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AbbVie and Novartis strike billion-dollar pacts while attendees at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference await that one big M&A deal and Merck teases limitless buying capacity; Eli Lilly readies for potential orforglipron launch while Novo Nordisk laments compounders; the IPO window cracks open; and the FDA concludes that GLP-1s do not pose a suicide risk.
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Drugmakers told the FDA that inflexible post-approval change requirements are among the top regulatory barriers to the reshoring of pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Former European Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan and former US Senator Richard Burr, speaking on a panel at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, pushed to see a larger picture beyond the Trump administration’s year of chaos and confusion.
Heightened diligence standards and longer decision timelines for early-stage startups slowed venture activity last year, J.P. Morgan found in a report published ahead of the bank’s annual healthcare conference in San Francisco.
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With five CDER leaders in one year and regulatory proposals coming “by fiat,” the FDA is only making it more difficult to bring therapies to patients.
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The proposed acquisition by global investment firms Carlyle and SK Capital Partners could net shareholders $3 per share plus potential CVR dollars and provide bluebird bio with primary capital to expand the commercial reach of its gene therapies.
Acelyrin earlier this month agreed to an all-stock merger with fellow immune player Alumis, with their combined cash tiding the combined company over until 2027.
The move comes weeks after Pfizer terminated its partnership with Sangamo Therapeutics for another hemophilia gene therapy.
Many of these unlawful and unauthorized shipments were explicitly tagged for compounding, according to a new analysis. Separately, a group of state attorneys general has raised concerns about the unsafe GLP-1 drugs finding their way to American consumers.
The postponed ACIP meeting comes barely a week after Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services, despite controversy regarding his anti-vaccine history.
The meeting, which will include Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla as the newly named board of directors’ chair, will reportedly cover key topics for the lobbying group, including the Inflation Reduction Act.
BridgeBio beat investor expectations with 1,028 unique prescriptions for ATTR-CM therapy Attruby, setting the company up to beat a 2025 sales consensus of $86 million.
Morale is low at the FDA, which was hit with layoffs this week following RFK Jr.’s confirmation. Biopharma leaders and agency insiders fear further workforce cuts could delay new medicines.
A year ago, AstraZeneca walked away from the bulk of its roxadustat partnership with FibroGen—though the pharma at the time decided to retain its relationship with the biotech’s China operations.
Despite the regulatory setback, analysts appear optimistic, noting that Harmony’s long-term prospects remain bright given the development of its high-dose formulation of its sleep-regulating drug Wakix.