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While the FDA did not announce the recipient names of the Commissioner’s National Priority Vouchers, the agency’s descriptions of the awarded products match those in development at Compass Pathways, Transcend Therapeutics and Usona Institute.
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The FDA is signaling change, but actual success depends on more than simply bringing in a new leader at the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research; it requires accountability, transparency and consistent action.
Approved Thursday via the FDA’s Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher program, Otarmeni is the first gene therapy for hearing loss—and the first treatment to target an underlying cause of the condition.
With a greenlight for ibogaine to enter clinical testing and three unnamed products set to receive Commissioner’s National Priority Vouchers this week, it’s full speed ahead for psychedelics. But will sidestepping normal regulatory protocols actually be a net negative for the field?
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Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
Doubling survival in pancreatic cancer, a long-fought rare disease approval, a massive IPO and ambitious biotech entrepreneurs have BioSpace Senior Editor Annalee Armstrong feeling upbeat about the biotech scene.
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Investors got to hear Novo Nordisk’s side of the Metsera bidding war drama for the first time on Wednesday, as the company reported third-quarter earnings. A rough quarter underscored the stakes for the Danish pharma.
Pfizer and Novo Nordisk continue to fight for ownership of obesity startup Metsera; CDER Director George Tidmarsh leaves his position amid an ongoing probe into his “personal conduct”; FDA reverses course on approval requirements for uniQure’s Huntington’s gene therapy; Sarepta’s exon-skipping Duchenne muscular dystrophy drugs fail confirmatory study.
Biohaven is proposing troriluzole for the treatment of spinocerebellar ataxia, a group of rare, genetic diseases that lead to the progressive loss of control over movement.
Arena launched with $500 million in early 2024 to fund basic biological research, from which it planned to spin out dedicated companies to focus on drug development.
Harmony Biosciences has paused a mid-stage trial of ZYN002 in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome after the THC-free cannabinoid drug failed to significantly improve social avoidance in a late-stage study in fragile X Syndrome.
Amgen remains confident in its obesity asset MariTide, for which it has launched a broad Phase III program.
Due to the litigation Pfizer filed Friday and Monday against Metsera, Novo Nordisk and the biotech’s lead shareholder, CEO Albert Bourla was limited in what he could say. But he said Pfizer was the best fit for Metsera.
Both companies have submitted revised bids, with Novo’s coming in $1.9 billion higher than Pfizer’s.
The potential approval of Vertex’s IgAN therapy povetacicept in 2026 comes amid launch headwinds for the company’s non-opioid pain medicine Journavx and gene therapy Casgevy.
Sarepta nevertheless plans to push for full FDA approval of Vyondys 53 and Amondys 45 based on what it said are “encouraging trends” in efficacy.