News

FDA
FDA Commissioner Marty Makary intends to resign on Tuesday, according to several sources. This report follows a tumultuous 13-month tenure in which Makary oversaw the controversial rejections of several rare disease drugs and “predictable volatility” within the agency.
FEATURED STORIES
New guidelines from two leading medical associations suggest that efforts to reduce bad cholesterol should focus on maintaining low levels of two key lipoproteins. Big pharma is all in, looking to improve on the standard statins to help vanquish America’s number one killer: heart disease.
The FDA’s decision last year to make complete response letters public provides new insight into why therapies sometimes fail to get the regulatory greenlight. Analysts say the information could help sponsors refine their regulatory strategies.
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.
FROM OUR EDITORS
Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
FDA
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s health department has consistently touted radical transparency as being key to its mission. Recent instances—the FDA’s decision not to disclose the recipients of three Commissioner’s National Priority Vouchers and FDA and CDC choices not to publish vaccine-related papers—call this intent into question.
THE LATEST
Looking for a biopharma job in Pennsylvania? Check out the BioSpace list of nine companies hiring life sciences professionals like you.
In a competitive job market, how applicants present themselves in interviews is critical. Asking about promotions and expressing dislike for the work they’d be doing are just a few reasons hiring managers don’t extend job offers.
Many scientists-turned-CEOs paradoxically abandon scientific principles when it comes to commercializing their innovations. But applying the scientific method to business decisions can help life science entrepreneurs avoid common pitfalls, attract investment and ultimately bring transformative technologies to market.
CDC
Jay Bhattacharya will become the latest leader of the CDC on an acting basis, days after Jim O’Neill stepped aside.
FDA vouchers are normally a coveted prize for biopharma companies, but a surprise rejection for Disc Medicine’s rare disease drug has biopharma reconsidering.
FDA
The disagreement between Moderna and the FDA has reached a resolution just eight days after the biotech received a Refusal-to-File letter in response to its application for mRNA-1010. Moderna will now seek approval of the vaccine based on age.
Korsana’s lead program uses a next-generation shuttling technology to improve delivery into the brain and lower the incidence of amyloid-related imaging abnormalities.
Arbutus alleges that Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine infringes on patents protecting its lipid nanoparticle delivery technology.
CSL is advancing clazakizumab for the treatment of cardiovascular events in end-stage kidney disease and will retain rights over the asset in this indication. Lilly will explore other conditions.
The FDA outright refuses to review Moderna’s mRNA-based flu vaccine as CBER director Vinay Prasad’s conduct is scrutinized; Disc Medicine receives an unexpected rejection, which Prasad may also have had a hand in; Compass Pathways posts new late-stage data on its psilocybin-based depression drug; CDC is once again leaderless.