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While Novartis secured the biggest deal of the fourth quarter, a handful of riveting tales emerged from the bottom of the M&A list, including a zombie buyout and a bidding war. And no, we’re not talking about Metsera.
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Four of this year’s biggest acquisitions topped 11-figure figures. One was 2025’s messiest bidding war.
Despite the definitive failure of Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide in Alzheimer’s, biotech executives, analysts and other industry experts see potential in more testing of GLP-1s for the neurodegenerative disease, particularly in a combination approach.
A push to reshore some drug production and progress in advanced manufacturing technologies have been prominent trends this year, industry leaders say.
Job Trends
Follow along as BioSpace tracks job cuts and restructuring initiatives.
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Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
With five CDER leaders in one year and regulatory proposals coming “by fiat,” the FDA is only making it more difficult to bring therapies to patients.
THE LATEST
A coordinated national effort is emerging to bring alternatives to animal testing into routine preclinical use, backed by a fresh FDA roadmap and a global coalition of scientific and industry partners. 
The record-setting government shutdown was just the latest blow to the U.S. biopharma industry. When science funding becomes a casualty of political gridlock, we lose valuable talent, erode public trust and jeopardize our position as a global leader in innovation.
The FDA approved an intrathecal form of Novartis’ spinal muscular atrophy gene therapy Zolgensma on Monday, broadening access to patients two years and older in what one Stanford Medicine professor called a “game changing advance” for the field.
At one point in merger negotiations with Novartis, Avidity CEO Sarah Boyce and her team walked, cutting off access to a data room and moving on to a capital raise.
Novo Nordisk’s amycretin showed no weight-loss plateau over 36 weeks in patients with type 2 diabetes, suggesting its efficacy could become even stronger with longer follow-up, according to analysts at BMO Capital Markets.
Previous mega blockbusters took years to reach their peak sales. Lilly’s tirzepatide franchise is on course to exceed them just a few years in.
Tecvayli plus Darzalex led to an 83% boost to progression-free survival versus the current standard therapy in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, results analysts at Guggenheim Securities called “remarkable.”
FDA
Richard Pazdur, the new director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, raised concerns amid the rollout of several FDA initiatives seeking to shorten the drug review process.
Alicia Jackson formerly served as deputy director of the Biological Technologies Office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Experts suggest the FDA’s Advanced Manufacturing Technologies designation could be a lifeline for improving production processes for approved cell and gene therapies.