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FDA
As tariffs, HHS workforce cuts and the ouster of CBER Director Peter Marks threaten the “lifeblood” of the cell and gene therapy space, experts express wariness over the unknowns and optimism that Marks’ legacy will carry on.
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Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks is confident his company and peer Novo Nordisk are years ahead in the weight loss space, as biotechs press on with compelling data.
Big Pharma can’t seem to get enough radiopharmaceutical biotechs. With Lilly, Sanofi and BMS chasing Novartis into the complex space, all eyes are on these specialty biotechs.
Tim Hunt, CEO of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, said Monday at the 2024 Cell & Gene Meeting on the Mesa that investments reached $10.9 billion in the first half of this year—outpacing 2019’s $9.8 billion total—but far below the pandemic peak.
Job Trends
Astellas Venture Management LLC, a wholly-owned venture capital subsidiary of Astellas Pharma Inc. and Mission BioCapital BioLabs, a life-science incubator, announced TippingPoint Biosciences and Altay Therapeutics as the winners of the Astellas-sponsored “Future Innovator Prize” at MBC BioLabs.
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The HHS secretary recently canceled $500 million worth of BARDA contracts around mRNA vaccine research. But the U.S. government has already spent billions on this work, which has saved millions of lives.
THE LATEST
Delphia launched in May 2024 with the goal of forcing malignant cells to overactivate and die.
After failing to hit the primary endpoint in a Phase III trial, Neumora is remixing study parameters in two replicate trials, with data expected in the first half of 2026.
Protagonist Therapeutics notches a milestone in its pact with Takeda for rusfertide. New data show that many patients with a chronic blood cancer taking the drug didn’t need to have their blood removed to bring down dangerously high hemocrit levels.
Despite not differentiating itself from placebo, the Texas-based company said it plans to push pilavapadin into Phase III trials before long.
AbbVie is joining the amylin arena, though the pharma is still far behind leaders Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly.
Leqembi’s application now moves forward to the European Commission, which will issue a formal verdict for the injection that will apply to all EU member states as well as Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland.
Roche’s asthma drug Xolair appears to be safer and more effective than oral immunotherapy at treating adults and children with one or more food allergies.
The partners are building toward a regulatory submission for Tezspire in chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps in the first half of 2025.
In the current legal and political landscape, it is all about survival for DEI initiatives.
Two recent documents—one from the FDA, the other from a commission organized by The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology—indicate an evolving mindset toward treating obesity as a chronic disease.