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Even as FDA approvals for biologic therapies fell in the first half of 2026, regulatory experts are optimistic about a turnaround in the rare disease space after the departure of key leaders at the agency. Still, there will continue to be tension between science and politics.
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A mostly black box since emerging with more than a billion dollars in hand, Xaira Therapeutics is slowly pulling back the curtain, revealing plans to find partners and validate its pipeline.
IPO
After debuting on the public markets with $256.3 million and raking in an additional $472 million, Veradermics has emerged as one of biotech’s biggest post-IPO standouts. CEO Reid Waldman credits the weight loss craze for establishing consumer-driven channels.
Molecular glue degraders are gaining traction in the clinic as well as funding from Big Pharma, with their potential to treat previously “undruggable” cancers and immunological diseases. Here are five clinical programs worth keeping an eye on.
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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 timing of the partial hold is “odd,” according to analysts at Stifel, who noted that the preclinical data the FDA took issue with were filed in mid-2024.
South Korea has attracted increasing investment from the pharmaceutical industry, which is drawn to the Asian country due to its experience in antibody-drug conjugates and cell and gene therapies, according to McKinsey.
In this episode of Denatured, you’ll listen to Ram May-Ron, managing partner at FreeMind Group, and Ravi Kiron, managing director at Biopharma Strategy Advisors. We’ll be speaking about how to combine nondilutive funding and family office money into a unified strategy that gets companies through the drug development valley of death.
Over half of biopharma professionals would work again at the companies that let them go, according to a BioSpace LinkedIn poll. Several professionals, as well as recruiting and talent acquisition experts, discuss reasons for—and a key risk of—going back.
Having targeted Hims & Hers last year, the FDA has issued warnings to more telehealth companies over their promotion of GLP-1 drugs used to treat diabetes and obesity. In one case, compounded products were linked with multiple ER visits.
UniQure and REGENXBIO are both dealing with FDA setbacks for their respective gene therapies, as regulatory experts question the FDA’s decision-making processes; CBER director Vinay Prasad is under probe for allegedly fostering a toxic workplace; Sarepta CEO Doug Ingram is stepping down after several years of tumult at the top of the muscular dystrophy–focused company; and Eli Lilly again tops Novo Nordisk in a weight loss trial.
The funding comes weeks after TL1A blocker duvakitug maintained clinical remission rates above 50% in patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease in a Phase 2b trial.
While an anonymous source tied the closure to shortcomings in the FDA’s new pathway, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services pushed back on the suggestion.
The settlement, which requires Moderna to pay the plaintiffs $950 million upfront plus up to $1.3 billion in contingent commitments, is an outcome “better than feared,” according to analysts.
Sanofi will gain global exclusive rights over rovadicitinib, an oral JAK/ROCK blocker that has anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic effects.