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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: 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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2 min read
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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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2 min read
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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
Pictured: Gloved hand holding a rabies vaccine syringe
Drug Development
YS Biopharma’s Rabies Vaccine Outperforms Commercial Competitor in Phase III Trial
Late-stage study results released Tuesday show YS Biopharma’s rabies vaccine candidate can induce twice the seroconversion rate at seven days versus a standard, globally marketed comparator.
April 10, 2024
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Pictured: Man prepares his GLP-1 receptor agonist injection
Drug Development
GLP-1s Like Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic Do Not Increase Thyroid Cancer Risk: Study
A new Scandinavian study published Wednesday found no conclusive evidence to support the link between GLP-1 receptor agonists and an increased risk of thyroid cancer.
April 10, 2024
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Pictured: Pfizer's signage outside its office in Canada/iStock, JHVEPhoto
Drug Development
Pfizer Eyes Broader Label for RSV Vaccine Abrysvo After Promising Phase III Data
Pfizer’s respiratory syncytial virus vaccine Abrysvo is just as effective in younger adults aged 18 to 59 years as it is in the shot’s currently approved population of 60 years of age and older.
April 9, 2024
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
The EMA's former headquarters in London
Policy
EMA to Review Diabetes and Weight-Loss Drugs for Suicidal Ideation Risk
As part of its ongoing review, the European Medicines Agency this week is slated to examine the potential risks of suicidal ideation and self-harm associated with diabetes and weight-loss treatments.
April 9, 2024
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
AbbVie's office in South San Francisco, California
AbbVie’s Humira Loses Only 4% of Market Share to Biosimilars: Report
Even with discounts that reach as high as 86%, Humira biosimilars are finding it difficult to take market share away from the AbbVie blockbuster, according to a new report from Samsung Bioepis.
April 9, 2024
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Pictured: Merck's office in South San Francisco, California
Deals
Merck Snaps Up Small Startup in $208M Deal, Seeks to Improve Safety of ADCs
As the antibody-drug conjugate space continues to heat up, Merck has acquired preclinical startup Abceutics—spun out of the University at Buffalo—and its novel platform that aims to make ADC therapeutics safer.
April 8, 2024
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Pictured: Illustration of red blood cells
Drug Development
ACC24 Roundup: Novo, Ionis Tout Cardio Victories and Boehringer, Lilly Disappoint
Novo Nordisk and Ionis Pharmaceuticals unveiled promising respective data at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session, while Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly’s Jardiance missed the endpoint in a myocardial infarction study.
April 8, 2024
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5 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Pictured: Bristol Myers Squibb office in California
Drug Development
BMS Sees Early ROI for $14B Karuna Buy with Phase III Schizophrenia Win
Fresh off of its $14 billion acquisition of Karuna Therapeutics, Bristol Myers Squibb on Saturday reported promising late-stage data for Karuna’s antipsychotic KarXT, which elicited significant symptomatic improvement in schizophrenia symptoms.
April 8, 2024
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
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