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FDA
The FDA greenlit 26 novel therapies in the first half of 2026, including four for cancer and six for orphan indications. Meanwhile, AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson took home a combined 11 of the agency’s 79 total approvals, including supplemental nods.
FEATURED STORIES
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.
Early-stage financing rounds are on track to hit their lowest dollar value in years as funders continue to eschew risky investments, experts told BioSpace.
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.
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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
Following two deaths due to presumed sepsis, the FDA has placed a partial clinical hold on three trials for Zentalis’ azenosertib including a Phase I in solid tumors, Phase II in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer and Phase II in uterine serous carcinoma.
Bucking its recent winning streak in oncology, AstraZeneca reported Tuesday that its AKT inhibitor Truqap failed to significantly boost overall survival in patients with triple-negative breast cancer.
Promising data from the DREAMM-7 and DREAMM-8 trials have revitalized GSK’s blockbuster goals for its antibody-drug conjugate Blenrep, positioned as a second-line treatment for multiple myeloma.
FDA
Merck on Monday secured the FDA’s green light for its 21-valent pneumococcal vaccine Capvaxive, which covers serotypes responsible for around 84% of invasive pneumococcal disease cases.
FDA
The FDA is facing four big target action dates in the final week of June, including one label expansion for a bispecific antibody and another for an investigational gene therapy.
BioSpace’s ⁠Lori Ellis⁠ and ⁠Chantal Dresner⁠ bring live updates from ⁠the first day of #DIA2024⁠ in San Diego.
The hold on BioNTech and MediLink’s antibody-drug conjugate candidate BNT326/YL202 has halted enrollment in a Phase I U.S. trial in patients with non-small cell lung cancer or breast cancer, following multiple deaths.
FDA
AstraZeneca on Monday secured FDA approval for its blockbuster Imfinzi, in combination with chemotherapy, to treat adults with primary advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer that is mismatch repair deficient.
Takeda’s soticlestat, licensed from Ovid Therapeutics, did not significantly reduce seizures in patients with Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, respectively, according to two late-stage readouts on Monday.
Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Jørgensen has agreed to appear before the Senate health committee in a hearing on the prices of its blockbuster drugs Ozempic and Wegovy.