News
A handful of billion-dollar deals in the rare disease space highlights the uptick in Big Pharma’s investment, but it’s still extremely low compared to the money flowing to more common indications.
FEATURED STORIES
With the failure of AbbVie’s emraclidine in two mid-stage trials, Bristol Myers Squibb’s Cobenfy is ‘sole muscarinic winner.’
Bluebird has just two quarters until it’s out of cash. Executives are looking for financing to extend that runway to a projected breakeven point before the end of 2025, with analysts worried they won’t make it.
Big Pharma had plenty of drama to keep journalists busy this quarter, which painted an accurate portrait of the wild and wonderful world of biopharma.
TRACKERS
Follow along as BioSpace keeps you up-to-date on the latest pharma and biotech layoffs.
In 2023, the FDA greenlit 55 new drugs and 34 cell and gene therapies. Follow along as BioSpace keeps you up to date on all of the FDA’s decisions in 2024.
FROM OUR NEWS EDITOR
Every week, BioSpace’s Greg Slabodkin offers his take on the biggest stories happening in our industry.
With Novo Holdings’ $16.5 billion buyout of Catalent being reviewed by regulators, what work the contract drug manufacturer may or may not be performing for Eli Lilly remains a point of contention.
THE LATEST
Analysts are split on whether the positive trial results will help Merck stem future Keytruda losses as the mega-blockbuster goes off patent in 2028.
Regenxbio is pushing its Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy into pivotal development, with a BLA planned for 2026—potentially posing a threat to Sarepta’s Elevidys.
Incyte’s pipeline updates on Monday bring into question the value of its $750 million Escient acquisition in April 2024—and further erode confidence that the biotech can effectively mitigate the impacts of Jakafi’s loss of exclusivity in the coming years, according to analysts.
Lilly’s muvalaplin is the first oral drug to show positive Phase II findings for Lp(a) reduction, eliciting up to an 86% drop in the biomarker after 12 weeks.
The deal has secured Novartis the chance to work with Ratio Therapeutics on a novel drug candidate that could fortify the Big Pharma against competition from would-be radiopharmaceutical rivals such as BMS and Lilly.
Phase II results for Cybin’s psilocin therapy showed remission rates of 71%, but just eight patients made it to the 12-month milestone.
Neurogene’s shares fell by 36% as the market opened Monday morning following news that a patient experienced systemic hyperinflammatory syndrome in a Phase I/II clinical trial of Rett syndrome gene therapy NGN-401.
Wegovy is being made available to Chinese patients five months after its approval in the country. Novo will sell the medicine for about $193.27 for a one-month supply.
Boston Pharma’s once-monthly injection efimosfermin alfa offers a convenient dosing option for MASH patients while also achieving promising rates of fibrosis and MASH improvement, according to a Phase II readout.
Analysts appear optimistic for Intellia’s gene editor nex-z, which showed a greater serum TTR reduction than Alnylam’s Amvuttra.