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        As industry leaders gather at the annual event in Phoenix, the cell and gene therapy space remains in a state of flux, with M&A activity and regulatory support signaling momentum while commercialization challenges continue to hinder broader investor interest. 
    
        
    
        
    
        
    FEATURED STORIES
        
        
        
    
        It can cure deadly diseases, save long-term healthcare costs and transform lives. But the U.S. insurance system still isn’t ready to pay for it.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        Blank check deals dwindled after a crazy 2021. Now, biotechs are starting to turn to special purpose acquisition companies again as an easy route to the public markets.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        Some of the biggest SPACs from the industry’s pandemic-fueled heyday are no longer on the market.
    
        
    
        
    
        
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        Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE, “Pfizer”) and BioNTech SE (Nasdaq: BNTX, “BioNTech”) today announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has recommended marketing authorization for the companies’ Omicron JN.1-adapted monovalent COVID-19 vaccine (COMIRNATY® JN.1) for active immunization to prevent COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 in individuals 6 months of age and older.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    FROM OUR EDITORS
        
        
            Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
        
        
    
        After Emma Walmsley steps down as GSK CEO in January, Vertex Pharma’s Reshma Kewalramani will be the sole female CEO at a top-20 pharma company. Still, there are many prominent women in pharma that could someday break through again.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    THE LATEST
    
    
        An advisory committee last year found that Zynquista’s benefit-risk profile in type 1 diabetes was unfavorable due to cases of diabetic ketoacidosis.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        By improving gait stability, Ionis’ zilganersen could be “potentially disease modifying,” according to analysts at William Blair.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        Small and large drugmakers alike have made big, proactive moves to secure the production capacity that will be vital to serving the weight loss market.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        The company was expecting a decision from the FDA by Sept. 28 for its oral drug tolebrutinib, but an update to the drug’s application package convinced the agency to take more time to review.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        The acquisition of breakout obesity star Metsera should pump new life into Pfizer’s portfolio, which over the last two years has suffered from three discontinued assets.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        In an interview with German-language outlet Neue Zuercher Zeitung, Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan said the company is exploring ways to remove or minimize the drug price gap between the U.S. and its other markets in similarly developed countries.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        For the last two years, Keytruda has reigned as the world’s top-selling drug—a distinction under threat with key patent protections expiring in 2028.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        Building and scaling biopharma workforces can go beyond recruiting permanent employees to include fractional workers and consultants. A Slone Partners executive discusses how these blended workforces operate, highlighting the strategic benefits.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        The FDA’s proposed Rare Disease Evidence Principles review process is a starting point for getting rare disease therapies across the finish line, but industry leaders say there are more concrete steps the regulator could take to help patients.
    
        
    
        
    
        
    
        With AbbVie’s $1.2 billion acquisition of Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals’ lead depression drug, the psychedelic therapeutics space has soundly rebounded from Lykos’ rejection last year. There are now seven programs in Phase III trials across the sector, with multiple companies vying for that first approval.
    
        
    
        
    
        
     
         
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
