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In this episode of Denatured, you’ll hear from Jack Crawford, CEO of Demeetra, and Magnus Gustavsson, chief commercial officer at NorthX Biologics. We unpack the evolution of cell line development — CHO cells, targeted integration, transposases and the collaboration models speeding biologics from sequence to GMP.
FEATURED STORIES
Psychedelics are gaining momentum in depression, with one treating physician predicting that the drug class could “wipe out the SSRIs” if safety and durability hold up.
Saol Therapeutics is the latest biotech to resubmit for approval of a drug rejected under former FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, following REGENXBIO and Replimune.
Even as FDA approvals for biologic therapies fell in the first half of 2026, regulatory experts are optimistic about a turnaround in the rare disease space after the departure of key leaders at the agency. Still, there will continue to be tension between science and politics.
FROM OUR EDITORS
Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
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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FDA
The regulator Monday approved the companies’ supplemental Biologics License Applications for their respective mRNA shots formulated to more closely target currently circulating variants.
The collaboration, which includes an upfront payment of $120 million to Immatics, pairs Moderna’s mRNA technology with Immatics’ T-cell receptor platform for cancer treatment.
Following a Phase II review, Novartis has cut the development of a gene therapy candidate for geographic atrophy. In June, the company sold a dry eye disease drug to Bauch + Lomb for $1.75 billion.
The California pharma is building up to its first-ever approval with promising late-stage data for its once-daily investigational acromegaly pill paltusotine, an alternative to the injectable standard of care.
The first-in-class antibody-drug conjugate—in combination with Merck’s Keytruda—has shown promising results in a Phase II study of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.
After its prostate cancer therapy was not included in Medicare’s initial drug price negotiation list, Astellas dismissed its Inflation Reduction Act lawsuit this week, while Illumina got new leadership.
With a potential combined market value of $30 billion, BioSpace takes a deep dive into the Phase III data supporting Eisai and Biogen’s Leqembi and Eli Lilly’s investigational donanemab.
Seeking to deepen its neurology and rare disease pipelines, AstraZeneca’s Alexion has joined forces with Verge Genomics to leverage its artificial intelligence platform in drug discovery and development.
The companies have started a collaboration worth up to $3.4 billion to develop a portfolio of degrader-antibody conjugates, a potentially new class of antibodies that selectively kill cancer cells.
To build its ophthalmology portfolio, Japan’s Otsuka Pharmaceuticals has teamed with RNA editing biotech Shape Therapeutics to develop adeno-associated virus gene therapies for ocular diseases.