News
Alternatives to opioids are desperately needed to better treat moderate to severe acute pain, but to date, we’ve seen few novel analgesics hit the market.
FEATURED STORIES
LB Pharma needed $350 million to advance a promising schizophrenia candidate at a time when the biotech markets were locked up tight. Fortunately, it wasn’t CEO Heather Turner’s first rodeo.
Rare disease drug developers struggle to survive in a biopharma investment market that prioritizes large patient populations. Initiatives like the Orphan Therapeutics Accelerator are attempting to solve what CEO Craig Martin says is not a science problem, but a math problem.
Eli Lilly’s win in a head-to-head trial drove Novo Nordisk’s market cap to pre-Wegovy levels not long after the victor became the first pharma company to top a $1 trillion valuation. It seems one company can do no right, while the other can do no wrong.
FROM OUR EDITORS
Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
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.
THE LATEST
The November layoffs are the second known workforce reduction this year for Marinus Pharmaceuticals, which previously announced disappointing Phase III results for ganaxolone in two clinical trials.
Allogene is ceasing enrollment in a Phase I trial of cema-cel for patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia after Bristol Myers Squibb’s Breyanzi was approved in the indication earlier this year.
Despite recent enthusiasm around the PD-1/VEGF space, BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman noted that Merck’s pact with LaNova Medicines is more “conservativism” on the pharma’s part than confirmatory of recent data in the drug class.
Plus, communication errors that cost job offers and how to craft a LinkedIn “About” section
GSK is carving out a niche for Blenrep in the second-line multiple myeloma setting, for which it projects multi-blockbuster potential for the antibody-drug conjugate.
Following strong treatment response data for Adaptimmune’s lete-cel, the biotech is planning to initiate a rolling BLA submission to the FDA, set to start by the end of 2025.
The FDA has followed in the footsteps of its European counterparts and granted accelerated approval to PTC Therapeutics’ gene therapy Kebilidi for AADC deficiency. It is the first approved gene therapy to be delivered directly to the brain.
Following patient deaths in a lupus trial that led to the termination of that program, Kezar’s autoimmune candidate zetomipzomib faces a partial clinical hold barring four trial participants from continuing treatment in the open-label portion of the trial, though the trial itself will continue as planned.
Despite crowding in the next-gen weight loss space, Metsera has raised over $500 million since its April launch, indicating a continued appetite for these drugs.
A slow launch for Alzheimer’s medicine Leqembi, a lackluster pipeline and a challenging drug launch environment are just a few of the factors that have sent Biogen’s shares down this year.