Jef Akst

Jef Akst

Managing Editor

Jef (an unusual nickname for Jennifer) is a professional journalist and editor specializing in the life sciences. She earned her master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses and spent the first 13 years of her career at The Scientist, where she edited features and oversaw the production of the publication’s digital and print magazines. In 2022, her feature on uterus transplantation earned first place in the trade category of the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers. She lives in Fredericksburg, Virginia, with her husband, young daughter, wild coonhound, and aging cat. Her hobbies including hiking, camping, and shooting pool. You can reach her at jef.akst@biospace.com.

Last week, the Biden administration revealed the first drug prices negotiated under the Inflation Reduction Act; Lykos, Grail and others make substantial staffing cuts, and Pfizer/BioNTech see mixed results for their COVID/flu vaccine.
A longtime biopharma exec and Moderna shareholder argues in an anonymous email to the companies’ CFOs that they have a fiduciary responsibility to close the deal. Analysts say the proposal is interesting but “too simplistic.”
Despite early 2024 optimism, BioSpace’s Job Market Trends report outlines a still sluggish situation in the biopharma industry, Novartis and J&J announce Q2 earnings, GLP-1 market leaders expand into China and the Cassava Sciences saga continues.
Pfizer selects its candidate for the oral GLP-1 race as Eli Lilly strives to overtake Novo Nordisk in the injectable weight-loss drug space. Meanwhile, pressure builds to reduce drug prices in the U.S.
Two CRLs from the FDA last week cited concerns with third-party manufacturers, while Indian CDMOs may make a bid for U.S. business if there is a decoupling from Chinese companies under the BIOSECURE Act.
The pace of mergers and acquisitions has accelerated. In this deep dive, BioSpace takes a closer look at the nature of recent deals and the players involved.
FDA
In a fireside chat at the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy conference, CBER Director Peter Marks spoke with Takeda’s Kristin Van Goor about how the regulator is approaching the exploding gene therapy space.
Tuesday afternoon’s session was standing room only as representatives from various biopharma companies presented on their work to improve the efficiency and quality of AAV production.
BioSpace rounded up companies with products for Alzheimer’s, ALS, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s in the final stages of clinical testing.
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal district court, Merck claimed that the price negotiation program laid out in the Inflation Reduction Act violates the U.S. Constitution.
Data from a Phase III trial of apraglutide for a type of short bowel syndrome with intestinal failure is expected by the end of the year. It is also in a Phase II study for acute graft-versus-host disease.