News
The Future of Cell and Gene Therapy: Navigating Innovation, Regulation, and Manufacturing Challenges
An interview with Philip Vanek, chief commercialization officer of the International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy (ISCT), reveals both promising developments and significant concerns shaping the advanced therapies sector’s trajectory through 2025 and beyond. This interview was conducted with support from Tozaro.
FEATURED STORIES
New data and analyses presented at the American Diabetes Association’s annual meeting highlight the priorities for the next generation of weight loss medicines: muscle preservation, limited side effects and novel targets.
The FDA has several big-ticket decisions lined up to close out July, including applications in lymphoma, rare diseases and a hormone deficiency, while GSK dares to DREAMM again in multiple myeloma.
Market reaction to recent readouts from Compass Pathways and Beckley Psytech/atai in treatment-resistant depression speaks to the hurdles psychedelic therapies must clear to quell concerns about commercial viability.
Job Trends
Astellas Gene Therapies is closing its San Francisco biomanufacturing facility, shifting gene therapy manufacturing to North Carolina, cutting at least 17 employees and affecting dozens more.
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The HHS secretary recently canceled $500 million worth of BARDA contracts around mRNA vaccine research. But the U.S. government has already spent billions on this work, which has saved millions of lives.
THE LATEST
In its first commercial quarter for ATTR-cardiomyopathy, Alnylam’s Amvuttra reached roughly 1,400 patients and made more than $490 million.
Merck has characterized its cost-cutting initiative as more of a reallocation of resources to support other, higher-growth areas of its business.
In 17 identical letters posted to his Truth Social account, the president said companies must lower their prices or the government ‘will deploy every tool in our arsenal to protect American families from continued drug pricing practices.’
The FDA greenlit multiple new drugs this month and issued some notable label expansions, including for Eli Lilly’s Kisunla. Meanwhile, the regulator turned away a cell therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy and a gene therapy for the rare disease Sanfilippo syndrome.
Bristol Myers Squibb tested Cobenfy as an adjunctive treatment with atypical antipsychotics for schizophrenia in the Phase III ARISE study, which earlier this year failed to demonstrate significant symptom improvement.
For now, Sanofi’s U.S. inventory is insulating the company from a potential 15% tariff on drugs shipped from the EU.
Move over Humira, Skyrizi and Rinvoq are expected to beat the former megablockbuster’s peak sales by the end of this year.
Rumors of Biogen’s disagreements with Eisai have been greatly exaggerated, CEO Chris Viehbacher said during a second quarter earnings call. The partnered Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi saw sales climb 20% for the period.
The announced reduction of hundreds of staff came a day ahead of Moderna’s Q2 earnings report.
While Eli Lilly’s diabetes blockbuster was non-inferior to its older incretin therapy Trulicity in a highly anticipated Phase III cardiovascular outcomes trial, analysts had hoped for statistical significance in reducing major events such as cardiovascular death, heart attack and stroke.