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Replimune is axing 144 employees at its Woburn headquarters and 80 at its Framingham manufacturing site. The cuts follow the FDA’s second rejection of the biotech’s advanced melanoma candidate.
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Doubling survival in pancreatic cancer, a long-fought rare disease approval, a massive IPO and ambitious biotech entrepreneurs have BioSpace Senior Editor Annalee Armstrong feeling upbeat about the biotech scene.
FDA
After Replimune’s advanced melanoma drug was rejected for a second time, CEO Sushil Patel slammed the FDA for failing to exercise regulatory flexibility, while other experts bemoaned the agency’s lack of consistency. With new safety guidelines for gene editing therapies, the FDA has taken a first step toward fixing both problems.
The Merck update, which will shed light on a $588 million bet to succeed Keytruda, is part of a roster of presentations that could shape the future of ADCs, protein degraders and KRAS-targeted therapies.
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Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
Novo Nordisk’s oral Wegovy has a few months’ head start on Eli Lilly’s newly approved pill. While the Indianapolis pharma has come from behind the Danish rival in the weight loss space before, last time it clearly had the better drug.
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“I don’t like established science,” ACIP chairperson Kirk Milhoan said in an interview on the Why Should I Trust You? podcast. “Science is what I observe.”
The partnership will allow BMS to advance a T cell–based therapy that is only activated once in the vicinity of a tumor.
The U.S. regulator shared the roadmap for implementing the program, first proposed in August 2025, and teased changes made in response to industry feedback.
The company also stands to gain from recent regulatory FDA guidance aimed at streamlining the development of non-opioid painkillers, Jefferies analysts suggested.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said that the main thing getting in the way of changing vaccine discussions in the U.S. is the Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
In this episode of Denatured, BioSpace editorial team members, Senior Editor, Annalee Armstrong, and News Editor, Dan Samorodnitsky, discuss their post-JPM takeaways and 2026 forecasts after speaking to a range of pharma and biotech executives and investors last week.
Fueled by advances in biomarkers, brain mapping, and AI, investment in neuro and CNS innovation shows no signs of slowing, even amid costly setbacks. BioSpace spoke to investors at JPM26 to get their take on recent bets in new therapies and neurotech.
Competition for biotech and pharma employment picked up year over year and remains strong, according to BioSpace data. A survey late last year showed that 64% of employed/contract and 96% of unemployed respondents will actively look for work in 2026.
Looking for a research and development job? Check out the BioSpace list of 12 companies hiring life sciences professionals like you.
Reporting Q4 and full year earnings on Wednesday, J&J executives hailed growth across the healthcare giant’s portfolio while standing fast on its talc lawsuit and tariffs.