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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.

Entrance to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, DC
Government
Former DARPA Official Jackson Named ARPA-H Head
Alicia Jackson formerly served as deputy director of the Biological Technologies Office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
November 25, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Achieve goal concept art collage. Rising arrow chart and halftone hand pointing to center of dartboard. Business goal, achieve targets, success. Trendy modern retro vector illustration
Neuroscience
NervGen’s Peptide Achieves Nervous System Repair in Phase II Spinal Cord Injury Study
NervGen will meet with the FDA early next year to align on a regulatory path forward for NVG-291 in chronic spinal cord injury.
November 24, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
The white plane flies against the blue sky, leaving a white trail. Vector illustration
Cardiovascular disease
Bayer Sets Up Redemption Arc for Anticoagulant With ‘Surprisingly Positive’ Phase III Data
Asundexian’s Phase III win could also bode well for Bristol Myers Squibb, which is also developing a Factor XIa inhibitor called milvexian for stroke prevention, analysts said.
November 24, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
FDA commissioner Marty Makary speaking on a Youtube video, wearing a dark suit and a blue tie
Regulatory
FDA Frictions Continue as White House Denies Promotion to Makary’s Aide
A source familiar with the matter said the White House initially requested the resignation of Sanjula Jain-Nagpal, a policy and research official at the FDA.
November 24, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Vector Illustration Of Athletes Running On Race Track
Regulatory
6 Biotechs With a Shot at the FDA’s Platform Technology Designation
After revoking Sarepta’s award in July and awarding one to Krystal last month, the FDA’s platform technology designation program appears to be back on track. These six biotechs could be on the regulator’s radar.
November 21, 2025
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9 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Isometric businessman tightrope walker is on the rope. Teetering on the cable. Business challenge and risk concept. Simple minimal design. Trendy style graphic. Flat vector illustration.
Multiple sclerosis
J&J, Contineum Fail ‘Risky’ Mid-Stage Multiple Sclerosis Trial
While expressing disappointment, William Blair analysts were unsurprised by the Phase II failure, having assigned the VISTA study a high level of risk given the “mixed” performance of a similar drug in a prior multiple sclerosis study.
November 21, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Poznan, Poland - 5 October 2024: GSK -Glaxosmithkline headquarters office building in Poznan.
Legal
UPDATE: GSK’s Tesaro Sues AnaptysBio Over Current Jemperli Contract; Anaptys Countersues
After GSK subsidiary Tesaro filed a lawsuit Thursday claiming that AnaptysBio breached “certain requirements” under their 2014 license agreement involving GSK’s Jemperli, Anaptys responded Friday morning.
November 21, 2025
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3 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Accumulated problems, contradictions. Dead end, we need to go back. You cannot continue further. Complete impossibility to continue. Rejection of an idea. Hard sanctions. Fatal error.
Pipeline
Moderna Cans 3 mRNA Vaccines, Secures $1.5B Loan in Quest for 10% Growth
Amid an aggressive savings push, Moderna has cut three assets and taken on a loan to increase “flexibility.”
November 21, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Female hand holds notebook with brain on yellow background
Funding
Aspen’s $115M Series C Opens Doors to Late-Stage Development for Parkinson’s Program
Aspen is now also considering the possibility of an initial public offering next year in an effort to bring its cell therapy to the market.
November 20, 2025
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1 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Bayer office in Basel, Switzerland
Lung cancer
Bayer Wins Lung Cancer Accelerated Approval for Kinase Inhibitor
The nod brings Bayer face-to-face in the market with Boehringer Ingelheim and AstraZeneca, each of which has its own HER2 blocker for non-small cell lung cancer.
November 20, 2025
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1 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Female hand showing thumbs up gesture on blue background, art collage. Positive hand sign. Fashion collage in the style of Thumbs up magazine. Contemporary art. Modern design.
Approvals
FDA Hands Regeneron Two Eylea HD Nods in One Day
The approvals come as a pleasant surprise for Regeneron, analysts say, helping bolster the overall product profile of high-dose Eylea despite outstanding manufacturing concerns.
November 20, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
FDA commissioner Marty Makary speaking on a Youtube video, wearing a dark suit and a blue tie
FDA
Makary Eyes ‘America-First’ User Fee Structure as Renewal Negotiations Approach
A spokesperson for the FDA said the agency is “considering a wide range of options to support American innovation.”
November 19, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
man pulling each of the opposite ends of a rope in black and white, on a blue background with some blank space on top
Mergers & acquisitions
UPDATE: Avadel Accepts Alkermes’ Revised $2.37B Counteroffer, Besting Lundbeck
Lundbeck had tried to scoop the narcolepsy drug maker out from under Alkeremes with $2.4 billion, but Avadel has elected to go with its original suitor.
November 19, 2025
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3 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Relay race. Concept of teamwork. working together of business. Vector illustration
Mergers & acquisitions
Five Assets Given Away by Big Pharma That Ultimately Got Bought for Billions
Drug candidates don’t usually move among Big Pharma, but these five biotechs helped facilitate such hand-offs, scooping up assets from one pharma on the cheap before being bought out for billions by another.
November 19, 2025
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9 min read
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Tristan Manalac
A contemporary artistic collage featuring a hand holding a trophy. The concept of victory and achievement.
Cardiovascular disease
Merck Extends Winrevair’s Win Streak With New Mid-Stage Data in Type of Hypertension
Winrevair yielded significant and meaningful clinical benefits for patients with combined post- and precapillary pulmonary hypertension, an indication that, according to BMO Capital Markets, has few treatment options.
November 18, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
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