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Tristan Manalac

Tristan Manalac

Senior Staff Writer

Tristan is BioSpace‘s senior staff writer. Based in Metro Manila, Tristan has 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: Roche Diagnostics building in California
Deals
Roche Pays $7.1B to Roivant for Rights to Telavant’s IBD Candidate
The Swiss drugmaker gains rights to RVT-3101 in the U.S. and Japan. Telavant was formed in late 2022 by Roivant and Pfizer, which had a 25% stake in the venture and retains rights to the antibody in other countries.
October 23, 2023
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Pictured: Doctor looking at abdominal ultrasound i
Drug Development
Merck, BMS Score Separate Late-Stage Victories in Bladder Cancer at ESMO
The competitors posted promising survival data for their respective blockbuster PD-1 inhibitors—Keytruda and Opdivo—emphasizing the potential of these therapies in bladder cancer patients.
October 23, 2023
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3 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Pictured: FDA signage at its office in Washington, DC
FDA
FDA Approves BioMarin’s Voxzogo for Young Children with Dwarfism
The label for the achondroplasia drug, which promotes endochondral bone growth, now covers children under five years of age with the rare genetic disease causing the most common form of dwarfism.
October 23, 2023
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Pictured: Pfizer's signage at its world headquarters in New York
Deals
EU Antitrust Regulators Clear Pfizer’s $43B Acquisition of Seagen
Despite increasing antitrust scrutiny across the biopharma industry, the European Commission on Thursday said it found no competitive issues with Pfizer’s buyout of the antibody-drug conjugate company.
October 20, 2023
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Pictured: Merck building and sign in Silicon Valley
Business
Merck Pays $4B Upfront for Daiichi Sankyo’s DXd-Based ADCs
Seeking to deepen its immuno-oncology business, Merck has closed a deal potentially worth $22 billion across three of Daiichi Sankyo’s DXd antibody-drug conjugates for various solid tumor indications.
October 20, 2023
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Pictured: Businessmen shaking hands after closing a deal
Deals
Flagship’s Laronde, Senda Form Company Focused on New Class of Medicines
Sail Biomedicines combines Laronde’s circular eRNA platform with Senda’s nanoparticle delivery technology in the pursuit of a new class of programmable medicines across therapeutic areas.
October 20, 2023
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Pictured: Roche tower in Basel, Switzerland
Business
Roche Cuts Pipeline as COVID, Currency Headwinds Impact Q3 Results
The contracting COVID-19 market has led to lower third-quarter sales for the Swiss drugmaker, which made the decision to eliminate four clinical programs following underwhelming readouts.
October 19, 2023
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Pictured: Woman scratching skin lesions on her elb
FDA
UCB Wins FDA Approval for Plaque Psoriasis Therapy After Regulatory Setbacks
Following a delay and an initial rejection, UCB’s IL-17A/IL-17F blocker bimekizumab was approved for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, which will now be marketed with the brand name Bimzelx.
October 19, 2023
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Pictured: Roche Diagnostics building in California
Drug Development
Roche Claims ‘Unprecedented’ Phase III NSCLC Victory for Oral ALK Inhibitor Alecensa
Early stage ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with Roche’s Alecensa saw an “unprecedented” 76% drop in the risk of recurrence or death, the company announced Wednesday.
October 19, 2023
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Pictured: Illustration of a tumor in the lungs/iSt
Drug Development
ESMO Abstract Leak Reveals Promising NSCLC Therapies from BMS, BeiGene, J&J, Mirati
The abstracts, made available Tuesday ahead of the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress 2023, show strong efficacy data from some promising non-small cell lung cancer treatments.
October 18, 2023
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4 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Facade of the FDA's office in Maryland
FDA
FDA Approves UCB’s Complement Inhibitor for Generalized Myasthenia Gravis
The complement inhibitor won the FDA’s approval for the treatment of generalized myasthenia gravis, a rare autoimmune disease. The therapy will be sold under the brand name Zilbrysq.
October 18, 2023
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Pictured: Test-tube containing a blood sample for
FDA
Ardelyx Nabs FDA Approval for First Phosphate Absorption Blocker in CKD
The company’s resubmission succeeded in getting the greenlight for tenapanor, now to be marketed as Xphozah, to lower serum phosphorus levels in chronic kidney disease patients.
October 18, 2023
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Pictured: J&J's office in Madrid, Spain
Business
J&J Sees Nearly 7% Growth in Q3, Increases Full-Year Guidance
In its first financial report since the Kenvue consumer health spinoff, Johnson & Johnson beat analyst expectations fueled by strong pharmaceutical sales including Darzalex, Erleada and Stelara.
October 17, 2023
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Pictured: A dry eye/Kryuchka Yaroslav_Adobe Stock
Policy
Aldeyra Anticipates FDA Rejection of Dry Eye Drug Following Regulatory Meeting
Months after a denial of its rare eye cancer injection, Aldeyra Therapeutics is bracing for another potential rejection by the regulator, this time for its investigational dry eye disease treatment.
October 17, 2023
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Pictured: AbbVie Corporate Office/iStock, vzphotos
Drug Development
AbbVie’s Skyrizi Beats Remission Rates of J&J’s Stelara in Crohn’s Disease
In a follow-up readout, data from the head-to-head SEQUENCE study showed that AbbVie’s Skyrizi induced better rates of steroid-free remission in Crohn’s disease than Johnson & Johnson’s Stelara.
October 17, 2023
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
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