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.

New revelations from the showdown between Novo Nordisk’s CEO and Bernie Sanders’ Senate health committee Tuesday; PhRMA’s legal victory in IRA case; the federal interest rate cut and anticipated approval for schizophrenia.
Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are expected to rule the obesity market for a few more years without much challenge. To ensure they stay there as competition enters, the companies are spending billions in licensing and M&A deals.
Amid a flurry of weight loss readouts, a fresh-on-the-scene startup has come out with Phase I results showing weight loss at day 36 on par with or better than competitors, with few gastrointestinal side effects.
Flagship Pioneering–backed Generate:Biomedicines has signed its second major Big Pharma partnership, bringing in $65 million upfront to use its AI platform to discover novel protein drug candidates.
Novo Nodrisk’s cannabinoid receptor–targeting obesity pill was picked up in the $1.1 billion acquisition of Inversago Pharmaceuticals last year.
The drop in interest rate is slightly bigger than anticipated and good news for the biotech industry, but little will change in the near term.
In the battle over drug prices, one sector of the healthcare industry has risen above all the players as the boogeyman: pharmacy benefit managers. In this special edition of BioPharm Executive, BioSpace takes a deep dive into the lens now focused on PBMs’ business practices.
M&A
The sale of Dermavant clears the way for Roivant to focus on autoimmune-focused Immunovant and a slate of upcoming pivotal trials.
Infusions of Vertex and CRISPR Therapeutics’ Casgevy and bluebird bio’s Lyfgenia have begun; Moderna targets 10 approvals through 2027; more oral obesity drug data; the latest from ESMO and more.
Last month, Vertex said sickle cell patients had not yet received infusions of its gene therapy Casgevy. That’s now changed, as the company races with bluebird bio’s Lyfgenia.
Bristol Myers Squibb presented the positive Phase III results on its already approved Opdivo-Yervoy combo at ESMO over the weekend, while separately announcing that it was returning Immatics’ bispecific T cell engager.
Analysts expressed skepticism about plans detailed by Moderna’s R&D chief Stephen Hoge to trim research spending in preparation for the launch of up to 10 new products.
IPO
Bicara Therapeutics, Zenas BioPharma and MBX Biosciences are seeking a combined $700 million-plus in IPO filings this week.
Sanofi will join Big Pharma peers Novartis, BMS and Eli Lilly in radioligands, striking a $110 million licensing deal with RadioMedix and Orano Med to develop AlphaMedix for neuroendocrine tumors.
On the heels of Terns’ positive Phase I results that analysts compared with Lilly’s and Pfizer’s weight loss pills in development, Novo Nordisk showcased more details about its own oral candidate.