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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.

NIAID Director Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo addresses staff. She is wearing a black and white shirt, black pants, and round glasses.
Regulatory
Fired NIAID Director Claims Ouster Was Payback for Whistleblower Report
Jeanne Marrazzo, former director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease, was formally terminated Thursday after months on administrative leave, after filing a whistleblower report.
October 3, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Stack of coins balancing on seesaw over a bottle of pills.
Drug pricing
CMS Finalizes Stronger Protections for Orphan Drugs Against IRA Price Negotiations
Expanded exemptions for orphan drugs could mean prolonged protections for top-selling drugs like Merck’s Keytruda, which was initially approved under this designation in 2014.
October 3, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Cardiovascular disease
Amgen Builds Case for Repatha To Prevent Heart Disease With Late-Stage Data
Findings from the Phase III VESALIUS-CV study reinforce the cholesterol-lowering benefit of Repatha in high-risk patients without prior cardiovascular disease, for which the drug was approved in August 2024.
October 3, 2025
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1 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Hand shake icon on wooden cube block which connection with human icon for business deal and agreement concept.
Mergers & acquisitions
Halozyme’s $900M Elektrofi Buyout Brings Two Big Pharma Partners Together
Both Halozyme and Elektrofi have partnered with several Big Pharma companies to provide drug delivery technologies.
October 2, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Trendy halftone collage. Concept of choice, make a decision left or right, ability to think in a difficult situation, question of choosing between 2 directions. Illustration for web banner, social media banner. Vector illustration
Tariffs
Trump Delays Pharma Tariffs Yet Again
President Donald Trump last week announced that 100% pharma tariffs would come Oct. 1, but a White House official has clarified that that’s when the government will “begin preparing” the levies.
October 2, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Success Way and freedom. Business woman walking to the exit through an open door.
Cell therapy
Takeda Exits Cell Therapy Amid Strategic Pivot, Dealing Blow to Once Promising Modality
Takeda is looking to offload its cell therapy platform and preclinical assets to a yet-unidentified external partner. 137 employees will be let go as part of the move.
October 2, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
halftone magazine style banner, dislike, negative rating, hand thumbs down
Complete response letters
Fortress, Sentynl Fail To Secure FDA Nod in Rare Pediatric Disease
As with recent rejections for Biogen and Scholar Rock, manufacturing issues stymied a regulatory bid from Fortress Biotech and Sentynl Therapeutics. Fortress said the FDA did not flag problems with the drug’s safety or efficacy.
October 1, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Receiving dividends among investors. Art collage.
Cancer
AnaptysBio Plans Business Split To Sharpen Focus on Asset Value
The business separation, expected to be completed by the end of 2026, will result in two new companies, one focused on biopharma operations and the other on royalty management.
October 1, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Marburg, Germany - July 6, 2013: Marburg Office of Swiss multinational company Novartis AG
Approvals
Novartis Secures First FDA Approval of Oral BTK Inhibitor for Chronic Hives
The first oral BTK blocker for chronic spontaneous urticaria, Rhapsido offers a more convenient treatment option for patients who still show symptoms after antihistamine treatment.
October 1, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Sign of divorce. Broken paper heart on blue background, top view, copy space
Business
Novo Breaks $598M Heartseed Pact Amid ‘Decisive Restructuring’ by New CEO
Novo Nordisk and Heartseed first partnered in 2021 to develop an investigational cell therapy for heart failure.
October 1, 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
Obesity
Metsera’s Obesity Drug Shows ‘Very Encouraging’ Mid-Stage Efficacy, Supporting Pfizer’s $4.9B Bet
MET-097i’s mid-stage performance “bodes well” for Pfizer’s proposed buyout of Metsera, according to BMO Capital Markets, a deal centered heavily on the investigational GLP-1 drug.
September 30, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Stagflation, economic slow down or recession while inflation high up, GDP growth decrease causing by unemployment concept, fearful businessman riding fall down economic graph with inflation high up.
Friedreich’s ataxia
Larimar’s Friedreich’s Ataxia Drug Troubled by Anaphylaxis Concerns; Shares Fall
Despite tolerability concerns, nomlabofusp’s overall efficacy represents a “large win” for Larimar, according to analysts at William Blair, who lauded the therapy’s functional benefits.
September 30, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) commonly causes inflammation in the hands, leading to pain, swelling, and stiffness in the joints, particularly the small joints of the fingers and wrists. This inflammation results from the immune system attacking the body's own joint tissues, causing the synovium (lining of the joint) to become inflamed and release chemicals that damage nearby tissues.
Series A
Novo-Backed Crystalys Debuts With $205M to Tackle Gout
Already approved in Japan, China and other Asian countries, Crystalys’ dotinurad works to lower serum uric acid levels.
September 30, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
FDA CDER director George Tidmarsh speaking in an FDA video
Regulatory
FDA’s Tidmarsh Singles Out Aurinia’s Drug in LinkedIn Post About Surrogate Endpoints
Without naming Aurinia Pharmaceuticals, the CDER director in a now-deleted LinkedIn post claimed that for lupus nephritis, companies have not conducted post-approval studies “to demonstrate a benefit on hard clinical endpoints.”
September 30, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Biogen’s headquarters in Massachusetts
Layoffs
Biogen Shuffles 20 Staff After Ending AAV Work
The AAV pullback comes amid Biogen’s aggressive cost-cutting campaign, which put some 1,000 jobs on the chopping block with the goal of generating $1 billion in savings by 2025.
September 29, 2025
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
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