News

FEATURED STORIES
IPO
LB Pharma needed $350 million to advance a promising schizophrenia candidate at a time when the biotech markets were locked up tight. Fortunately, it wasn’t CEO Heather Turner’s first rodeo.
Rare disease drug developers struggle to survive in a biopharma investment market that prioritizes large patient populations. Initiatives like the Orphan Therapeutics Accelerator are attempting to solve what CEO Craig Martin says is not a science problem, but a math problem.
Eli Lilly’s win in a head-to-head trial drove Novo Nordisk’s market cap to pre-Wegovy levels not long after the victor became the first pharma company to top a $1 trillion valuation. It seems one company can do no right, while the other can do no wrong.
Job Trends
FROM OUR EDITORS
Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
FDA
Following the FDA’s refusal to review Moderna’s investigational mRNA flu vaccine last week, Commissioner Marty Makary faced questions from the U.S. president about the agency’s handling of vaccines. It’s a clear signal that the tension long brewing at the drug regulator has now gone all the way to the top.
THE LATEST
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals on Wednesday revealed that its investigational gene therapy DB-OTO restored hearing in two young children, according to an oral presentation at the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy annual meeting.
Amylyx’s recent decision to withdraw its ALS drug Relyvrio from the market highlights an important business decision for companies: when to continue marketing or investigating a drug that has failed a pivotal or confirmatory study.
AstraZeneca announced that it will voluntarily pull Vaxzevria from the global market amid a sharp decline in demand and following the company’s recent admission that its vaccine is linked with a rare side effect.
As interest in psychedelic therapies ramp up, Lykos Therapeutics will go in front of the FDA’s Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee on June 4 to present its investigational treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.
Pfizer’s investigational Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy fordadistrogene movaparvovec has been hit with another patient death, forcing the pharma to pause dosing in its Phase III study.
FDA
As Sarepta Therapeutics moves closer to full approval and an expanded label for its gene therapy, some experts push back on clinical efficacy and cost while others note the hope it provides patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
The biotech touted its prime editing technology at ASGCT on Tuesday after receiving FDA clearance last week for a clinical study of a drug candidate based on the platform.
Tuesday afternoon’s session was standing room only as representatives from various biopharma companies presented on their work to improve the efficiency and quality of AAV production.
AAVs and accelerated approval are just two of the topics being discussed at ASGCT. Meanwhile, the race between Vertex and bluebird bio’s gene therapies Casgevy and Lyfgenia is heating up.
With appeals and additional cases still pending, it remains to be seen if any of the arguments being brought by biopharma companies against the U.S. government will hold up in court.