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FDA
The FDA greenlit 26 novel therapies in the first half of 2026, including four for cancer and six for orphan indications. Meanwhile, AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson took home a combined 11 of the agency’s 79 total approvals, including supplemental nods.
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Even as FDA approvals for biologic therapies fell in the first half of 2026, regulatory experts are optimistic about a turnaround in the rare disease space after the departure of key leaders at the agency. Still, there will continue to be tension between science and politics.
Early-stage financing rounds are on track to hit their lowest dollar value in years as funders continue to eschew risky investments, experts told BioSpace.
A mostly black box since emerging with more than a billion dollars in hand, Xaira Therapeutics is slowly pulling back the curtain, revealing plans to find partners and validate its pipeline.
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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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Analysts are keeping a close eye on Vertex’s kidney disease portfolio, anchored by the IgAN drug povetacicept, as its nonopioid painkiller Journavx is poised for “incremental” growth in the first half 2026, according to BMO Capital Markets.
FDA
The FDA’s refusal to review Moderna’s mRNA-based flu vaccine is part of a larger communications crisis unfolding at the agency over the past nine months that has also ensnarled Sarepta, Capricor, uniQure and many more.
Vinay Prasad, the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research head, is accused of interpersonal impropriety as pushback builds against his decision to reject Moderna’s influenza vaccine candidate.
Moderna’s mRNA-1010 was expected to contribute $1 billion to the company’s coffers by 2028. That plan is now out the window after the FDA refused to even look at the application.
Infigratinib topped “even the most optimistic expectations” for efficacy and safety in the late-stage PROPEL 3 study in achondroplasia, Truist Securities analysts said Thursday.
The sudden departure stands in contrast to other EU pharma leaders who have been given much longer transitions in recent months, including GSK’s Emma Walmsley and Novo Nordisk’s Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen.
An unnamed FDA official also told reporters that it would be good for Moderna to “show some humility” and admit that it didn’t follow the regulator’s recommendations in testing its mRNA flu vaccine.
In this episode of Denatured, Jennifer C. Smith-Parker speaks with Dr. Rob Monroe and Jennifer Fakish at Danaher Corporation. They discuss how antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) are transforming cancer care. With AI-powered pathology, doctors can now measure HER2 more precisely to match patients with the best treatments.
AbbVie contends that Botox should have been excluded from the IRA drug price negotiation program because it is a plasma-derived product.
The oral version of Wegovy has made GLP-1 medicines more accessible and acceptable to many patients who had steered clear of injectable versions, healthcare analytics firm Truveta suggests.