News

The U.K.’s core biotech cluster continues to produce world‑class science, but investors say limited talent mobility, uneven regional growth and tightening early‑ and mid‑stage capital are slowing the country’s ability to scale new companies.
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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.
The FDA plans to hold an advisory committee meeting to discuss Capricor Therapeutics’ application for deramiocel, which the agency rejected last July. The news surprised CEO Linda Marbán, who told BioSpace the FDA has not communicated any issues of concern with the company’s resubmitted application.
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Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
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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Formed by Sofinnova Partners and former Sanofi executive Frédéric Marrache, Bionyra Pharma emerged from stealth Monday with an initial focus in inflammatory bowel disease and atopic dermatitis.
About two months into CEO Belén Garijo’s new tenure, Sanofi’s R&D chief has departed, with Xaira’s chief medical officer set to take charge of the pharma’s pipeline.
As uniQure prepares its closely watched Huntington’s disease gene therapy for FDA review, the biotech is also making waves in chronic epilepsy with another gene therapy that Stifel says is off to a “promising start.”
Eli Lilly plans to use BioArctic’s technology to shuttle an undisclosed drug candidate into the brain. The pharma hasn’t specified which neurodegenerative disease it will target.
Insilico Medicine and SK Biopharmaceuticals will use generative AI to develop novel therapies for unspecified neuroimmune disorders.
AbbVie will add Apogee’s IL-13 blocker to its current immunology stalwarts Skyrizi and Rinvoq, which have helped the pharma ride out the steep patent cliff left behind from mega-blockbuster drug Humira.
ALS
Nura Bio will use the series B financing to carry two neuroprotective drug candidates through early- to mid-stage clinical studies, one targeting ALS and the other for a broader neurological profile.
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.
FDA
Denali Therapeutics is the latest company to sell a priority review fast pass for an elevated price after the program was renewed earlier this year.
The U.S. government has argued that it pays too much of biopharma R&D costs, demanding that other high-income countries contribute fairly to global innovation efforts.