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A year of significant policy change at the FDA brought momentum and scrutiny into the new year. As 2026 gets underway, biopharma companies are responding to sweeping vaccine changes while concerns surface about the politicization of the agency.
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After Replimune’s advanced melanoma drug was rejected for a second time, CEO Sushil Patel slammed the FDA for failing to exercise regulatory flexibility, while other experts bemoaned the agency’s lack of consistency. With new safety guidelines for gene editing therapies, the FDA has taken a first step toward fixing both problems.
The Merck update, which will shed light on a $588 million bet to succeed Keytruda, is part of a roster of presentations that could shape the future of ADCs, protein degraders and KRAS-targeted therapies.
Gilead, AstraZeneca and Vertex have acquired more than just a therapeutic asset in recent deals. BioSpace takes a look at five recent transactions where the staff was the real centerpiece.
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Novo Nordisk’s oral Wegovy has a few months’ head start on Eli Lilly’s newly approved pill. While the Indianapolis pharma has come from behind the Danish rival in the weight loss space before, last time it clearly had the better drug.
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The arrangement will boost AstraZeneca’s cell therapy portfolio as the pharma targets $80 billion in revenue by 2030.
The star of the acquisition, anti-IgE antibody ozureprubart, is being tested as a prophylactic treatment for food allergies, potentially setting up a competition for GSK with Roche’s Xolair.
The companies have an expansive clinical program for the mRNA neoantigen therapy intismeran autogene in combination with immuno-oncology heavyweight Keytruda.
BioSpace has revealed its new 2026 Hotbed Maps, showcasing seven regional life sciences hot spots.
The initiative could tackle the first-mover disadvantage some CDMOs believe deters early customers, but leaders at companies including Novo Nordisk see hurdles to implementing the changes.
Henry Gosebruch, who has $3.5 billion in capital to deploy, is thinking broad as he steers the decades-old biotech out of years of turmoil.
In this bonus episode, BioSpace’s Vice President of Marketing Chantal Dresner and Careers Editor Angela Gabriel take a look at Q4 job market performance and what it signals for 2026.
Two more biopharma companies—the hair-growth specialist Veradermics and cancer-focused Eikon Therapeutics—have announced their IPOs this year. Meanwhile, Aktis Oncology began trading publicly earlier this month.
Despite the late-stage miss, analysts maintained confidence in the Epkinly program, with Truist Securities saying the result “doesn’t waver our optimism” regarding the bispecific antibody’s ongoing frontline trial.
Despite ushering in the current GLP-1 era, Novo Nordisk has fallen behind its chief rival Eli Lilly, which has exceeded the Danish pharma in terms of sales.