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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.
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At the BIO International Convention in San Diego, attendees marked the 50th anniversary of original biotech Genentech, reflecting on the immense challenges facing companies as China becomes a powerhouse innovator.
A recent FDA reversal sparked new hope for patients with Huntington’s disease. Flying under the radar, Skyhawk Therapeutics revealed 12-month functional data from a midstage trial of its own candidate showing improvements on a key disease measurement scale.
Recent approvals for Corcept Therapeutics and Merck have injected momentum into the space, where GSK, Allarity Therapeutics, OSE Immunotherapies and others are advancing their own candidates.
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If cell and gene therapy makers are going to achieve their mission to improve patients’ lives, the industry must come together to share information across stakeholders, from regulators to manufacturers to payers.
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The FDA has introduced models intended to accelerate rare disease drug development, but recent reversals of guidance from the agency speak to a lack of clarity in its implementation. AI can help focus this process.
Just a few days after FDA Commissioner Makary resigned, ally Tracy Beth Høeg is also leaving the agency. Her departure comes amid reports of tension over a commissioner’s voucher for Sanofi’s diabetes drug.
California life sciences jobs declined 1.8% last year, according to the new California Life Sciences sector report. While National Institutes of Health funding and venture capital investment rose, their growth slowed from the previous year.
Rina-S is the last candidate standing from Genmab’s $1.8 billion ProfoundBio acquisition two years ago, with the Danish drugmaker ending development of another clinical program stemming from the buyout.
A batch of a chemotherapy product made at a Sun facility with a history of quality and compliance issues is being withdrawn from the U.S. market.
If Biogen has shown that tau can impact cognition, Denali’s technology—validated with an FDA approval in Hunter syndrome—could ensure the medicine gets where it needs to be for the greatest therapeutic impact, analysts said.
Aardvark Therapeutics had previously voluntarily suspended studies of ARD-101—and a related asset called ARD-201—after detecting anomalous echocardiographic readings in healthy volunteers that could indicate reduced heart efficiency.
CREATE Medicines is working on a clinical-stage pipeline for cancer, while its autoimmune programs are still in preclinical testing.
Renewed pharma interest in GPCR biology and radioligand therapies is drawing attention to functional peptide screening platforms.
Shares of REGENXBIO declined 37% on a mixed data readout and other updates from the company’s first quarter earnings call Thursday.