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The vibe at BIO 2026 in San Diego last week was overwhelmingly positive, with attendees observing noticeable changes at the FDA and an uptick in dealmaking and IPOs. Plus, a top medical journal this week retracted a pivotal study for Amgen’s rare disease drug Tavneos, which has been in the FDA’s crosshairs since January.
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At the BIO International Convention in San Diego, attendees marked the 50th anniversary of original biotech Genentech, reflecting on the immense challenges facing companies as China becomes a powerhouse innovator.
A recent FDA reversal sparked new hope for patients with Huntington’s disease. Flying under the radar, Skyhawk Therapeutics revealed 12-month functional data from a midstage trial of its own candidate showing improvements on a key disease measurement scale.
Recent approvals for Corcept Therapeutics and Merck have injected momentum into the space, where GSK, Allarity Therapeutics, OSE Immunotherapies and others are advancing their own candidates.
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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.
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Novo Nordisk’s etavopivat elicited a 27% drop in vaso-occlusive crises and 48.7% hemoglobin response after 24 weeks, creating “separation amongst PK class candidates,” Truist analysts said on Monday. Novo plans to seek FDA approval in the back half of 2026.
While Merck’s PD-1/VEGF asset appears to match the performance of Summit Therapeutics’ ivonescimab, the pharma’s Phase 1/2 readout in non-small cell lung cancer still leaves analysts with some questions moving into later-stage development.
The acquisition of Neurona will put UCB in both the epilepsy and cell therapy space, even as many of its fellow pharmas move away from the latter modality.
A new executive order could usher in psychedelics as the “key next wave” of mental health therapies, according to analysts at RBC Capital Markets.
While Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy pill reached more than 3,000 patients in its first week on the market, analysts at RBC Capital Markets said a direct comparison of the two figures could be misleading given the shorter data collection time for Foundayo.
Obesity-focused Kailera Therapeutics debuted on the Nasdaq Friday after raising a record $625 million, beating Moderna’s $600 million from 2018.
The pharma industry “own Congress, they own the media,” Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. told lawmakers by way of explaining the bad press against FDA Commissioner Marty Makary following the second rejection of Replimune’s advanced melanoma drug.
More patients on Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide lost over 5% of their lean mass versus those on Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide, according to a study that has yet to be peer reviewed.
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.