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Biotech is increasingly financed, governed and regulated as though it were a mature pharmaceutical industry rather than a discovery system built around scientific uncertainty. Structural changes are needed to sustain the sector’s strategic innovation.
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Nusano will bring a massive new radioisotope facility in Salt Lake City online by the end of the year, establishing a supply of starting materials for the next generation of radiopharmaceuticals.
Last month, Revolution Medicines’ RAS inhibitor doubled survival in a Phase 3 pancreatic cancer trial. On the biotech’s heels are Immuneering, Actuate Therapeutics, Erasca and more, looking to improve on that result with increased tolerability—and more time for patients.
The recent approval of Regeneron’s Otarmeni underscores the maturation of gene therapies across a range of diseases. Here, BioSpace reviews genetic medicines in development for the central nervous system, retinal, cardiac and neuromuscular diseases.
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The Department of Health and Human Services is spinning its wheels, unable to establish steady leadership at three major divisions—the CDC and the FDA’s two primary review units.
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Lilly’s Jaypirca (pirtobrutinib) can now be used to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic leukemia that had progressed from at least two prior lines of therapy, in addition to its previously-approved indications.
Johnson & Johnson’s AI investments include a research facility in San Francisco and a data science workforce of approximately 6,000 employees.
AbbVie’s $10.1 billion ImmunoGen buy and Altimmune’s Phase II win demonstrate that the antibody-drug conjugate market is red hot in cancer and GLP-1 drugs for weight loss are an absolute craze.
While Pfizer’s oral GLP-1 candidate met its primary endpoint in a Phase IIb obesity trial, twice-daily dosing of danuglipron resulted in high rates of adverse events including nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
From the skin to the lungs to the central nervous system, biotech companies are making progress toward delivering RNA therapeutics to multiple targets throughout the body. But challenges remain.
Citing slow enrollment and low clinical rates, the late-stage “evidence trials” are being discontinued. AstraZeneca said there are no safety concerns and no impact on Lokelma’s current approved indication.
The company’s investigational c-Met protein directed antibody-drug conjugate showed a “compelling” overall response rate in patients with previously treated non-small cell lung cancer.
This week, the FDA could approve the first CRISPR-edited therapy in the U.S., while two other companies await decisions on topical drugs.
Patients treated with Altimmune’s investigational GLP-1/glucagon dual receptor agonist saw up to 15.6% weight loss, and nearly a third of those taking the highest dose lost at least 20% of their body weight.
The company is hoping the topline results for Veozah, which won FDA approval in May, will support health technology assessments for reimbursement negotiations in Europe.