News

AstraZeneca has put hundreds of millions of dollars into AI deals, with an eye toward not just accelerating the development of drugs that treat cancer after it appears but also in creating diagnostics that can catch cancer earlier than current methods allow.
FEATURED STORIES
Compounding pharmacies aren’t the only makers of off-brand versions of Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound. The situation is causing the FDA regulatory headaches and, more seriously, posing potential risks to the public.
BioSpace Senior Editor Annalee Armstrong headed to the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference with a months-long story idea brewing. Unfortunately, it was one she’s written before.
Of the 102 company launches or series A financings since October 2023, just nine had a woman at the helm, according to a BioSpace analysis. This is happening in an era of biotech where new company founders are searching for CEOs with a track record.
Job Trends
Merck, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, announced that the Phase 3 KEYLYNK-006 trial evaluating KEYTRUDA, Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy, in combination with maintenance LYNPARZA, a PARP inhibitor, did not meet its dual primary endpoints of overall survival and progression-free survival for the first-line treatment of certain patients with metastatic nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer.
FROM OUR EDITORS
Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
When talking to some of the most impressive women in biopharma, the conversation inevitably turned to what these women wanted other entrepreneurs to know. Here’s the best of the best of that advice.
THE LATEST
The American Association for Cancer Research’s annual conference featured updates from several companies on key candidates and assets, including Merck’s Keytruda and GSK’s Jemperli.
At the heart of the acquisition is Regulus’ farabursen, an miRNA-targeting oligonucleotide in early-stage development for rare autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.
GSK’s dealmaking will be “cautious and disciplined” under the current trade war, but the pharma will focus on looking for “opportunities created” amid these tensions, according to CEO Emma Walmsley. The company also reported a 4% earnings bump for the quarter.
It’s been a fraught road for the proposed merger between Acelyrin and Alumis, with Tang Capital’s Concentra Biosciences in February threatening to upend the deal with a proposed $3-per-share acquisition of Acelyrin.
The drug, a small molecule protein inhibitor, brought in $132 million in the first quarter, missing consensus estimates by 17%.
As Q1 2025 earnings season continues, tariffs remain top of mind for pharma CEOs and investors. Meanwhile, the American Association for Cancer Research’s annual event kicks off this year’s oncology conference season. Plus, will the FDA become politicized under HHS Secretary RFK Jr.?
What a CEO makes can be staggering from the seat of a rank-and-file employee, whose pay is typically in the five-to-six digit range.
Policy uncertainties are impacting biopharma dealmaking from continent to continent, with companies being asked to walk a tightrope on their relations with China.
Nevertheless, Albert Bourla has been lobbying the U.S. government—as high as President Donald Trump himself—to skip the pharmaceutical industry tariffs, which Trump has threatened, in part as a way to shore up U.S. national security.
Despite executing perfectly, Octagon confronted a “scientific no-go,” CEO Isaac Stoner said in his LinkedIn post announcing the company’s impending closure.