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FDA
Morale is low at the FDA, which was hit with layoffs this week following RFK Jr.’s confirmation. Biopharma leaders and agency insiders fear further workforce cuts could delay new medicines.
2023 marked the most bankruptcies in biopharma in more than a decade, with 14 companies filing for Chapter 11 protection. The number remained high in 2024.
A cautionary tale illustrates how forging a deal with a Big Pharma can have unexpected and far-reaching tax consequences.
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With five CDER leaders in one year and regulatory proposals coming “by fiat,” the FDA is only making it more difficult to bring therapies to patients.
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Andembry is the first monthly Factor XIIa inhibitor for the prevention of HAE attacks and will be available to patients “before the end of June,” CSL announced.
Another patient has died from acute liver failure after receiving Sarepta’s gene therapy for DMD ; After a quiet start to the year, M&A is back with one deal for a gene editing biotech reinvigorating that sector; and RFK Jr. installs a suite of new vaccine board members who share his skeptical views on vaccines.
Findings that U.S. companies can sue foreign rivals despite limited business operations in the country could dissuade drug developers from targeting the U.S. market, potentially benefiting domestic producers of biosimilars.
BioNTech said in 2022 that it faced “threats of a groundless patent infringement suit” from a company that was “unable to bring to market any product to help in the fight against COVID-19.” Now, the mRNA biotech is buying that very company.
Sanofi paid a more than 300% premium on its acquisition of Vigil Neuroscience, suggesting a fierce battle to seal the deal. Across biopharma, companies are sometimes willing to put it all on the line for the right buyout. Novartis’ recent acquisition of Regulus for $800 million upfront provides a case study.
FDA
The program will bring together experts from across the FDA for a team-based review, rather than having an application move across numerous offices within the agency before getting a yay or nay.
Nearly $30 million in tax incentive awards are expected to add 1,519 new life sciences jobs in Massachusetts, with about 52% of the positions spread over Boston and Cambridge. Vertex, which received the largest award, will create hundreds of roles in Boston.
Jefferies analysts said on Tuesday that Ventyx could leverage its mid-stage data for VTX3232 to position the oral drug candidate as a treatment for other neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s.
The pending deal was rumored overnight after a report from the Financial Times, spurring analysts to speculate that if true, the entire gene editing space would see a boost at the markets.
Venclexta, when combined with azacitidine, elicited an overall survival benefit below 10% in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes.