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In this episode of Denatured, Jennifer C. Smith-Parker speaks with RTW’s Rod Wong and Stephanie Sirota how shifting JPM deal timing masks record M&A potential; why oncology, obesity, psychedelics, and neuroscience are attracting fresh capital; and how “alpha stacking” shapes their investment edge in an age of chronic uncertainty. They cover topics discussed in RTW’s new book, “Innovation is the Best Medicine.”
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With the biopharma industry performing better of late, analysts, executives and other industry watchers are “cautiously optimistic”—a term heard all over the streets of San Francisco at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference earlier this month.
Bristol Myers Squibb, GSK and Merck are contributing drug ingredients as part of their deals with the White House but are keeping many of the terms of their agreements private.
Some 200 rare disease therapies are at risk of losing eligibility for a pediatric priority review voucher, a recent analysis by the Rare Disease Company Coalition shows. That could mean $4 billion in missed revenue for already cash-strapped biotechs.
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The FDA’s rare pediatric disease priority review voucher program missed reauthorization at the last minute in 2024; advocates have been fighting to get it back ever since.
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FDA Commissioner Marty Makary and CBER Director Vinay Prasad published an article in JAMA on Tuesday outlining the FDA’s priorities, including accelerating cures and the rapid deployment of artificial intelligence.
Instead of homing in on PSMA—currently the most validated target in prostate cancer—BMS and Philochem will instead collaborate on an early-stage molecule that binds to a novel marker called ACP3.
The company’s intein-based technology is initially aimed at Stargardt disease, a type of macular degeneration.
The American Medical Association is also urging an “immediate reversal” of the HHS Secretary’s decision to oust all 17 members of the CDC’s vaccine advisory board.
The layoffs will heavily affect Vertex’s operations in Rhode Island, where the biotech will consolidate three facilities into one.
Guggenheim Partners called Insmed’s Phase IIb readout “impressive across the board,” with an efficacy profile that positions TPIP to be best-in-class in pulmonary arterial hypertension.
For $812 million, Novo Nordisk will enlist Deep Apple to discover and develop a non-incretin therapy for obesity, months after the Danish pharma’s amylin efforts underwhelmed investors.
The deal is Lilly’s second obesity tie-up in a week, after sinking up to $870 million into an agreement with Camurus to develop long-acting versions of molecules against GLP-1 and other incretins.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made waves this week, firing the remaining members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices; Metsera’s amylin drug produced weight loss of 8.4% at 36 days; and FDA leaders gathered last week to discuss the future of cell and gene therapy, a sector that has been in turmoil since the ousting of CBER Chief Peter Marks.
Some companies’ preferences for people who already have industry experience and the tough job market are among the hurdles those just starting out in biopharma must navigate, two recruitment experts told BioSpace.