Follow along as BioSpace tracks job cuts and restructuring initiatives.
In this episode of Denatured, you’ll hear from Diana Saraceni, founder and managing partner at Panakès Partners and Fabrizio Calisti, medical director at Angelini Ventures. We explore how Italy’s life sciences ecosystem has evolved over the last decade—from stronger tech transfer and growing venture capital to the gaps that still keep it from matching the UK, Germany or France in company creation and scale.
Last month, biopharmas cutting or planning to cut their workforces included Amgen, GSK and Novartis, with Novartis’ layoffs affecting the most people.
Avalyn Pharma and Generate Biomedicines executives discuss the long hours, hard work and rewarding moments of taking their companies public.
Reports of seven deaths in patients who had taken Neurocrine Biosciences’ Vykat and the official termination of Aardvark Therapeutics’ Phase 3 trial after cardiac complications marked a tough day for the Prader-Willi syndrome community.
BioSpace is launching an IPO dashboard to help the industry keep tabs on U.S. biotechs that have taken the public plunge in 2026.
FEATURED STORIES
AI is quickly becoming a central force in drug development, from powering pharma engines to permanently rewiring the capital markets.
Insilico Medicine CEO Alex Zhavoronkov’s mad dash across the BIO International Convention in June attracted plenty of eyes. But the executive would prefer industry watchers gawk at the billions of dollars’ worth of deals his company has struck.
The shift from ex vivo to in vivo gene delivery is rewriting the rules of viral vector manufacturing, forcing developers to rethink scale, purity, cell lines and analytics as vectors themselves become the drug. AGC Biologics is betting on stable producer lines, next‑gen purification and deeper characterization to meet the far stricter demands of in vivo therapies.
Three years after Qalsody was approved by the FDA as the first drug to target a genetic cause of ALS, some patients are reporting not only disease stabilization but also improvement of symptoms.
Despite the recent emergence of a new drug class, schizophrenia remains one of the most challenging neuropsychiatric diseases to treat—and Cobenfy’s first steps into the market indicate there is still room to grow.
While there are several FDA-approved psychiatric medicines on the market, many patients still struggle to achieve lasting symptom relief. Psychedelics could help fill this gap.
UPCOMING EVENTS
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Wednesday, August 26, 2026 11am EDT·Virtual
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Tuesday, September 1, 2026 8am–5:30pm PDT·San Francisco, California
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Wednesday, September 2, 2026 8am–6:10pm PDT·San Francisco, California
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Thursday, September 3, 2026 8am–6:10pm PDT·San Francisco, California
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Tuesday, September 8, 2026 8am–6:15pm PDT·San Francisco, California
LATEST PODCASTS
In this episode of Denatured, you’ll hear from Diana Saraceni, founder and managing partner at Panakès Partners and Fabrizio Calisti, medical director at Angelini Ventures. We explore how Italy’s life sciences ecosystem has evolved over the last decade—from stronger tech transfer and growing venture capital to the gaps that still keep it from matching the UK, Germany or France in company creation and scale.
After two rejections, Replimune has made it across the regulatory finish line with its advanced melanoma therapy. Meanwhile, the last of the major pharmas, including Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, reported second quarter earnings, and psychedelics made headlines once again.
In this episode of Denatured, you’ll hear from Hans Eriksson, chief medical officer at FundaMental Pharma and Steve Levine, chief patient officer at Compass Pathways. We explore why treatment-resistant depression remains so difficult to address, and how new approaches—from rapid-acting antidepressants to psychedelic therapy—may reshape the treatment paradigm.
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SPECIAL EDITIONS
Who is the highest paid CEO in all of pharma? In this special edition, BioSpace examines top paid CEOs and their pay packages.
BioSpace examines how the FDA approval of Eli Lilly’s oral obesity drug Foundayo has ignited a key race with Novo Nordisk.
Opportunities increased by the end of the first quarter, according to BioSpace data.
DEALS
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Mereo BioPharma’s asset, dubbed alvelestat, is set to enter Phase 3 development for AATD-LD in 2027. -
Jazz Pharmaceuticals is reaching into its wallet once again, this time buying Actio Biosciences and an experimental therapy for KCNT1+ epilepsy, a form of the disease with no FDA-approved treatments. -
News of the joint venture comes months after AstraZeneca vowed to spend $15 billion in China by the end of the decade. -
Braveheart Bio has emerged on the Nasdaq with an upsized expected initial public offering—marking the public entrance of the twenty-second biotech this year. -
Reuters has deflated rumors that AstraZeneca and Bristol Myers Squibb are discussing a possible merger, letting the air out of industry-wide speculation over what could have been the largest deal in pharma history.
WEIGHT LOSS
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Beyond the legal action, Eli Lilly is calling on healthcare providers, regulatory authorities, online platforms and even logistics companies to help stem the illegal sale of its next-generation asset for weight loss. -
Foundayo clocked $98 million in sales in Q2, the first quarter it was available, compared to Novo’s $355 million for the same sales period. -
A legal dispute between the FDA and Eli Lilly over whether the highly anticipated obesity candidate retatrutide is indeed a biologic has come to a head as the company prepares to submit the medicine for approval. -
Eli Lilly’s shares rose nearly 5% to $1,170 apiece in premarket trading as the company reported $23 billion in revenue for the second quarter. The company’s market cap is $1.02 trillion as of the end of July. -
Amgen has discontinued Phase 1 obesity candidate AMG 513, leaving MariTide as its sole weight loss asset. Meanwhile, executives said the company’s late-stage pipeline is largely full and future business development will focus on earlier-stage opportunities.
