News
        The coming flu season is the clearest indication yet that biopharma’s long-standing assumptions about predictability, prevention and portfolio structure are no longer guaranteed.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    FEATURED STORIES
        
        
        
    
        Therapies from industry leaders BioMarin and Ascendis Pharma supply a key hormone that promotes bone growth. In order to move the field forward, challengers are looking to address the underlying cause of the rare, genetic disease.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        New analysis from Jefferies shows that rare disease and cancer drugs granted the status are especially likely to be approved.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        Takeda wanted to create something new in the cell therapy world by combining the technology with T cell engagers. A series of acquisitions in 2021 started the process.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    Job Trends
        
        
        
    
        In a recent BioSpace LinkedIn poll, nearly half of respondents predicted the job market won’t turn around until 2027 or later. It’s easy to see why people are skeptical, especially when you consider recent hiring activity and layoffs.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    FROM OUR EDITORS
        
        
            Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
        
        
    
        Misses from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis hopefuls Denali Therapeutics and partners AbbVie and Calico Life Sciences mark the latest setbacks for the controversial platform trial, the results from which have largely mirrored the dismal success rate in ALS overall. 
    
        
    
        
    
        
    THE LATEST
    
    
        Seven in 10 U.S. hiring managers say their company usually considers employing overqualified applicants, according to a survey from Express Employment Professionals and The Harris Poll. However, 75% of employers believe such hires struggle to stay motivated in lower-level roles.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        Pfizer, Merck, AstraZeneca and Bristol Myers Squibb were among the many biopharmas showing off novel cancer modalities at ESMO, with antibody-drug conjugates, bispecific antibodies and kinase inhibitors demonstrating encouraging efficacy and safety for various cancers.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        Two patients experienced grade 3 liver enzyme elevations that were deemed related to Terns’ investigational obesity pill TERN-601.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        For $1.2 billion upfront and up to $10.2 billion in milestones, Takeda will gain access to a bispecific antibody fusion protein targeting both the PD-1 and IL-2 pathways, among other assets.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        This represents Alector’s second failed neurodegenerative asset in a year, after an AbbVie-partnered asset missed in Alzheimer’s last November. On latozinemab for frontotemporal dementia, Alector was working with GSK, which fronted $700 million in 2021 to collaborate on two programs. 
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        M&A is back, the S&P XBI is rising again, a biotech pulled off an IPO and positive data is pulling in investors again. This may just be the industry’s new normal.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        Novo Nordisk’s leadership gets another shake-up as President Trump promises to significantly slash prices for its GLP-1 drugs; Summit/Akeso, Exelixis and more present new data at ESMO 2025; Replimune pops as FDA accepts resubmitted BLA; FDA names first winners of Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher program; and more.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        Employees rarely leave companies for one reason alone. In this column, Kaye/Bassman’s Michael Pietrack shares a framework that helps leaders identify when their team members are thinking about heading for the exit—and how to address it.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        AI is changing the nature of leadership in biopharma. Here’s how executives can not only adapt, but lead the way.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        The company cut back in areas while investing in internal and external opportunities to offset the loss of exclusivity on a product that until recently accounted for 20% of innovative medicine sales.