News

This week’s meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will be led by Kirk Milhoan, a physician and pastor who recently claimed that COVID-19 vaccines contained a contamination that causes cancer.
FEATURED STORIES
Mixed headlines have plagued the cell and gene therapy space of late. We believe that a renewed case of optimism is not only warranted but essential if these therapies are to reach their full potential.
FDA
Since July, several biotechs have been forced to pivot as previous agreements with the FDA around evidence required for approval were reversed, a phenomenon that, according to experts, could portend a more restrictive regulator.
The drugmaker’s dominance of the obesity market is fueling predictions that years of growth lie ahead.
Job Trends
Looking for a biopharma job in Texas? Check out the BioSpace list of six companies hiring life sciences professionals like you.
FROM OUR EDITORS
Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
Like they say about the weather in Iceland, if you don’t like an action taken by the new administration, wait five minutes; it’ll probably change. The markets, it seems, don’t react kindly to that kind of policymaking.
THE LATEST
The FDA approved an intrathecal form of Novartis’ spinal muscular atrophy gene therapy Zolgensma on Monday, broadening access to patients two years and older in what one Stanford Medicine professor called a “game changing advance” for the field.
At one point in merger negotiations with Novartis, Avidity CEO Sarah Boyce and her team walked, cutting off access to a data room and moving on to a capital raise.
Novo Nordisk’s amycretin showed no weight-loss plateau over 36 weeks in patients with type 2 diabetes, suggesting its efficacy could become even stronger with longer follow-up, according to analysts at BMO Capital Markets.
Previous mega blockbusters took years to reach their peak sales. Lilly’s tirzepatide franchise is on course to exceed them just a few years in.
Tecvayli plus Darzalex led to an 83% boost to progression-free survival versus the current standard therapy in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, results analysts at Guggenheim Securities called “remarkable.”
FDA
Richard Pazdur, the new director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, raised concerns amid the rollout of several FDA initiatives seeking to shorten the drug review process.
Alicia Jackson formerly served as deputy director of the Biological Technologies Office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Experts suggest the FDA’s Advanced Manufacturing Technologies designation could be a lifeline for improving production processes for approved cell and gene therapies.
Johnson & Johnson will discontinue the Phase II Auτonomy study of posdinemab after a scheduled review found the anti-tau antibody failed to slow clinical decline in patients with early Alzheimer’s disease.
Analysts agree that the failure of Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide to reduce Alzheimer’s disease progression removes a “modest” or “perceived” overhang on Biogen and the anti-amyloid antibody class in general, clearing the way for increased uptake of Leqembi and Eli Lilly’s Kisunla.