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A surprising deal from Vertex Pharmaceuticals adds to Big Pharma’s acquisitive streak as Crinetics folds into the cystic fibrosis drugmaker. Meanwhile, IPOs and venture capital raises trend upward, but mostly for derisked companies. Plus, FDA decisions slow only slightly as the hunt for a permanent leader drags on.
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After debuting on the public markets with $256.3 million and raking in an additional $472 million, Veradermics has emerged as one of biotech’s biggest post-IPO standouts. CEO Reid Waldman credits the weight loss craze for establishing consumer-driven channels.
Molecular glue degraders are gaining traction in the clinic as well as funding from Big Pharma, with their potential to treat previously “undruggable” cancers and immunological diseases. Here are five clinical programs worth keeping an eye on.
Last month, the FDA launched TrialBlazer, intended to streamline the IND path and bring early clinical trials and medical innovation home to the U.S. It’s a start, but new agency leadership must see it through.
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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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Jubilant HollisterStier received a warning letter over problems that the FDA said necessitate an immediate and comprehensive assessment of the contract manufacturing organization’s global operations.
After 27 deaths were reported in a group receiving its blood cancer drug, ADC Therapeutics is downsizing, implementing layoffs for about 30 workers.
A few short days after announcing an FDA pivot on a separate asset, REGENXBIO is planning to test the agency’s apparent newfound rare disease outlook on another late-stage gene therapy.
A new report from RBC Capital Markets lists Biotechnology Innovation Organization chief executive John Crowley and military physician Heidi Overton as potential candidates for the role of FDA commissioner—in addition to the agency’s current acting leader, top food regulator Kyle Diamantas.
The FDA has so far secured 600 new hires and is looking for 1,600 more as interim leadership at the agency aims to rebuild the workforce and morale after more than a year of intense attrition.
Novartis and Antares Therapeutics are shooting for the stars, launching a joint mission to develop small molecule oncology therapies.
Lilly has already spent more than $25 billion in potential business development commitments this year, including the $6.3 billion buyout of Centessa Pharmaceuticals that closed today.
AbbVie scooped up immunology player Apogee Therapeutics for nearly $11 billion in one of the year’s top deals to-date, while Sanofi made a big play to survive its upcoming Dupixent patent cliff; FDA uncertainty continues as the agency changes direction on gene therapies by uniQure and REGENXBIO; and Jef Akst and Annalee Armstrong report back from San Diego.
The combined business entity with Boundless Bio, which will carry Serapha Bio’s name and fold in Boundless Bio, will focus on the development of a gene editor for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.
For the 2026 fiscal year, Takeda anticipates declines in revenue and profit, highlighting what CEO-elect Julie Kim says is the need for the company to “invest in future growth.”