Drug Development
Shares of Germany-based BioNTech were down as much as 8% Friday after announcing a Phase 2 trial of autogene cevumeran would be discontinued for futility. The news follows Merck and Moderna’s Phase 3 win last week for their cancer vaccine plus Keytruda in melanoma.
FEATURED STORIES
Biopharmas developing CAR T therapies for autoimmune indications face major barriers to maximizing the market. Advances in the provider ecosystem and clinical infrastructure, as well as access and education, will be key to launching at scale.
Current leaders Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have cornered the early market for weight loss therapeutics, but several other players, large and small, are bidding for a piece of the potential $200 billion pie.
Twenty-five biotechs have used the IPO route to go public this year—with five of those debuts occurring this month alone. It’s the most IPOs since 2021, when the industry recorded 78 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The FDA granted the approval of Revolution Medicines’ daraxonrasib, now to be known as Rasonque, in pancreatic adenocarcinoma 6.5 months ahead of deadline.
The Phase 3 readout is the first for ivonescimab beyond non-small cell lung cancer to show a significant overall survival benefit, according to Summit Therapeutics and China-based partner Akeso.
BioSpace is launching an IPO dashboard to help the industry keep tabs on U.S. biotechs that have taken the public plunge in 2026.
FDA extends its review of Capricor Therapeutics’ Duchenne muscular dystrophy cell therapy as an unhappy shareholder advocates for change; Merck and Moderna tout positive data for their mRNA-based cancer vaccine; Trump nominates White House aide Heidi Overton as FDA commissioner; and the oral obesity market heats up with rivals Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk going head-to-head.
While Bausch + Lomb’s dual-action eye drops failed to outperform active comparators at day 29, the investigational asset showed significant superiority at day 15.
While Novartis’ Pluvicto is a blockbuster, Curium heads into talks with the FDA about the review of its rival drug candidate believing a competing product can make the supply chain more resilient.
The FDA has granted a three-month extension for Capricor Therapeutics’ Duchenne muscular dystrophy hopeful deramiocel in order to review additional data and consider a refined indication. The new target action date for the therapy is November 22.
The FDA has placed a clinical hold on RGX-121 after small nodules or cystic masses were detected in the spines of five patients enrolled in REGENXBIO’s registrational trial. The biotech no longer plans to resubmit the candidate—which was rejected in February—in the near term.
Following a tumultuous stretch under ex-Commissioner Marty Makary, current FDA leadership is working to restore reliability, integrity and transparency to the agency—but experts say that doesn’t necessarily mean an easier regulatory road for drugmakers.
Kaos Capital in a letter to other Capricor Therapeutics shareholders called for “an immediate meeting, board change, and capital-preservation plan.” The biotech recently put all other pipeline work on pause as it awaits an Aug. 22 PDUFA date for embattled cell therapy deramiocel.