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A surprising deal from Vertex Pharmaceuticals adds to Big Pharma’s acquisitive streak as Crinetics folds into the cystic fibrosis drugmaker. Meanwhile, IPOs and venture capital raises trend upward, but mostly for derisked companies. Plus, FDA decisions slow only slightly as the hunt for a permanent leader drags on.
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IPO
After debuting on the public markets with $256.3 million and raking in an additional $472 million, Veradermics has emerged as one of biotech’s biggest post-IPO standouts. CEO Reid Waldman credits the weight loss craze for establishing consumer-driven channels.
Molecular glue degraders are gaining traction in the clinic as well as funding from Big Pharma, with their potential to treat previously “undruggable” cancers and immunological diseases. Here are five clinical programs worth keeping an eye on.
Last month, the FDA launched TrialBlazer, intended to streamline the IND path and bring early clinical trials and medical innovation home to the U.S. It’s a start, but new agency leadership must see it through.
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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.
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At J.P. Morgan, most biopharma executives expressed a neutral stance on the incoming administration, but just days later, President Trump issued multiple executive orders that concern the industry.
With an eye toward advancing a novel antibody-drug conjugate for gastrointestinal cancers, ArriVent is the latest biopharma player to ink a deal with a Chinese biotech.
Five years ago, Gilead signed a massive deal with Galapagos. After a restructuring, the pharma is still hunting for the potential it saw at the original signing.
Spravato’s monotherapy nod on Tuesday comes after a series of setbacks in the depression space.
IPO
Ascentage is looking to use the IPO proceeds to advance its Phase III candidates for chronic or small lymphocytic leukemia and for certain types of chronic myeloid leukemia.
The FDA is putting Atara’s active Investigational New Drug applications on hold due to manufacturing concerns at a third-party provider while releasing Amylyx’s investigational ALS therapy from a previous pause.
Biopharma executives shared their thoughts on the potential impacts of the new administration; Annalee Armstrong recaps JPM and her talks with Biogen, Gilead, Novavax and more; Wegovy’s higher dose induces more weight loss; AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo’s Dato-DXd scores its first FDA approval.
Computational research conducted by scientists from Washington University in St. Louis shows that GLP-1 agonists can have mental and cognitive health benefits but may also harm the kidneys and pancreas.
The funding, which follows the $176 million the government awarded Moderna in June 2024, aims to get mRNA vaccines ready before bird flu strains currently circulating in the wild and on farms can potentially cause human outbreaks.
In this bonus episode, BioSpace’s vice president of marketing ⁠Chantal Dresner⁠ and careers editor ⁠Angela Gabriel⁠ take a look at Q4 job market performance and what we expect to see ahead.