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The American Diabetes Association’s annual congress will feature a superstar lineup, including weight loss giants Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk. But several scrappy biotechs will also present obesity candidates with the potential to match—if not outperform—their deep-pocketed competitors.
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Revolution Medicines stole the show at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting as full data from its pancreatic cancer drug lived up to expectations, while Summit and Akeso proved the PD-(L)1/VEGF mechanism and Eli Lilly showed that its in vivo CAR T bet is paying off.
From Chinese innovation to AI, biotech CEOs are being hit with challenges at a breakneck pace. Three leaders from BioSpace’s NextGen Class of 2026 told us about the issues keeping them up at night.
Deal dynamics between Chinese biotechs and global pharma companies are changing fast, with the biotechs seeking higher upfront payments and the Big Pharmas seeking more expansive platform deals.
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FDA veteran Peter Marks will now shape the future of Eli Lilly’s vaccines work after the buys of Curevo, LimmaTech Biologics and Vaccine Company for up to $3.8 billion total.
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The move comes as BioNTech shifts to being a multiproduct commercial biotech, allowing Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci to transition back into research on next-generation mRNA therapeutics.
Analysts expect the market for manufacturing cell and gene therapies, worth less than $20 billion in 2024, to expand rapidly as approvals drive higher volumes of production.
Breakout Ventures’ focus on early-stage companies stands out as more and more investors elect to save their dollars for derisked assets.
Stylus Medicine, a member of BioSpace’s NextGen Class of 2026, launched in May 2025 to develop new, less complex genetic medicines. The company’s in vivo approach has attracted “intense” interest from Big Pharma.
Dyne Therapeutics is plotting an approval application for z-rostudirsen in the back half of 2026—a push that will only be bolstered by the departure of controversial CBER chief Vinay Prasad, according to analysts at Stifel.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a rolling biologics license application with the FDA for povetacicept in IgA nephropathy. With new data from RAINIER, the biotech expects to complete its submission by the end of March.
Single-trial approvals are raising the bar on trial design and execution. The new paradigm is pushing sponsors to plan earlier, step up their data and risk‑based quality management and use modeling and AI to generate one compelling, regulator‑ready evidence package.
Industry groups have identified upfront costs as a barrier to streamlining U.S. drugmaking. The nonprofit API Innovation Center has a proposed answer for how to tilt finances in favor of investments in continuous manufacturing.
AbbVie’s foray into the obesity space is successful so far, analysts agree, as amylin analog ABBV-295 elicited as much as 9.73% weight loss at 13 weeks in the multiple ascending dose portion of a Phase 1 trial.
The companies have been embroiled in a row about compounded GLP-1 drugs that escalated to a lawsuit last month. The legal action has now been dropped and the former adversaries have struck a deal that could increase access to Novo’s obesity medicines.