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        Due to policies regarding industry user fees, the FDA will not be able to accept any new drug applications for the duration of the government shutdown, according to Leerink Partners. 
    
        
    
        
    
        
    FEATURED STORIES
        
        
        
    
        Blank check deals dwindled after a crazy 2021. Now, biotechs are starting to turn to special purpose acquisition companies again as an easy route to the public markets.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        Some of the biggest SPACs from the industry’s pandemic-fueled heyday are no longer on the market.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        After spinning out of BridgeBio in May 2024, BBOT had an eye on another round of fundraising in 2025. A SPAC quickly emerged as the best option.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    Job Trends
        
        
        
    
        Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE, “Pfizer”) and BioNTech SE (Nasdaq: BNTX, “BioNTech”) today announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has recommended marketing authorization for the companies’ Omicron JN.1-adapted monovalent COVID-19 vaccine (COMIRNATY® JN.1) for active immunization to prevent COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 in individuals 6 months of age and older.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    FROM OUR EDITORS
        
        
            Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
        
        
    
        After Emma Walmsley steps down as GSK CEO in January, Vertex Pharma’s Reshma Kewalramani will be the sole female CEO at a top-20 pharma company. Still, there are many prominent women in pharma that could someday break through again.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    THE LATEST
    
    
        VectorY Therapeutics will evaluate the use of SHP-DB1, a capsid developed by Shape Therapeutics, to deliver therapies to the brain, including VectorY’s developmental Huntington’s and Alzheimer’s disease treatments.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        This year, Novo Nordisk and Merck announced significant layoffs, with Novo planning to axe about 9,000 employees and Merck projecting it could let go of roughly 6,000. Meanwhile, Bayer, Bristol Myers Squibb, Novartis and Pfizer have also made noteworthy cuts.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        In this episode of Denatured, BioSpace’s head of insights Lori Ellis and Colin Zick, partner at Foley Hoag LLP, spend time discussing some of the points brought up in the Bioprocessing Summit last month. They explore the connections between hammers, AI, The Planet of the Apes and monoliths.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        Both BMS and Novo Nordisk have, in recent months, announced steep layoffs as they strive to cut back on costs.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        Brepocitinib remains “ahead of competition” in the dermatomyositis space, according to analysts at Leerink, who projected that the drug candidate could hit $2 billion in sales in 2032.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        Supporting Lexicon Pharmaceuticals’ decision to advance the non-opioid analgesic pilavapadin into late-stage development—despite a topline miss in March—is an “improving” regulatory environment for non-addictive options for chronic pain, according to analysts at Jefferies.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        The star of the acquisition, which includes a contingent value right of $6 per share, is pegozafermin, an FGF21 analog in late-stage development for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        In this deep dive, BioSpace explores the next big thing in obesity.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        During a hearing in front of the Senate’s HELP committee, Susan Monarez addressed her controversial firing and recalled a conversation where Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. allegedly said that “CDC employees were killing children and they don’t care.” 
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        Moving forward, Innate will focus on the clinical development of its antibody-drug conjugate IPH4502, the lymphoma candidate lacutamab and the AstraZeneca-partnered monalizumab.
    
        
    
        
    
        
     
         
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
