News
Experts suggest the FDA’s Advanced Manufacturing Technologies designation could be a lifeline for improving production processes for approved cell and gene therapies.
FEATURED STORIES
With pricing pressures climbing, Pfizer, Eli Lilly and other major drugmakers are looking to sell their products directly to patients. Analysts are skeptical that these efforts, including those announced to much fanfare from the White House, will result in meaningful reductions in drug spending.
Representatives from companies such as Sanofi and Forge Biologics point to the potential for PreCheck to drive activation of idle production capacity and help companies that are already building plants.
After a leading study caused the FDA to slap its most stringent warning on hormone replacement therapies for menopause more than two decades ago, the regulator is changing course in what FDA Commissioner Marty Makary called a “historic day for women in the United States.”
Job Trends
While hiring activity has not yet picked up, it should do so soon, according to BioSpace Recruitment Manager Greg Clouse. Meanwhile, another year-over-year decrease in layoffs means less competition for jobs.
FROM OUR EDITORS
Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
Lilly CEO Dave Ricks in Wednesday’s third-quarter earnings call acknowledged that the company is at the mercy of wholesaler stocking decisions.
THE LATEST
Artios Pharma is working on a pipeline of oncology assets, led by alnodesertib, currently being tested for second-line pancreatic cancer and third-line colorectal cancer.
Aside from announcing layoffs, Sensei has decided to terminate its R&D work. The biotech has $25 million on hand, and continues to evaluate its strategic alternatives.
Top Trump administration officials have taken issue with Marty Makary’s management style, pointing to infighting between his appointees and the difficulty to get a hold of the FDA commissioner.
Priority voucher awardees and regulators could feel pressure to “meet the moment” as FDA watchers question the intent and feasibility of the Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher program.
Bristol Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson will continue to test the asset in stroke and atrial fibrillation.
Bayer has let go of about 13,500 employees, including around 5,000 managers, since implementing a new operating model in early 2024. CEO Bill Anderson said in a recent earnings call that he expects a slower rate of headcount reduction moving forward.
“As the future chair I will attend to the interests of not only the Novo Nordisk Foundation but all shareholders of the company,” incoming chair and former Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Rebien Sørensen said at the meeting held Friday.
A day after Pfizer closed its hotly contested Metsera deal, Lundbeck has made an unsolicited offer to steal Avadel Pharmaceuticals away from Alkermes.
At $9.2 billion, the Cidara acquisition lands among the top 5 largest deals of the year.
Gilead’s investigational drug combo bic/len could help lower the pill burden in patients with virologically suppressed HIV who are on complex treatment regimens, according to BMO Capital Markets.