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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.

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
Ascendis retreats to rare endocrinology wheelhouse as cancer plans falter
Before discontinuing the asset, Ascendis Pharma was studying onvapegleukin alfa in advanced or metastatic solid tumors, demonstrating a three- to four-month overall survival advantage over historical controls.
May 8, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
3d rendering of a red and silver realistic model of a retro rocket stands crashed into a wooden desk on a blue background. Failed launch. Technological progress. Technical mistake.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy
Entrada crashes as Duchenne therapy comes in ‘below expectations’ in early study
Entrada Therapeutics saw a 2.36% dystrophin increase in patients treated with its oligonucleotide asset—a number that fell short of the company’s prior guidance of a double-digit improvement.
May 7, 2026
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3 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Concept of business growth,profit, development and success. Young plants increase on sunny background.Growing money,finance and investment
Earnings
Sarepta says to ‘exercise prudence’ in setting expectations for Elevidys’ recovery
Sarepta Therapeutics has put in place several initiatives to help its gene therapy Elevidys return to growth, but recovery will take a long time, according to company executives.
May 7, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Business negotiation and cooperation vector concept. Symbol of a deal, handshake, success. Minimal design eps10 illustration.
Weight loss
GSK goes beyond weight-loss with $1B buyout of Chinese siRNA specialist
With Siran Biotechnology under its fold, GSK will have access to a long-acting siRNA therapy that could induce weight loss while preserving lean mass, in addition to addressing other weight-related comorbidities.
May 7, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Hands reach out to each other. Handshake. Halftone retro hands. Body parts cut out of newspaper. Hands tied with thread. Shaking hands. Make a deal. Successful agreement. Modern collage
Deals
Bayer ends multi-year M&A drought with up to $2.45B Perfuse buy
For $300 million upfront, Bayer is purchasing Perfuse Therapeutics to advance an eye implant for glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy, marking the company’s first pharma acquisition since 2021.
May 6, 2026
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1 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Profit and Money Concept, Financial and Business Graph
Immunology and inflammation
Viridian turns green again as new Phase 3 data vindicate thyroid eye disease drug
Viridian Therapeutics’ elegrobart normalized the degree of eye protrusion and improved double vision in a Phase 3 study. The company plans to file for approval in the first quarter of 2027.
May 6, 2026
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1 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Working man icon pushing the load on the line. Hard work, labor, effort and determination concept.
Inflammatory bowel disease
J&J pushes dual-antibody IBD therapy into Phase 3 despite mid-stage fails
Johnson & Johnson plans to advance the co-antibody therapy, which combines its IL-23 blocker Tremfya and the TNF-alpha inhibitor Simponi, into late-stage testing for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
May 6, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
screenshot of Marty Makary speaking on the Megyn Kelly Show
Policy
Makary defends Replimune melanoma rejection again as FDA tensions build
Facing increasing pressure from both industry and the White House, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said the strong bad press against him is “corporate spin” and that the agency has “followed the science.”
May 6, 2026
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3 min read
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Tristan Manalac
A handshake of businessmen. Modern design with a positive context. Concept of help, support, and agreement between businessmen. Modern art collage, trendy magazine style.
MASH
Madrigal picks up another siRNA asset for MASH, betting up to $1B with Arrowhead
Madrigal Pharmaceuticals has licensed from Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals an RNA interference candidate that targets a genetic mutation present in around 30% of patients with MASH.
May 5, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Stones in calm water with evening sun
Earnings
Vertex’s quiet Q1 is calm before potentially ‘iconic’ renal evolution
While some analysts may regard Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ first quarter results as “unremarkable,” BMO Capital Markets wrote on Monday, the second half of 2026 could be big for the biotech, with the potential approval of IgAN therapy povetacicept.
May 5, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Yellow warning sign symbol or alert safety danger caution illustration icon security message and exclamation triangle information icon on attention traffic background with secure alarm. 3D render.
Obesity
Foundayo’s liver failure blip weighs down Lilly shares but analysts unconcerned
The selloff in Eli Lilly’s shares was “overdone,” according to RBC Capital Markets, which noted that the overall safety profile of Foundayo remains favorable.
May 5, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Exclusive magazine sketch collage image of happy businesswoman businessman stand question mark strategy ceo magnifier search job.
Government
FDA uncertainty persists as search for Prasad successor at CBER drags on
The FDA is reportedly down to a handful of final candidates to lead CBER, with a potential selection expected in the coming month or two. For now, the appointment of acting director Katherine Szarama has not allayed the industry’s concerns.
May 5, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
A flower in the middle of the desert
Adcomms
First FDA ODAC meeting without Pazdur highlights conceptual challenges with trial
The advisory committee meeting—the FDA’s first drug-related adcomm in nine months—could have been a “more conceptual discussion” about the design of AstraZeneca’s Phase 3 trial of camizestrant in HER2-negative advanced breast cancer, former cancer regulator Harpreet Singh told BioSpace.
May 4, 2026
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9 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Illustration showing three businesspeople hanging on the edge of a cliff
Lung cancer
Summit shares descend as PD-1/VEGF asset misses early survival mark
Summit Therapeutics planned an early interim progression-free survival readout for HARMONi-3 in the hope of enabling earlier regulatory engagement—but the early analysis delivered disappointment for the company and shareholders.
May 4, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
A contemporary artistic collage featuring a hand holding a trophy. The concept of victory and achievement.
Approvals
FDA clears Pfizer, Arvinas’ novel breast cancer therapy despite mixed data
Veppanu, the first PROTAC therapy approved by the FDA, improved progression free survival by 43% versus AstraZeneca’s Faslodex but showed no such significant benefit in the intention-to-treat analysis.
May 4, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
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