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Tristan Manalac

Tristan Manalac

Contributing Writer | News

Tristan is an independent science writer based in Metro Manila, with more than eight years of experience writing about medicine, biotech and science. Being formally trained in molecular biology, he once dreamed of collecting degrees and starting his own lab. But these days, he finds his greatest joy in a bottle of beer and a beautiful sentence. He can be reached at tristan.manalac@biospace.com, tristan@tristanmanalac.com or on LinkedIn.

Pictured: CVS Health's signage outside its office in Texas
Drug Delivery
Sandoz’s Biosimilar Skyrockets After CVS Removes AbbVie’s Humira from Formularies
Prescriptions for Sandoz’s Hyrimoz, a biosimilar version of AbbVie’s Humira, have shot up after CVS Caremark took the blockbuster arthritis treatment off its major national commercial formularies on April 1.
April 16, 2024
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Pictured: Doctor looking at a patient's MRI brain scan
Drug Development
FDA Puts Clinical Hold on Neumora’s Schizophrenia Drug Due to Preclinical Safety Signals
Following cases of convulsions in rabbits in a preclinical study, the FDA has placed a clinical hold on Neumora Therapeutics’ Phase I schizophrenia drug candidate NMRA-266.
April 15, 2024
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Signage outside Genentech's headquarters in Silicon Valley
Business
Genentech Walks Away From $3B Allogeneic T-Cell Pact with Adaptimmune
Roche’s Genentech subsidiary is terminating for undisclosed reasons its 2021 contract with Adaptimmune for the development of allogeneic T-cell therapeutics.
April 15, 2024
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
AbbVie's office in South San Francisco, California
Drug Development
AbbVie Touts Long-Term Efficacy of Qulipta as Preventive Migraine Treatment
AbbVie’s small molecule drug Qulipta has durable benefits and can reduce migraine frequency through 48 weeks of follow-up, according to interim Phase III data released on Friday.
April 15, 2024
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Tristan Manalac
Facade of the FDA's office in Maryland
Policy
FDA Adcomm Backs New Surrogate Endpoint for Accelerated Approvals in Blood Cancer
An FDA advisory committee on Friday agreed that using minimal residual disease could be a viable surrogate endpoint for accelerated approval for drug development in multiple myeloma.
April 15, 2024
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
The EMA's former headquarters in London
Policy
EMA Finds No Link Between GLP-1 Drugs and Suicidal Thoughts, Self-Harm
The European Medicines Agency on Friday said it found no evidence linking GLP-1 receptor agonists with suicidal thoughts and actions, following a review of patients taking Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide and liraglutide, and Eli Lilly’s dulaglutide and AstraZeneca’s exenatide.
April 12, 2024
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Pictured: Fujifilm's head office in Canada
Job Trends
Fujifilm Pumps $1.2B into CDMO Capacity in North Carolina, Eyes 680 New Jobs by 2031
The global contract development and manufacturing organization is investing $1.2 billion to boost production capabilities at its Holly Springs, North Carolina, site including mammalian cell culture bioreactors.
April 12, 2024
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
AstraZeneca's sign on its office in California
FDA
AstraZeneca Expands Fasenra’s Label to Younger Children with Severe Asthma
The FDA on Thursday approved the label expansion of AstraZeneca’s Fasenra as an add-on maintenance treatment for severe eosinophilic asthma in patients six to 11 years of age.
April 12, 2024
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Tristan Manalac
Pictured: Eli Lilly's biotechnology center in San Diego, California
Policy
Lilly Suffers Legal Loss in Tirzepatide Case Against Compounding Pharmacy
Florida District Judge Roy Altman earlier this week ruled against Eli Lilly, finding that the drugmaker cannot use state law to block reformulated versions of its blockbuster weight-loss and diabetes medication tirzepatide.
April 12, 2024
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Novartis' office building in Marburg, Germany
Business
Novartis Inks $1B Protein Degrader Deal with Arvinas, Begins MorphoSys Tender Offer
Novartis on Thursday announced that it is making $150 million in upfront payments to protein degradation biotech Arvinas, while separately revealing that its tender offer for MorphoSys has begun.
April 11, 2024
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3 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Pictured: 3D illustration of a DNA double-helix
Drug Development
Amylyx Plots New Path in Rare Genetic Disease After Relyvrio Withdrawal
On the heels of withdrawing Relyvrio from the U.S. and Canadian markets, Amylyx is now charting a path in Wolfram syndrome with promising interim Phase II data for its lead asset AMX0035.
April 11, 2024
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Entrance to Vertex's office in Boston, Massachusetts
Deals
Vertex Buys Alpine for $4.9B to Bolster Autoimmune and Inflammatory Disease Pipeline
Vertex Pharmaceuticals on Wednesday announced it is acquiring clinical-stage immunotherapy company Alpine Immune Sciences for $4.9 billion in cash, the largest acquisition so far this year.
April 11, 2024
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Pictured: U.S. Department of Justice building in Washington, DC
Policy
DOJ Sues Regeneron for Allegedly Inflating Medicare Pricing for Eye Drug Eylea
The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a complaint against Regeneron alleging that the pharma knowingly omitted credit card price concessions for Eylea to inflate Medicare reimbursement rates.
April 11, 2024
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Tristan Manalac
Pictured: 3D illustration of antibody-drug conjugates with their toxic payloads
TORL Targets Hot ADC Space with Oversubscribed $158M Series B-2
Bristol Myers Squibb-backed TORL BioTherapeutics announced Wednesday it will use proceeds from the Series B-2 financing round to advance its pipeline of antibody-drug conjugate therapies.
April 10, 2024
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Tristan Manalac
Merck Research Laboratories in South San Francisco, California
Drug Development
AACR: Merck, Kelun’s Anti-TROP2 ADC Shows Early Promise in Gastric Cancer
Merck and Kelun-Biotech’s antibody-drug conjugate achieved a 22% objective response rate and 80.5% disease control rate in heavily pretreated patients with gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer.
April 10, 2024
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
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