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In this episode of Denatured, Jennifer C. Smith-Parker speaks with RTW’s Rod Wong and Stephanie Sirota how shifting JPM deal timing masks record M&A potential; why oncology, obesity, psychedelics, and neuroscience are attracting fresh capital; and how “alpha stacking” shapes their investment edge in an age of chronic uncertainty. They cover topics discussed in RTW’s new book, “Innovation is the Best Medicine.”
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JPM
With the biopharma industry performing better of late, analysts, executives and other industry watchers are “cautiously optimistic”—a term heard all over the streets of San Francisco at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference earlier this month.
Bristol Myers Squibb, GSK and Merck are contributing drug ingredients as part of their deals with the White House but are keeping many of the terms of their agreements private.
Some 200 rare disease therapies are at risk of losing eligibility for a pediatric priority review voucher, a recent analysis by the Rare Disease Company Coalition shows. That could mean $4 billion in missed revenue for already cash-strapped biotechs.
FROM OUR EDITORS
Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
The FDA’s rare pediatric disease priority review voucher program missed reauthorization at the last minute in 2024; advocates have been fighting to get it back ever since.
THE LATEST
FDA
The FDA has six target action dates ahead to round out September as drugs for gastroparesis, Niemann-Pick disease type C and more await decisions.
It’s time for Congress to step up and fund America’s supply chain independence from Chinese companies by bolstering our domestic manufacturing capabilities.
Oncternal Therapeutics will lay off about 10 workers as it explores “strategic alternatives” that could include asset sales or an M&A.
Analysts expressed skepticism about plans detailed by Moderna’s R&D chief Stephen Hoge to trim research spending in preparation for the launch of up to 10 new products.
IPO
Bicara Therapeutics, Zenas BioPharma and MBX Biosciences are seeking a combined $700 million-plus in IPO filings this week.
Tecentriq Hybreza, which combines Roche’s Tecentriq with Halozyme Therapeutics’ Enhanze drug delivery technology, is being touted as the first and only subcutaneous anti-PD-(L)1 cancer immunotherapy.
BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman said luvadaxistat’s inconsistencies between mid-stage trials raise questions about Neurocrine Biosciences’ developmental efforts moving forward.
Armed with readouts from the PURPOSE 1 and 2 trials, Gilead Sciences is now gearing up for global regulatory submissions for lenacapavir as a pre-exposure prophylactic option for human immunodeficiency virus.
FDA
One patient developed elevated liver blood tests after receiving Astellas Pharma’s non-hormonal small molecule blocker, leading the regulator to add a warning to the drug’s label.
Tremfya’s ulcerative colitis approval on Wednesday comes as Johnson & Johnson’s blockbuster immunotherapy Stelara continues to face growing competition from biosimilars.