News

With the latest round, Roche’s Genentech will have racked up nearly 450 layoffs in California over the last year amid ongoing restructuring. At the same time, the biotech is joining forces with Astex Pharmaceuticals in a deal that could surpass $490 million.
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FDA
Significant leadership instability at the FDA—compounded by continued workforce attrition—led to a slight slowdown in overall regulatory productivity in the first half of this year, but the agency has been catching up of late.
Congressional letters sent to the CEOs of Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Merck, BMS and AbbVie this week voicing concerns about the pharmas’ clinical trials in China highlight an ongoing discrepancy in how government and industry think about the rise of the Asian country’s biotech industry.
The total of 52 mergers and acquisitions for the first half of 2026 reflects what analysts, industry watchers and executives are saying over and over: M&A is back.
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Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
If cell and gene therapy makers are going to achieve their mission to improve patients’ lives, the industry must come together to share information across stakeholders, from regulators to manufacturers to payers.
THE LATEST
Being laid off is bad enough. When companies mishandle the layoff process, it can make the situation even worse. Four biopharma professionals share how some employers are getting it wrong.
J.P. Morgan releases its quarterly look-ahead days before the entire biopharma industry descends on San Francisco for the annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference.
Backed by ARCH Venture Partners, F-Prime Capital and Mubadala Capital, the new company will develop a pipeline of brain-penetrant small molecules to address inflammation, metabolic dysfunction and restoring lysosomal function.
In a deal expected to close in Q1 2025, Roche will gain access to Poseida’s off-the-shelf CAR T candidates.
By mid-2025, the biotech will split into two entities: a new, as-yet-unnamed innovative medicines specialist and a cell therapy company, the latter of which will inherit the Galapagos name.
The FDA recommended maintaining a minimum of 5% weight-loss for drug developers seeking to establish the efficacy of their investigational obesity candidates.
IPO
Maze’s IPO comes on the heels of its oversubscribed Series D funding round, which infused the biotech with $115 million in funding to support the development of its kidney disease pipeline.
A post-marketing review by the FDA detected an increased risk of the autoimmune condition in patients inoculated with GSK’s Arexvy and Pfizer’s Abrysvo, prompting the regulator to require adjustments to the vaccines’ labels.
The investment continues a Novo dealmaking spree to cement its leadership status in the cardiometabolic space, with partnerships with Photys Therapeutics, Ascendis Pharma and two Flagship-backed start-ups.
BioSpace presents 25 noteworthy biopharma startups in ’25; analysts forecast stronger M&A as the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference kicks off next week; GLP-1s continue to expand their reach as Novo, Lilly fight against compounders; and a look ahead to five key FDA decisions in Q1.