News

FEATURED STORIES
The current state of political affairs in the U.S. does not bode well for the direction of that turn. The country is at real risk of losing its long-held lead in biotech innovation.
FDA
The FDA’s refusal to review Moderna’s mRNA-based flu vaccine is part of a larger communications crisis unfolding at the agency over the past nine months that has also ensnarled Sarepta, Capricor, uniQure and many more.
The rare disease drugmaker is facing potential competitors for achondroplasia drug Voxzogo. Is a big M&A deal with two approved assets enough to maintain investor interest?
Job Trends
Follow along as BioSpace tracks job cuts and restructuring initiatives.
FROM OUR EDITORS
Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
The FDA issued a rare Refusal-to-File letter to Moderna over its mRNA-based influenza vaccine application, in an unusual move that sent the biotech’s shares tumbling.
THE LATEST
The number of biopharma professionals let go has increased year over year for three straight months. In July, as many as 8,000 people lost or were projected to lose their jobs, due largely to news that Merck projects to cut roughly 6,000 employees as part of a multiyear process.
Vertex reported healthy revenue in its second quarter earnings report, though news of VX-993’s mid-stage trial results and lack of alignment with the FDA regarding an expanded label for Journavx tempered analyst reactions, sending the stock down 13%.
Praxis’ vormatrigine reduced seizures by 56.3%, an effect size that, according to analysts at Truist Securities, exceeds that of its closest competitors.
While the deaths occurred in patients who had been treated with Agios’ anemia treatment Pyrukynd, the biotech insisted in an SEC filing midday Monday that the drug’s risk-benefit profile remains unchanged.
In an open letter, 22 experts who designed and ran Replimune’s Phase III IGNYTE trial answered the FDA’s issues, as outlined in the complete response letter for the melanoma candidate RP1.
From innovation in manufacturing to more-flexible regulation and better communication with payers, much needs to happen to make CGTs commercially viable. But it is possible, experts agreed at a recent panel.
The primary focus in scaling up production should first be the adoption of lean manufacturing principles used in virtually every other industry.
According to reporting from multiple outlets, Richard Pazdur, head of the Oncology Center of Excellence at CDER, opposed the consensus opinion of CBER staff to approve the drug. Replimune’s stock has dropped precipitously since the rejection.
The company expects that the U.S. COVID-19 vaccination rate will be “maybe a couple of points lower” than the prior level of around 20% but that pricing and Comirnaty’s market share will hold steady.
The pivotal Phase II trial is testing Allogene’s CAR T candidate cemacabtagene ansegedleucel for large B-cell lymphoma. ALLO-647 was being used as a preparative lymphodepletion therapy.