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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.
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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.
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Armed with new late-stage data on reducing low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, Novartis is positioning its siRNA therapy Leqvio as a preventive treatment for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
Neurocrine Biosciences’ potential competitor to Bristol Myers Squibb’s KarXT improved symptoms of schizophrenia in a Phase II trial, but only at the low dose tested.
Congress, the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office are all targeting Big Pharma’s practice of filing multiple, overlapping patents that stifle generic and biosimilar competition.
Genentech’s latest layoffs are the second round of workforce reductions this year, following the company’s announcement in April that it was letting go around 3% of employees.
Quotient Therapeutics’ platform targets somatic mutations, which the startup contends can help identify a broader scope of genes potentially associated with disease phenotypes. Wednesday’s agreement is part of an existing partnership between Pfizer and Flagship Pioneering.
Navigator Medicine is looking to push its lead asset NAV-240 targeting immune-mediated diseases through to clinical studies “in the coming months,” which the startup in-licensed from a South Korean biotech for $20 million upfront.
For reasons including downsizing, avoiding retirement and a tight labor market, senior-level biopharma professionals are increasingly turning to fractional roles, according to two recruitment experts.
The regulator’s restrictions come as the U.S. is experiencing a surge in cases. Invivyd also announced updated Phase III data for Pemgarda, touting an 84% relative reduction in symptomatic COVID-19.
The company joins Eli Lilly in offering its own digital platform to more directly connect to patients, allowing them easier access to healthcare providers and prescription drugs.
Well-financed startup Tome is winding down operations just as two new companies, Borealis Biosciences and GondolaBio, are launching. Meanwhile, in the midst of already tense relations with China, House lawmakers raise the alarm about U.S. companies working with the country’s military on trials.