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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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IPO
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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After paying $300 million upfront to BeiGene for option rights to ociperlimab in December 2021, Novartis has dropped the agreement and given the rights back to the Chinese biotech.
A handful of biotechs and pharma companies have posted sizable IPOs in 2023, despite a tight economy. Still, the numbers are way down from last year.
Burjeel Holdings and BridgeBio Pharma ink partnership deal in rare genetic diseases with a plan to set up headquarters in Abu Dhabi.
Bristol Myers Squibb is paying a total of $95 million to the two companies for exclusive global rights to programs developed within long-term partnerships designed to further BMS’ neuro pipeline.
Following its $5.9 billion Iveric Bio buy, Astellas is leaning into the eye disease space with a licensing agreement for 4D Molecular Therapeutics’ proprietary intravitreal AAV delivery system.
Despite a government report showing that hiring slowed over the month of June, job postings on BioSpace’s life sciences-focused job board saw a marked increase.
Early-stage data shows that Viridian’s thyroid eye disease candidate induces clinically meaningful improvements in eye protrusion after six weeks of treatment.
The European Medicines Agency has widened its review of potential suicide risks associated with GLP-1 receptor agonists. The probe, which started July 3, is expected to conclude in November.
The biotech has acquired an exclusive global license for Shanghai-based DualityBio’s investigational antibody-drug conjugate for select solid tumors.
The biotech Monday announced a clinical hold on its HEMO-CAR-T candidate, which is being trialed for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia, due to manufacturing concerns cited by the regulator.