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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.
While drugmakers and other stakeholders want to see faster approvals, experts say the FDA’s Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher program is still bereft of important details, with candidate selection and interference from the agency’s senior leaders topping the list.
FDA
UniQure’s planned third-quarter submission for its Huntington’s disease gene therapy may be a harbinger of a more flexible FDA under acting commissioner Kyle Diamantas—but how long will it last? And how can companies be sure these positive decisions won’t just be reversed?
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FDA veteran Peter Marks will now shape the future of Eli Lilly’s vaccines work after the buys of Curevo, LimmaTech Biologics and Vaccine Company for up to $3.8 billion total.
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FDA
The FDA’s Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher program, unveiled in June 2025, is “shrouded in secrecy,” Democratic representative Jake Auchincloss said last month, as regulatory and biopharma leaders try to decode the criteria for investigational or approved drugs to receive a voucher.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services refuted the claim, made Thursday on social media by ACIP Vice Chair Robert Malone, calling it “baseless speculation.”
Biotech, in particular companies that are pre-commercial with a longer-duration risk profile, could be great investments as Operation Epic Fury rolls on, according to a Truist Securities analysis.
At its peak, Imcivree’s sales in hypothalamic obesity could reach over $2 billion worldwide, according to analysts at Stifel.
Aside from the $2 billion upfront payment, Novartis is also putting up to $1 billion on the line in milestones for Synnovation Therapeutics’ pan-mutant-selective PI3Kα blocker.
The main beneficiary of Roche’s discontinuation of an investigational spinal muscular atrophy drug is Scholar Rock, which was hobbled by manufacturing concerns at a Novo Nordisk facility last year but is now nearing a potential resolution.
With the approval of Wegovy HD, Novo Nordisk joins Johnson & Johnson, Boehringer Ingelheim and USAntibiotics as beneficiaries of the FDA’s Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher program, which aims to review products that align with certain national priorities in less than two months.
The company is establishing commercial production capabilities to fuel plans to launch autologous CAR T cell therapies in China.
FDA
Sarepta Therapeutics says the FDA has agreed to review a regulatory package for Amondys 45 and Vyondys 53 after they failed a confirmatory trial, but whether the agency will agree to approve them is still unknown.
Eli Lilly’s retatrutide could present a “differentiated option” for patients with type 2 diabetes who want to control their blood sugar and achieve maximal weight loss, according to analysts at BMO Capital Markets.