News

FEATURED STORIES
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.
Gilead, AstraZeneca and Vertex have acquired more than just a therapeutic asset in recent deals. BioSpace takes a look at five recent transactions where the staff was the real centerpiece.
Job Trends
FROM OUR EDITORS
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.
THE LATEST
While Congress is renewing the priority review voucher program for rare pediatric diseases, the FDA should be required to keep public records of the passes changing hands, too.
Despite comments made by a Novo Nordisk official this week, the company confirmed to BioSpace that it has no additional clinical trials of its GLP-1 drugs in addiction beyond a Phase II trial testing semaglutide and two other drugs with alcohol use as a secondary endpoint.
Imfinzi is one of AstraZeneca’s key growth drivers for 2025, with potential approvals in stomach and bladder cancers. The PD-L1 blocker brought in over $4.7 billion in sales last year.
Days after suffering a rejection in Australia, the Alzheimer’s drug hit another roadblock in the U.K., which found the drug not cost-effective.
Analysts at Jefferies see Makary as a positive for the rare disease space, given his support for accelerated approvals and openness to “customizing regulatory pathways for rare diseases.”
Analysts do not believe the Phase III stumble for aticaprant will derail J&J’s broader neuroscience strategy, particularly given its recent $14.6 billion acquisition of Intra-Cellular Therapeutics and the success of Spravato for treatment-resistant depression.
A new Pitchbook report found $4.3 billion in funding to women-fronted biotech companies across 121 deals. The increase comes as sociopolitical headwinds slam into initiatives to support women and minorities.
Novo Nordisk is intervening in the lawsuit filed by a drug compounders trade group against the FDA over the agency’s decision to declare the Wegovy shortage over. Eli Lilly did the same in a parallel case over Zepbound’s removal from the FDA shortage list and this week a judge denied the compounders’ injunction.
Neffy 1 mg is the “first significant innovation” for epinephrine delivery in small children aged 4 years and up in over 35 years, according to ARS Pharmaceuticals.
The Senate hearing for FDA Commissioner nominee Marty Makary comes after President Trump’s NIH pick, Jay Bhattacharya, was grilled by the legislative body on Wednesday.