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FDA
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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In this episode presented by Slone Partners, Leslie Loveless, Co-CEO and Managing Partner discusses how hiring and the building of executive teams has responded to the current biotech environment.
FDA
One of the FDA’s potential approvals this month could break an existing monopoly in the treatment space for a rare growth disorder.
Nearly two dozen life sciences companies that were awarded Massachusetts tax incentives to create and retain about 1,000 combined jobs hit just 13% of that target in 2024. Ten awardees had reported layoffs last year, including Charles River Laboratories and Moderna.
While most BioSpace LinkedIn poll respondents believe the job market won’t improve until at least 2027, two industry experts are optimistic a turnaround could start sooner. They discuss early signals of recovery and challenges that remain.
After the FDA rejected its spinocerebellar ataxia treatment, Biohaven missed out on a $150 million payment from Oberland Capital. Now the company is reshuffling its pipeline to stay alive.
In 2025, landmark obesity drug deals, China’s biotech surge, and AI’s deeper integration into pharma operations drove a year of transformation and renewed momentum for life sciences.
The strategic initiative will extend Metagenomi’s cash runway into the fourth quarter of 2027. That same year, the company expects to generate initial Phase I data for its lead asset MGX-001 in hemophilia A.
Altimmune’s pemvidutide showed “class-leading signals” in non-invasive assessments and has “potentially best-in-class tolerability,” according to analysts at H.C. Wainwright.
Aside from offering to acquire all remaining shares of Neuphoria, existing investor Lynx1 Master Fund also announced its plan to nominate directors in the biotech’s upcoming board elections.
With immunology and inflammation blockbusters like AbbVie’s Skyrizi and Rinvoq reeling in nearly $7 billion combined in the third quarter, the pipeline-in-a-product strategy has never been more attractive.