News
A consumer-driven weight loss market could put pharma at greater risk if a recession hits; the continued turmoil at FDA and other HHS agencies magnifies the uncertainty facing the industry; Lilly files a lawsuit against a med spa selling its drugs; and more.
FEATURED STORIES
After a busy first half of 2024, several companies are expecting key data readouts in the neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disease spaces during the next six months.
Halia Therapeutics, NodThera and Gain Therapeutics target neuroinflammatory processes in hopes of modifying the course of Parkinson’s progression.
The Federal Trade Commission criticized the business practices of pharmacy benefit managers this week, but drugmakers are also at fault for the high costs of medicines.
Job Trends
Takeda announced that, on October 17, 2023, it agreed with the Irish Revenue Commissioners to settle a tax assessment related to the treatment of an acquisition break fee received by Shire plc in October 2014 from AbbVie Inc., for EUR 130 million, resulting in a tax expense reduction of approximately JPY 63 billion for Takeda.
FROM OUR EDITORS
Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
The FDA has vowed to fix a pharma ad loophole—but they’re targeting the wrong one.
THE LATEST
Donald Trump continues to make waves in biopharma; Sage rejects Biogen’s unsolicited takeover offer; the obesity space sees more action with new company launches, IPOs and fresh data; and experts get ready for an important era in the Duchenne muscular dystrophy space.
Ahead of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation hearings, experts—and RFK’s own family—expressed concerns about his vaccine-related views, though the same experts are largely unfazed by the level of power he and Marty Makary could ultimately wield over the FDA.
It’s been a rocky few months for BioAge Labs, which shuttered a Phase II trial of its lead candidate azelaprag Tuesday after the molecule caused liver-based side effects.
The results, which come on the heels of the FDA’s approval of J&J’s esketamine nasal spray Spravato as a monotherapy for treatment-resistant depression, could serve to further bolster a space hit hard by the rejection of Lykos’ MDMA-based PTSD therapy in August 2024.
Atara Biotherapeutics’ layoffs could leave the biotech with around 80 employees. The cuts follow news that the FDA rejected Ebvallo, a T cell therapy approved in Europe for a transplant-related blood cancer, and placed a clinical hold on the company’s active drug applications.
Landing a job remains challenging for life sciences professionals, according to a new BioSpace report. While 59% of surveyed organizations are actively recruiting, nearly half of unemployed survey respondents had been out of work for at least six months, and 20% of surveyed employers expect to lay off employees this year.
The company, co-founded by Nobel Laureate Craig Mello, aims to push molecules for Huntington’s and a form of epilepsy into Phase I trials, with additional preclinical assets targeting Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
Versant Ventures continues to invest in the increasingly competitive obesity space, this time launching Helicore with $65 million and a GIP-targeting asset intended to induce higher-quality weight loss.
In this Employment Outlook report, BioSpace explores current workforce sentiment, job activity trends and the prospective job and hiring outlook for 2025, particularly as it compares to the previous year.
Enhertu’s label expansion comes on the heels of the FDA’s approval of the partners’ Datroway for a related type of breast cancer.