News
PitchBook’s 2025 biopharma VC analysis clocked $33.8 billion in capital dispatched in 2025, mainly to companies with later-stage programs ready to roll into the clinic.
FEATURED STORIES
The limited supply of this common reagent is set to drive drug prices higher, but there are ways for companies to lessen the impact.
Suppliers are investing in production to support deals with AstraZeneca, Bayer and other drugmakers that are advancing radioisotope-based cancer therapies.
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.
FROM OUR EDITORS
Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
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.
THE LATEST
If approved, uniQure’s gene therapy AMT-130—which slowed disease progression by 75%—would be the first genetic treatment for Huntington’s disease. A BLA submission is planned for the first quarter of 2026.
The issues the regulator found include the failure to comprehensively review complaints and product defects.
Lilly expects to open 615 high-wage roles in Texas in connection with its new facility, plus around 4,000 construction roles.
The regulatory action marks the second rejection for a spinal muscular atrophy therapy this week after Scholar Rock’s apitegromab was issued a complete response letter on Tuesday, similarly on manufacturing grounds.
The FDA is hoping to repurpose GSK’s Wellcovorin for cerebral folate deficiency; Pfizer acquired fast-moving weight-loss startup Metsera for nearly $5 billion after suffering a hat trick of R&D failures; psychedelics are primed for M&A action and Eli Lilly may be next in line; RFK Jr.’s revamped CDC advisory committee met last week with confounding results; and Stealth secured its Barth approval.
While last week’s recommended changes by CDC advisors to the MMRV vaccine schedule are unlikely to have a tangible effect on Merck’s business, the company said the removal of choice for healthcare providers is “concerning.”
In its rejection letter, the FDA flagged problems at a third-party fill-finish site owned by Novo Nordisk. Issues at this site have previously been investigated by the regulator.
The agency also pointed to the use of Tylenol and other acetaminophen products during pregnancy as being potentially linked to neurological and developmental defects in children, following a press conference Monday in which President Donald Trump did the same.
An advisory committee last year found that Zynquista’s benefit-risk profile in type 1 diabetes was unfavorable due to cases of diabetic ketoacidosis.
By improving gait stability, Ionis’ zilganersen could be “potentially disease modifying,” according to analysts at William Blair.