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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.

View of Chicago Skyline from North Avenue Beach
Cancer
Merck, Boehringer Ingelheim, More To Present Key Data at AACR ’25
Presentations at this year’s American Association for Cancer Research meeting could have a broad impact on the treatment landscape for head and neck and lung cancer, and implications for specific drug modalities like TIGIT and VEGF.
April 25, 2025
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4 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Fashionable halftones collage. Startup business concept,fast business startup. Trendy modern retro illustration in bright trendy colors. Strategic planning concept and business success. Vector illustration
Startups
Novartis-, Sanofi-Backed Granite Brings $100M to Compete in Crowded I&I Space
Granite will focus on two antibody therapies, both targeting crucial players in the inflammatory cascade to address autoimmune diseases.
April 24, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Pictured: Novavax/Getty Images, STR/NurPhoto
Vaccines
After Missed Decision Deadline, Novavax Says COVID-19 Shot ‘Approvable’
The FDA is asking Novavax for a non-mandatory postmarketing commitment to produce additional clinical data for its investigational COVID-19 vaccine.
April 24, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Contemporary art collage. Human hand holding megaphones and spreading fake news. Concept of information, creativity, social issues, rumors. Copy space for ad
Regulatory
Vanda Escalates Vendetta Against FDA, Blasts ‘Bureaucrats’ for Delaying Stomach Drug
The tradipitant saga stretches back to September 2024, when the FDA declined to approve Vanda’s drug in gastroparesis, a stomach condition characterized by delayed gastric emptying.
April 24, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Roche's tower in Shanghai, China
Tariffs
Roche in ‘Very, Very Good Position’ To Weather Trump Tariffs but M&A May Suffer
Roche’s exposure to the tariffs is mostly limited to four medicines, three of which it already produces in the U.S., according to CEO Thomas Schinecker, who declined to reveal what these assets are.
April 24, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Two boxing gloves give a fist bump on a colored background. Collage art
Lung cancer
Summit’s Bispecific Beats Yet Another Cancer Med, Pressuring Keytruda’s ‘Supremacy’
Analysts at BMO Capital Markets expect Summit and Akeso’s HARMONi-6 readout to put some pressure on Merck and its blockbuster biologic Keytruda.
April 23, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Pictured: Bristol Myers Squibb office in California
Neuropsychiatric disorders
‘Strike 2?’ BMS Stumbles Again as Cobenfy Disappoints in Schizophrenia
Cobenfy’s late-stage flop is BMS’ second high-profile failure in as many weeks. The pharma announced last week that Camzyos was unable to improve disease burden in non-obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
April 23, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Bridgewater, NJ, USA - August 23, 2022: Bausch Health US headquarters in Bridgewater, NJ, USA. Bausch Health Companies is a Canadian specialty pharmaceutical company.
Venture capitalists
Bausch Health Tussles With Activist Investor Carl Icahn After Popping Poison Pill
Bausch Health has launched a shareholder rights plan—also known as a poison pill defense—designed to prevent any one entity from taking control of the company to the detriment of other shareholders.
April 23, 2025
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1 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Policy
RFK Considers Pulling COVID-19 From CDC’s Vaccine Guidelines for Children: Politico
Such a change would put the U.S. more in line with guidance in other countries and with the World Health Organization, which recommends one dose for children and adolescents only if they have comorbidities.
April 23, 2025
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3 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Contemporary art collage featuring a hand with a judicial hammer. Concept of Judge and Provost or Judgment Day
Legal
Lilly Takes Four Compounders to Court for Allegedly Producing Knockoff Tirzepatide
In December 2024, the FDA affirmed that the shortage of tirzepatide, marketed as Zepbound for weight loss, had ended, formally barring compounders from producing their knockoff versions of the drug.
April 23, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Concept 3d illustration of a collocated containers as though a computer game due to imports tariffs.
Manufacturing
Roche, Regeneron Pledge Multibillion Boosts to US Manufacturing as Trump’s Tariffs Loom
Roche is committing $50 billion while Regeneron inked a $3 billion manufacturing deal with Fujifilm, allowing the pharma to “nearly double” its U.S. large-scale manufacturing capacity.
April 22, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Gilead's headquarters in Silicon Valley
Breast cancer
Gilead’s Trodelvy, With Keytruda, Slows Disease Progression in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Combining Trodelvy with Keytruda and pushing it into the frontline setting could “potentially double” the ADC’s market in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, according to analysts at Truist Securities.
April 22, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Breast Cancer awareness month card illustration. Pink ribbon and hand fist up power in retro collage craft style. Design concept for disease prevention or october support campaign.
Breast cancer
AstraZeneca, Daiichi Sankyo Push Enhertu to Frontline Breast Cancer With Phase III Data
Analysts at Leerink Partners said in a Monday note that DESTINY-Breast09’s findings “could support an approval” for Enhertu in first-line HER2+ metastatic breast cancer.
April 22, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Novo Nordisk advertising flags and logo on facade
Obesity
Novo Seeks FDA Nod for Semaglutide Pill as Oral Obesity Space Heats Up
Novo Nordisk filed for approval of an oral, 25-mg formulation of its weight loss blockbuster “earlier this year,” according to a company spokesperson.
April 22, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Immunology and inflammation
Following Rejection, FDA Okays Sanofi/Regeneron’s Dupixent for Chronic Hives
Dupixent, which was rejected by the FDA for chronic spontaneous urticaria in October 2023, is now approved as the first new targeted therapy for the indication in more than 10 years.
April 21, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
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