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
The vaccine maker reported new trial data confirming an 8.7 to 11-fold increase in neutralizing antibodies against circulating strains, including the highly watched BA.2.86, EG.5 and FL.1.5.1 variants.
Citing the need to improve its Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy, the regulator has declined AstraZeneca’s bid to get its C5 complement inhibitor approved in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder.
Monitoring rebates from drugmakers will be critical as provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act are implemented, including drug price negotiations, the Government Accountability Office contends.
Biotech Beam Therapeutics has dosed the first patient in a Phase I/II study of its base-edited CAR-T therapy in relapsed or refractory T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia/T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma.
With several of the first 10 selected drugs facing patent expirations and generic competition, the drug price negotiations dictated by the IRA may not greatly affect revenues. But that could change quickly.
Former Agilent Technologies executive Jacob Thaysen will take the reins later this month replacing CEO Francis deSouza, who stepped down in June following a proxy fight with activist investor Carl Icahn.
The company Tuesday posted Sandoz’s financial performance for the first half of 2023, as it looks to secure the approval of shareholders this month for the generics and biosimilars spin-off.
The Swiss pharmaceutical company filed a suit Friday joining a growing group of legal complaints by Big Pharma seeking to block the Inflation Reduction Act’s Drug Price Negotiation Program.
The companies are moving closer to traditional approval for the antibody-drug conjugate Tivdak, which met its primary endpoint for overall survival in an interim analysis.
$27.8B Amgen-Horizon deal gets FTC clearance with restrictions; the White House names first 10 drugs subject to Medicare price negotiations; Sage Therapeutics axes 40% of staff.