POLICY
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A Congressional advisory panel recommends the U.S. government put supportive policies in place for rare disease drug development, such as a finalized platform designation from the FDA and the allowance of novel trial designs for small patient populations. -
Having started to publish CRLs without consulting the public, the FDA is under pressure to change course amid concerns it failed to openly and fully evaluate a complex issue. -
The FDAs enforcement action against Purolea Cosmetics Lab offers an early look at how the agency expects AI-generated work to fit within existing quality systems, with experts saying human oversight and quality controls remain essential. -
The agency’s finalized recommendations for clinical testing of psychedelic compounds for mental health could pave the way for companies like Compass Pathways, whose psilocybin-based therapy for treatment-resistant depression could win approval as early as this year. -
Through the proposal, the FDA could clear barriers to distributed manufacturing approaches intended to enhance emergency preparedness and supply chain resilience.
Business stage is just one factor in whether biopharmas want job candidates to have oncology experience for oncology roles. Two recruiters explain when oncology expertise matters most, the mistakes job seekers make and how to make a good impression.
Working at a Big Pharma has its benefits, but there are limitations too. SERB Pharmaceuticals’ Thomas Kolaras discusses how moving to a midsize company creates new opportunities for sharpened thinking and leadership.
The choices that change a career often look like extra work at the time. Executive coach Angela Justice examines why the projects, questions, relationships and conversations people almost dismiss can become the ones they later recognize as turning points.
AI tools can help job seekers write resumes and mass apply to open positions, but those aren’t the only, or best, ways to use them. A career coach shares how she advises clients to make the most of AI during the application and interview process.
Controlling CEOs, manipulative middle managers and high-performing jerks can damage employees’ trust in employers and motivate them to hit the job market. Kaye/Bassman’s Michael Pietrack discusses the problematic behaviors executives must watch for in the workplace.
Even something as simple as “Tell me about yourself” can trip up biopharma professionals during job interviews. Two recruiting experts discuss what candidates should and shouldn’t say when answering five specific questions.
HOTBEDS
REPORTS
In this Employment Outlook report, BioSpace explores current workforce sentiment, job activity trends and the prospective job and hiring outlook for 2025, particularly as it compares to the previous year.
BioSpace’s third report on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in life sciences examines dramatic shifts in attitude around diversity initiatives.
CANCER
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After two rejections, Replimune has made it across the regulatory finish line with its advanced melanoma therapy. Meanwhile, the last of the major pharmas, including Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, reported second quarter earnings, and psychedelics made headlines once again. -
The mid-stage win of Silence Therapeutics’ siRNA drug in polycythemia vera validates the therapeutic approach of similar assets in development—but also sets a high standard for therapies from Takeda, Agios and Disc Medicine. -
BlossomHill Therapeutics will use its $150 million IPO proceeds to power the Phase 1/2 development of a non-small cell lung cancer drug, while Latigo Therapeutics will bring in more than $345 million for its late-stage non-opioid pain pill. -
Analysts expect Replimune’s newly approved Tudriqev to reach $1.3 billion in peak sales in 2035. -
Replimune’s immunotherapy for advanced melanoma faced a perilous regulatory road with two previous rejections, but the drug—to be marketed as Tudriqev—prevailed with strong support from oncologists and a 10-3 advisory committee vote in its favor.
NEUROSCIENCE
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It’s smooth sailing for Definium Therapeutics as the psychedelic biotech charts another win for its LSD candidate, this time in anxiety. The psychedelic previously notched a late-stage victory in depression. -
Epicrispr Biotechnologies is working on an epigenetic medicine for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, while Infinimmune will advance a pair of antibodies for atopic dermatitis. -
The Phase 2 study was small and was not designed to establish the statistical difference between Vistagen’s drug candidate and placebo, according to Vistagen. The biotech plans to meet with the FDA to determine a registrational path for the asset. -
BioVie’s stock fell by nearly 50% as the biotech claimed victory in a mid-stage Parkinson’s disease trial using an alternative endpoint to the primary clinical goal. -
Orzeyful is the first orexin agonist cleared by the FDA, and is the first narcolepsy therapy that addresses the full host of disease symptoms. It is “likely to reshape the treatment paradigm” for the condition, Jefferies told investors.
CELL AND GENE THERAPY
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In November 2025, one patient died after receiving Intellia Therapeutics’ investigational gene silencer for transthyretin amyloidosis. -
UniQure is ready to put its Huntington’s disease gene therapy through an advisory committee meeting—even as the broader rare disease space has been put on edge by recent FDA scrutiny of assets by Replimune and Capricor. -
As part of the collaboration, Johnson & Johnson will have an exclusive option to acquire Sail Biomedicines for an additional $2.58 billion. -
ElevateBio will be the primary source of Kyverna’s autologous CAR T cell therapy for anticipated U.S. and global launches in autoimmune indications. -
In briefing documents published Monday ahead of an advisory committee meeting for deramiocel, the FDA disagreed with Capricor’s assertion that a Phase 3 trial met its primary outcome measures.
