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IPO
After debuting on the public markets with $256.3 million and raking in an additional $472 million, Veradermics has emerged as one of biotech’s biggest post-IPO standouts. CEO Reid Waldman credits the weight loss craze for establishing consumer-driven channels.
FEATURED STORIES
Last month, the FDA launched TrialBlazer, intended to streamline the IND path and bring early clinical trials and medical innovation home to the U.S. It’s a start, but new agency leadership must see it through.
FDA
Significant leadership instability at the FDA—compounded by continued workforce attrition—led to a slight slowdown in overall regulatory productivity in the first half of this year, but the agency has been catching up of late.
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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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.
THE LATEST
The Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee in a Sept. 26 meeting will discuss whether the regulator should restrict approval of checkpoint inhibitors based on PD-L1 expression levels.
Looking to build on the success of Chinook Therapeutics, founded by Versant in 2019 and acquired by Novartis last year, the companies on Thursday launched Borealis Biosciences with $150 million in funding to develop RNA therapeutics for kidney diseases.
With the potential passage of the BIOSECURE Act looming, WuXi Biologics reported a 24% drop in net profit in the first half of 2024.
As the biotech implements a more focused strategy for its Roctavian hemophilia A gene therapy, BioMarin has recruited two seasoned pharma executives to bolster its C-suite.
With the help of third-party investors, the new venture will focus on three genetic and rare diseases: tuberous sclerosis complex, erythropoietic protoporphyria and alpha-A1 antitrypsin deficiency.
While approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the Alzheimer’s drug failed to win the backing of the U.K.’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which said that its benefits were “too small to justify the cost.”
The federal judge’s decision Tuesday said the Federal Trade Commission exceeded its statutory authority in implementing a final rule aimed at restricting noncompete clauses.
Aadi Bioscience expects that pipeline adjustments and the workforce reduction will extend its cash runway into at least the second half of 2026.

Patients taking Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster GLP-1 drug appear to be more likely to harbor thoughts of suicide or self-harm, especially if they are already suffering from anxiety or depressive disorders, according to a new study.
The regulator’s Complete Response Letter flagged problems at a third-party fill/finish site, which Regeneron says it has already addressed. The manufacturing facility is currently awaiting reinspection.