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Over Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen’s eight years as CEO, Novo’s sales, profits and share price have almost tripled, the company said. However, the shares have taken a turn since mid-2024, falling by half in one year.
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Merck’s Keytruda holds on to the top spot while AbbVie’s Humira—once the world’s top-selling drug—continues to cede its market share to biosimilar competitors.
Congress did not reauthorize the rare pediatric disease priority review program at the end of 2024. Advocates say the ripple effect is already being felt across biopharma.
In the current legal and political landscape, it is all about survival for DEI initiatives.
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Aktis Oncology, a biotechnology company discovering and developing novel targeted radiopharmaceuticals to treat a broad range of solid tumors, announced a multi-target discovery collaboration agreement with Eli Lilly and Company to generate anticancer radiopharmaceuticals using Aktis Oncology’s novel miniprotein technology platform.
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Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
Vaccine skepticism is at an all-time high in the U.S., and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is making some drastic moves in the name of reversing that trend. But misinformation and inconsistencies within the country’s healthcare agencies highlight problems with his approach.
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FDA
In a recent interview, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said there “should be nothing political about the FDA.” Recent actions taken by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and others within the department appear to be at odds with this sentiment.
Spruce Biosciences is cutting over half of its employees as it looks to secure accelerated approval of a Sanfilippo syndrome therapy it recently acquired from BioMarin.
Pfizer’s sasanlimab, when used with standard of care, reduced the likelihood of disease recurrence or progression, death due to any cause or persistence of cancer cells by 32% in patients with high-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer.
The targeted drug release device TAR-200 shows promising response and disease-free survival rates in specific populations of patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer.
The FDA is currently reviewing Merck’s sBLA for Keytruda in head and neck cancer, with a target action date of June 23.
The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2025. With the deal, Merck KGaA is adding to its rare disease and oncology pipelines.
With ivonescimab’s data coming solely from China, its prospects in the U.S., where Summit owns the rights, remain up in the air.
FDA
As tariffs, HHS workforce cuts and the ouster of CBER Director Peter Marks threaten the “lifeblood” of the cell and gene therapy space, experts express wariness over the unknowns and optimism that Marks’ legacy will carry on.
The cell and gene therapy company is cutting 47 employees and its entire lupus program to focus resources on two CAR Ts. The move follows a reconfiguration last year to move into immunology.
FDA
As Marty Makary nears the end of his first month on the job, the FDA Commissioner sat down for two interviews, offering statements that alternatively contradict and jibe with reported events.