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Despite the definitive failure of Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide in Alzheimer’s, biotech executives, analysts and other industry experts see potential in more testing of GLP-1s for the neurodegenerative disease, particularly in a combination approach.
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The second half finished strong after two tumultuous years. What will 2026 bring for the biotech sector?
FDA
Policy initiatives have come fast and furious at the FDA this year. While guidances on rare diseases and vaccines have consumed most of the ink, policy shifts aimed at improving FDA efficiencies and reshoring U.S. manufacturing also got some attention. Here, BioSpace rounds up more than a dozen initiatives relevant to the biopharma industry.
After 27 years in business, Cytokinetics hopes to pit its own cardiac myosin inhibitor against one it initially developed—now owned by Bristol Myers Squibb—in a market worth billions. Aficamten has a PDUFA date of Dec. 26.
Job Trends
Follow along as BioSpace tracks job cuts and restructuring initiatives.
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Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
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.
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While trade groups hail the executive order as a national health security opportunity, analysts warn that production costs could go up in the near term.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—along with FDA Commissioner Marty Makary and CBER Director Vinay Prasad—argued against vaccine mandates, partly because they limited medical choice. This week, the FDA under their leadership approved updated COVID-19 vaccines with restrictions that do the same.
In December 2024, Teva also secured FDA approval for the other liraglutide brand Victoza, indicated for type 2 diabetes.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will testify before the Senate Finance Committee on Sept. 4, following the ouster of CDC Director Susan Monarez and tapping of HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill as her interim replacement.
Nipocalimab, approved as Imaavy for generalized myasthenia gravis earlier this year, failed to show significantly added benefit when used with an anti-TNFα therapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
In another blow to Prothena’s neurodegenerative disease portfolio, anti-amyloid candidate PRX012 has run into the same problem that larger peers Biogen and Eli Lilly have battled: high rates of swelling in the brain.
Sometimes, job interviews stand out for all the wrong reasons, including odd settings, off-topic topics and questionable decorum. BioSpace collected several stories that highlight biopharma professionals’ strangest experiences as they pursued employment.
Exelixis is looking at the possibility of relocating some of the eliminated Pennsylvania roles to its headquarters in Alameda, California, according to a company spokesperson.
The American Academy of Pediatrics called the decision to limit children’s access to COVID-19 vaccines “deeply troubling.”
Novo Nordisk has brought on other cardiometabolic collaborators this year, including United Laboratories International and Deep Apple Therapeutics.