News

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.
FEATURED STORIES
A mostly black box since emerging with more than a billion dollars in hand, Xaira Therapeutics is slowly pulling back the curtain, revealing plans to find partners and validate its pipeline.
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.
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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.
THE LATEST
The companies have filed their own suit against the Federal Trade Commission, claiming the FTC’s attempt to legally block their $28 billion merger is unconstitutional.
After initial Phase II data for the oral IL-23 receptor antagonist licensed from Protagonist Therapeutics spooked investors, Janssen provided a fuller readout and advanced the candidate.
Topline results for its Daiichi Sankyo-partnered antibody-drug conjugate showed statistically significant improvement. However, AstraZeneca shares dropped around 6% in early Monday trading.
Pharmas, advocacy groups and regulatory bodies have made moves to put each other in legal crosshairs in 2023. Follow along with BioSpace’s Lawsuit Tracker to see what’s piling up on the docket.
The verdict, rendered by a California jury on Friday, found that the companies did not engage in an anticompetitive conspiracy to delay generic versions of HIV PreEP medicines.
The revised guidance comes amid lawsuits filed by drug manufacturers and industry groups, which claim the Inflation Reduction Act is unconstitutional. Prices negotiated will be effective as of 2026.
The companies Friday reported positive late-stage results for elafibranor as a second-line treatment for primary biliary cholangitis, a rare liver disease.
More than a month after failing its Friedrich’s ataxia trial, PTC Therapeutics’ vatiquinone has again missed its primary endpoint, this time in a mitochondrial disease-associated seizures study.
In its third acquisition this month, Eli Lilly is buying antibody-drug conjugates startup Emergence Therapeutics to bolster its cancer business.
FDA
After an initial rejection, BioMarin has finally secured the FDA’s approval for Roctavian, the first gene therapy in the U.S. for the most common form of the bleeding disorder.