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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.
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IPO
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.
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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.
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BioNTech on Monday reported nearly $885 million in losses in the second quarter of 2024, compared to $208.5 million during the same period last year.
All doses of Eli Lilly’s type 2 diabetes medication Mounjaro and weight-loss drug Zepbound are now available, according to an update on Friday to the FDA’s drug shortage database.
An FDA advisory committee agreed on Friday that Zevra Therapeutics had provided sufficient efficacy data supporting the approval of arimoclomol for Niemann-Pick disease type C.
Despite having an impressive roster of high-profile supporters, including AbbVie, BMS, J&J, Novartis and Pfizer, PARP-focused Ribon has called it quits after nearly a decade in business.
Longeveron and Lexeo Therapeutics are working on CGT therapies to treat Alzheimer’s disease, but it’s not clear whether they have a better chance of success than traditional approaches.
Ultracompact CRISPR systems, which are in some cases one-third the size of Cas9, are being designed to be more specific and enable in vivo gene editing in difficult to reach tissues.
Active immune therapies hold promise for preventing or slowing disease onset, but some experts warn of potential safety risks.
GSK, Moderna and Pfizer are all looking at potential respiratory syncytial virus vaccine sales slumps thanks to recently updated CDC guidelines regarding the use of RSV shots in seniors.
Approved under the regulator’s accelerated pathway, Tecelra is also the first new synovial sarcoma therapy in more than a decade, according to Adaptimmune Therapeutics.
In pursuit of Merck’s blockbuster Keytruda, GSK’s Jemperli scored its own broad FDA label expansion, allowing its use in first-line endometrial cancer regardless of biomarker status.