10 children have died from coronavirus vaccines, but an internal safety review showed that the count was much lower.
In the midst of regulatory and political upheaval, biopharma’s R&D engine kept running, churning out highs and lows in equal parts. Here are some of this year’s most glorious clinical trial victories.