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Innovation drives CROs to win new business, but unchecked customization creates complexity that undermines reproducibility, weakens renewals and leads to turnover—making standardization a strategic necessity, not a constraint.
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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.
The FDA plans to hold an advisory committee meeting to discuss Capricor Therapeutics’ application for deramiocel, which the agency rejected last July. The news surprised CEO Linda Marbán, who told BioSpace the FDA has not communicated any issues of concern with the company’s resubmitted application.
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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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Roche envisions its Indianapolis site as a “major hub” for the manufacturing of its continuous glucose monitoring systems. The news comes on the heels of an announced $700 million investment in North Carolina.
President Donald Trump unwrapped a massive drug pricing policy as CMS prepares for the next round of Medicare drug price negotiations; Vinay Prasad to take the helm at the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research; Bayer cuts 2,000 more employees; Eli Lilly’s Zepbound scores again; and the Galapagos story turns again.
The number of employees laid off increased year over year during the first quarter. BioSpace recaps the five largest rounds of layoffs, which included BMS and Novartis cuts.
It’s another wild twist in the story of Galapagos, a company that has been around for more than 25 years but has yet to get a therapy approved.
Meanwhile, Bayer CEO Bill Anderson said Donald Trump’s Most Favored Nations policy could present an opportunity for European countries to make sure they are also funding their “fair share” of biopharma innovation.
The commitment is part of Roche’s recently announced $50 billion investment in the U.S., but a company spokesperson said that could change if certain yet-unspecified policies are implemented that could “harm our industry’s ability to operate and innovate in America.”
The third cycle of the drug price negotiations will involve drugs under Medicare Part B. New prices are set to take effect in 2028.
The Most Favored Nation directive would allow drugmakers to directly sell their products to patients at a lower cost, cutting out what President Donald Trump called “the middlemen.”
Azafaros will use the Series B haul to push lead asset nizubaglustat into late-stage studies for Niemann-Pick disease Type C and GM1/GM2 gangliosidoses later this year.
While industry groups decried the Trump administration’s new drug pricing order, analysts say it lacked details and the teeth to make a major impact without an act of Congress.