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The Denton site is part of a network of manufacturing plants Novartis is building across the U.S. to make cancer drugs that must be shipped to patients quickly.
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IPO
LB Pharma needed $350 million to advance a promising schizophrenia candidate at a time when the biotech markets were locked up tight. Fortunately, it wasn’t CEO Heather Turner’s first rodeo.
Rare disease drug developers struggle to survive in a biopharma investment market that prioritizes large patient populations. Initiatives like the Orphan Therapeutics Accelerator are attempting to solve what CEO Craig Martin says is not a science problem, but a math problem.
Eli Lilly’s win in a head-to-head trial drove Novo Nordisk’s market cap to pre-Wegovy levels not long after the victor became the first pharma company to top a $1 trillion valuation. It seems one company can do no right, while the other can do no wrong.
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FROM OUR EDITORS
Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
FDA
Following the FDA’s refusal to review Moderna’s investigational mRNA flu vaccine last week, Commissioner Marty Makary faced questions from the U.S. president about the agency’s handling of vaccines. It’s a clear signal that the tension long brewing at the drug regulator has now gone all the way to the top.
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With Boehringer Ingelheim’s announcement earlier this month that it was capping U.S. inhaler costs at $35 per month, AstraZeneca on Monday followed suit.
New late-stage trial results for GSK’s Jemperli show improved overall and progression-free survival in a broader range of endometrial cancer patients, which could lead to a potential label expansion.
Contineum Therapeutics joined the 2024 initial public offering class on Friday with an SEC filing. The biotech will use the IPO proceeds to complete a Phase II trial for its most mature candidate targeting multiple sclerosis.
FDA
With its FDA approval last week and first-to-market advantage, Madrigal Pharmaceuticals’ Rezdiffra will set the standard for other metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis candidates in development.
By votes of 11-0 and 8-3, respectively, an FDA advisory committee Friday deemed the risks of early death for both Johnson & Johnson’s Carvykti and Bristol Myers Squibb’s Abecma acceptable.
Asgard Therapeutics, a Swedish gene therapy biotech, has closed a $32 million Series A round with help from prominent pharma players as it prepares for a 2026 IND.
Bayer will co-create a novel target identification platform that leverages Aignostics’ artificial intelligence technology and proprietary multimodal patient cohorts.
The Chinese biotechs are broadening their collaboration. Hansoh Pharma is licensing Biotheus’ anti-EGFR/cMet bispecific antibody to develop antibody-drug conjugates.
After forging a partnership last year, Astellas is ending the pact with Cartesian Therapeutics and stopping the development of a Pompe disease candidate.
The PD-1 inhibitor Keytruda significantly improved overall survival in a late-stage trial when used with chemoradiotherapy to treat patients with newly diagnosed advanced cervical cancer.