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Takeda’s layoffs include cutting 247 people in Massachusetts. The workforce reduction is meant to help offset investments in areas including a product launch for oral drug candidate zasocitinib, for which the pharma today announced positive Phase 3 data.
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The FDA has some big verdicts lined up in the second quarter, including one for a closely watched obesity drug that many anticipate will further intensify competition in weight loss.
Accumulating scientific evidence and industry interest from Eli Lilly, Altimmune and startup Baseline Therapeutics is driving further research on the therapeutic potential of GLP-1 receptor agonists in treating substance use disorders.
At the AD/PD annual meeting, Eisai presented real-world data suggesting Leqembi’s long-term safety and efficacy in people homozygous for APOE4, who were identified in trials as being at higher risk of brain bleeds while on the treatment. Alzheon, meanwhile, added further detail to trial results of its candidate in patients with the same genetic profile.
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While requests by government officials for anonymity when speaking to the media are nothing new, the practice attracts more scrutiny when the Department for Health and Human Services has pledged a commitment to “radical transparency.”
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Bysanti is based on iloperidone, an active metabolite of a compound that forms the core of Fanapt, another drug by Vanda Pharmaceuticals.
A lower court had previously ruled for Sarepta in the companies’ long-running dispute, finding that REGENXBIO’s AAV patent was invalid because its elements were naturally occurring. The appeals court on Friday said that this original decision adopts a “narrow” view of the invention.
The centerpiece of the takeover is anito-cel, a CAR T therapy under development for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. An FDA decision on the therapy is expected by December 2026.
Head-to-head trials are often reserved for approved therapies as drugmakers try to one-up each other to gain further market share. In this case, Novo Nordisk ran the test at the candidate stage, and the bet did not pay off.
The U.S. Congress greenlit a historic $315 million in federal ALS research funding for 2026 amid Rare Disease Month, spotlighting biotech progress like VectorY Therapeutics’ first patient dosing in its TDP-43-targeting PIONEER-ALS trial and EverythingALS’ pharma consortia driving biomarker innovations and trial alignment.
The first gene therapies approved to treat sickle cell disease in December 2023 are struggling on the market. But there are glimpses of forward momentum as Vertex and Genetix Bio provide updates.
After last year’s ‘stampede’ for FGF21 assets, the focus for the metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis space has shifted toward differentiated approaches, such as THR-β agonists and combination treatments, that seek to mirror the commercial success of Madrigal’s Rezdiffra.
FDA
Following the FDA’s refusal to review Moderna’s investigational mRNA flu vaccine last week, Commissioner Marty Makary faced questions from the U.S. president about the agency’s handling of vaccines. It’s a clear signal that the tension long brewing at the drug regulator has now gone all the way to the top.
Maintaining America’s momentum demands that policymakers resist policies that undermine research and development incentives.
Tracy Beth Høeg addressed FDA staffers for the first time in her role as the fifth CDER chief under President Donald Trump, announcing inquiries into the use of SSRIs in pregnancy and RSV antibodies in infants despite well-documented safety of these treatments.