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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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The past year saw manufacturing challenges pushed into the spotlight. BioSpace spoke to two executives who shared key issues facing those working in this area, from finding the right providers to dealing with regulatory uncertainty.
Primarily known as an immunology and neuroscience company, AbbVie wanted to put the biopharma world on notice during its J.P. Morgan presentation: its oncology portfolio is underappreciated. This week, the Illinois-based company dove into the sizzling PD-1/VEGF space with a licensing deal with China-based RemeGen.
Buying vaccine biotech Dynavax was an easy choice for Sanofi despite anti-vaccine moves by the Trump administration.
HIV
At a J.P. Morgan media event Tuesday, the Gilead C-suite seemed to be walking on air as they highlighted Yeztugo’s capture of the HIV market and its plans for business development.
Three years after the accelerated approval of its anti-amyloid Alzheimer’s therapy, Biogen—neck and neck in the market with Eli Lilly and its Kisunla offering—is focused on a near-term FDA decision for a subcutaneous induction dose of Leqembi, a presymptomatic readout in 2028 and a clutch of next-generation candidates.
An inconsistent boom-and-bust cycle funding environment for early-stage biotech innovations and burdensome regulation threaten the U.S.’s half-century-long dominance in the biotech sector.
After a period of diversification, Novo Nordisk is returning to its roots by focusing on the 2 billion people with diabetes, obesity or overweight.
BMO analysts say Eli Lilly is well-positioned to maintain its lead in the ballooning weight loss space, predicting “strengthening leadership in obesity and beyond” as portfolios expand and patient access improves.
Biopharma companies—including AstraZeneca, BioNTech and Agios—peered farther into the future on the second day of JPM, setting both revenue and R&D targets through the end of the decade.
AstraZeneca is relying on several upcoming products to help hit its target of $80 billion in revenue by 2030, including drugs for hypertension, breast cancer and generalized myasthenia gravis, all of which are currently under FDA review.