News
A surprising deal from Vertex Pharmaceuticals adds to Big Pharma’s acquisitive streak as Crinetics folds into the cystic fibrosis drugmaker. Meanwhile, IPOs and venture capital raises trend upward, but mostly for derisked companies. Plus, FDA decisions slow only slightly as the hunt for a permanent leader drags on.
FEATURED STORIES
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.
Last month, the FDA launched TrialBlazer, intended to streamline the IND path and bring early clinical trials and medical innovation home to the U.S. It’s a start, but new agency leadership must see it through.
FROM OUR EDITORS
Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
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.
THE LATEST
Eli Lilly, Rivus Pharmaceuticals and more target different biological processes in hopes of generating higher-quality weight loss and avoiding metabolic issues.
Rocket Pharmaceuticals’ gene therapy Kresladi has been hit with an FDA Complete Response Letter requesting additional chemistry, manufacturing and controls information to complete its review.
Alumis is debuting in an initial public offering Friday on the Nasdaq, though the $250 million IPO is less than its initial targeted raise of $274 million just days ago.
AbbVie on Thursday announced it has acquired Celsius Therapeutics to expand its immunology portfolio with a first-in-class TREM1 inhibitor CEL383, following other big players looking to cash in on the hot immuno market.
Following the recently completed spinoff of cancer detection company Grail, sequencing giant Illumina said Thursday it expects to absorb a $1.47 billion goodwill impairment charge.
The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review has again flagged “substantial concerns” with Lykos Therapeutics’ data for its MDMA-based therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder and propensity for bias.
AbbVie and Merck/Daiichi Sankyo were hit this week with Complete Response Letters from the FDA, which rejected their respective drugs due to manufacturing issues.
Expansion across its network will mean hundreds of new employees in Cincinnati, increased ability to get complex medicines to patients and more.
Novo Nordisk on Wednesday announced it is stopping a late-stage study after its candidate ocedurenone, which the pharma acquired last year in a potential $1.3 billion deal with KBP Biosicences, failed to meet the primary endpoint.
The FDA on Thursday rejected Merck and Daiichi Sankyo’s HER3-targeted antibody-drug conjugate patritumab deruxtecan in a Complete Response Letter, citing problems with a third-party manufacturer.