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.
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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.
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
Leading Beeline Medicines’ pipeline is afimetoran, which is in Phase 2 development for systemic lupus erythematosus with data expected later this year.
After divorcing Denali Therapeutics earlier this month, Takeda is now splitting up with Veritas In Silico, pulling back from a partnership that advanced novel small-molecule drugs targeting mRNA.
The FDA is asking Eli Lilly to submit cardiovascular and liver safety data from an ongoing Phase 3 trial of Foundayo by July.
Johnson and Johnson kicked off first-quarter earnings season with a “modest” beat and an ambitious goal; Replimune failed again to gain approval for its advanced melanoma therapy, as analysts tout increased accountability brought by the FDA’s new policy of publicizing complete response letters; and Revolution Medicines’ pancreatic cancer candidate doubled survival in one of cancer’s most intractable foes.
Amidst rising layoffs in key biotech hubs, global demand for specialized life sciences talent is driving a more borderless, distributed model of scientific work.
Gilead, AstraZeneca and Vertex have acquired more than just a therapeutic asset in recent deals. BioSpace takes a look at five recent transactions where the staff was the real centerpiece.
FDA
BioSpace looks back at 2025 and where the FDA is going in 2026.
The draft guidance supports the agency’s new pathway designed to speed up the development of custom gene therapies.
By closing the Universal Cells Seattle location, Astellas is reportedly consolidating cell therapy, gene therapy and oncology research at its South San Francisco, California, and Westborough, Massachusetts, sites.
In this bonus episode, BioSpace’s Vice President of Marketing ⁠Chantal Dresner⁠ and Careers Editor ⁠Angela Gabriel⁠ take a look at Q1 job market performance and what it signals for the coming months.