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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.
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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.
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Johnson & Johnson will discontinue the Phase II Auτonomy study of posdinemab after a scheduled review found the anti-tau antibody failed to slow clinical decline in patients with early Alzheimer’s disease.
Analysts agree that the failure of Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide to reduce Alzheimer’s disease progression removes a “modest” or “perceived” overhang on Biogen and the anti-amyloid antibody class in general, clearing the way for increased uptake of Leqembi and Eli Lilly’s Kisunla.
“We felt we had a responsibility to explore semaglutide’s potential, despite a low likelihood of success,” Martin Holst Lange, Novo’s R&D chief, said on Monday.
NervGen will meet with the FDA early next year to align on a regulatory path forward for NVG-291 in chronic spinal cord injury.
Asundexian’s Phase III win could also bode well for Bristol Myers Squibb, which is also developing a Factor XIa inhibitor called milvexian for stroke prevention, analysts said.
A source familiar with the matter said the White House initially requested the resignation of Sanjula Jain-Nagpal, a policy and research official at the FDA.
Mixed headlines have plagued the cell and gene therapy space of late. We believe that a renewed case of optimism is not only warranted but essential if these therapies are to reach their full potential.
Since July, several biotechs have been forced to pivot as previous agreements with the FDA around evidence required for approval were reversed, a phenomenon that, according to experts, could portend a more restrictive regulator.
The regulator has received reports that a group of patients treated with Adzynma had neutralizing antibodies against the protein the therapy replaces.
After revoking Sarepta’s award in July and awarding one to Krystal last month, the FDA’s platform technology designation program appears to be back on track. These six biotechs could be on the regulator’s radar.