News
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.
FEATURED STORIES
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.
FROM OUR EDITORS
Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
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.
THE LATEST
The FDA approved the expansion of Casgevy, which had previously been greenlit for patients 12 and up, into a younger pediatric population under the agency’s Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher program.
Ipsen is penning its second acquisition of the week, this time securing Memo Therapeutics and its midstage monoclonal antibody in a deal that could approach $800 million.
The approval of Tregzi—the first regulatory greenlight for Orca Bio—was based on a Phase 3 study in which patients on the therapy were twice as likely to survive without cancer relapse and without chronic GVHD compared with conventional allogeneic transplant.
Teams at facilities being developed by Eli Lilly, Regeneron and other companies will receive early technical guidance and additional perks from the FDA.
Despite the late-stage fail, Vistagen will nevertheless continue to push its drug candidate forward and meet with the FDA to align on a potential registrational path.
Sarepta Therapeutics is seeking to convert the accelerated approval of its therapeutic exon-skippers for Duchenne muscular dystrophy to full despite the drugs’ failure to improve motor function in a confirmatory trial.
The vibe at BIO 2026 in San Diego last week was overwhelmingly positive, with attendees observing noticeable changes at the FDA and an uptick in dealmaking and IPOs. Plus, a top medical journal this week retracted a pivotal study for Amgen’s rare disease drug Tavneos, which has been in the FDA’s crosshairs since January.
The U.K.’s core biotech cluster continues to produce world‑class science, but investors say limited talent mobility, uneven regional growth and tightening early‑ and mid‑stage capital are slowing the country’s ability to scale new companies.
The 2022 search approach is no longer working. Companies need to think critically about how they are acquiring top regulatory, clinical and commercial executives or risk their programs in this new regulatory and market reality.
The total of 52 mergers and acquisitions for the first half of 2026 reflects what analysts, industry watchers and executives are saying over and over: M&A is back.