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Disc Medicine’s leadership tried to express optimism that its rare disease therapy bitopertin can be approved based on a Phase 3 trial set to begin shortly. However, analysts are worried that the protocol was developed with former FDA leaders.
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The FDA’s refusal to review Moderna’s mRNA-based flu vaccine is “part of a disturbing pattern” of moving regulatory goalposts, according to Clay Alspach, executive director of the Alliance for mRNA Medicines. Meanwhile, streamlined communications with regulators in other countries pave the way for rapid uptake of novel modalities.
The current state of political affairs in the U.S. does not bode well for the direction of that turn. The country is at real risk of losing its long-held lead in biotech innovation.
FDA
The FDA’s refusal to review Moderna’s mRNA-based flu vaccine is part of a larger communications crisis unfolding at the agency over the past nine months that has also ensnarled Sarepta, Capricor, uniQure and many more.
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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.
The FDA issued a rare Refusal-to-File letter to Moderna over its mRNA-based influenza vaccine application, in an unusual move that sent the biotech’s shares tumbling.
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While a JAMA study found a decline in mpox antibody responses after vaccination, a University of Oxford expert cautioned that there is still not enough evidence to determine if this decline also leads to waning protections.
Gilead Sciences is granting licenses to six companies to produce lenacapavir for pre-exposure prophylaxis, as well as for treating human immunodeficiency virus in heavily pre-treated adults with multidrug-resistant infections.
IRA
The adjusted guidelines will provide drugmakers with more opportunities to engage with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services regarding the initial maximum fair price offers, according to the agency.
The Financial Times reported Thursday that WuXi AppTec is looking to sell its cell and gene therapy manufacturing unit, with facilities in Philadelphia, while WuXi Biologics wants to offload some of its production sites in Europe.
BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman called it “another positive indication” for Eli Lilly, whose top-selling diabetes and weight loss drugs are gaining market share as manufacturing continues to expand, while noting the drugmaker could start to benefit heading into third quarter earnings.
Stephen Majors from the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, which hosts the conference, spoke with BioSpace about what the more than 2,000 attendees can expect to learn next week in Phoenix about the pressing issues confronting the industry.
ImmunityBio will lay off 15 employees in California, mostly in El Segundo, effective Nov. 25. The company is also letting go 16 employees later this month.
To say that 2seventy bio’s short two years of existence have been dramatic is an understatement. CEO Chip Baird told BioSpace transparency and a committed staff have kept the biotech going through thick and thin.
Big Pharma companies Bayer and Johnson & Johnson are downsizing their New Jersey workforces while Pfizer cuts jobs in Ireland. Many of the layoffs are effective by the end of the year.
Eli Lilly’s investment in the LEAP Research and Innovation District in Lebanon, Indiana, has now jumped to more than $13 billion.