Annalee Armstrong headshot

Annalee Armstrong

Senior Editor

Annalee Armstrong is an award-winning biopharma journalist covering the business of drug development. She began her career at small newspapers across Western Canada. During the assignment of a lifetime, the Yukon Quest Sled Dog Race, she met her husband in Alaska and eventually moved to the U.S. Since then, Annalee has covered energy, environmental regulations, healthcare and biopharma. Prior to BioSpace, Annalee was senior editor for Fierce Biotech, where she received several awards for her writing and editing. She lives in Ottawa, Ontario, with her husband, two wild boys, an anxious Rhodesian Ridgeback and an indifferent tabby cat.

Chief Scientific Officer Pedro Beltran will succeed Eli Wallace as CEO of BridgeBio Oncology Therapeutics, as the board eyes a busy period of clinical advancement in the RAS oncology space.
Sanofi’s interim leadership sought on a Thursday earnings call to quell concerns that its sudden defense of Dupixent’s patents had anything to do with the departure of CEO Paul Hudson.
The deals keep rolling in, with Lilly penning a $7 billion pact for gene delivery biotech Kelonia Therapeutics and UCB taking over cell therapy-focused Neurona Therapeutics; President Trump signed a new executive order supporting the development of psychedelic therapies, sparking fanfare and concern alike; and the FDA’s recent Replimune decision has triggered broader debate about the agency’s flexibility.
After receiving the FDA’s greenlight for Hunter syndrome drug Avlayah, Denali Therapeutics CEO Ryan Watts saw the culmination of 20 years of hard work unraveling the mysteries of the blood-brain barrier.
Doubling survival in pancreatic cancer, a long-fought rare disease approval, a massive IPO and ambitious biotech entrepreneurs have BioSpace Senior Editor Annalee Armstrong feeling upbeat about the biotech scene.
After entering the CAR T space in February, Eli Lilly is “jumping into in vivo CAR-T with both feet” with the acquisition of Kelonia Therapeutics and its gene delivery technology.
IPO
Obesity-focused Kailera Therapeutics debuted on the Nasdaq Friday after raising a record $625 million, beating Moderna’s $600 million from 2018.
J&J will hand over the rights to bota-vec for $25 million upfront, clearing MeiraGTx to seek regulatory approvals in the U.S. and EU in 2027.
Johnson and Johnson kicked off first-quarter earnings season with a “modest” beat and an ambitious goal; Replimune failed again to gain approval for its advanced melanoma therapy, as analysts tout increased accountability brought by the FDA’s new policy of publicizing complete response letters; and Revolution Medicines’ pancreatic cancer candidate doubled survival in one of cancer’s most intractable foes.
Gilead, AstraZeneca and Vertex have acquired more than just a therapeutic asset in recent deals. BioSpace takes a look at five recent transactions where the staff was the real centerpiece.
During the pharma earnings season, which begins on Tuesday, Novo Nordisk will report the first revenue numbers from an oral GLP-1 medicine, while other companies are expected to address the FDA, drug pricing and Trump’s new tariffs.
In a difficult disease, Revolution Medicines achieved what the pancreatic cancer community has long desired: a significant improvement in survival. The Phase 3 results will support global regulatory filings.
The licensing deal marks AbbVie’s first foray into new pain medicines, a space where Vertex currently enjoys a lead thanks to the NaV1.8 inhibitor Journavx.
Gilead Sciences has inked three deals this year so far totaling $14.77 billion, a marked escalation of the company’s usual M&A pace. Executives detailed the rationale for buying Arcellx, Ouro Medicine and Tubulis GmbH and whether they are interested in further deals.
“Your tenure has overseen a DESTRUCTION of shareholder value—a direct result of chronic operational shortcomings and failures on fiduciary duty,” Shah Capital wrote to Novavax’s leadership in an open letter published Wednesday.