FDA

September has been a rough month already for Novo Nordisk, which canned two more late-stage trials of its embattled IL-6 inhibitor, and Novartis, which took Phase 3 hits in both cardiovascular and muscular dystrophy indications; Ultragenyx’s big bet in Angelman syndrome failed to yield benefit in Phase 3 but Ionis’ Pharmaceuticals nabbed the first targeted approval for Alexander disease; and on the business side, biopharma investment is back in a big way.

The approval opens up a “modest” market for AstraZeneca’s Etcamah, according to Leerink analysts, who nevertheless looked forward to an upcoming late-stage readout that could lead to a “significantly larger opportunity” for the drug.

Zanvastro, an antisense oligonucleotide therapy, represents the first independent neurology launch for Ionis Pharmaceuticals, which intends to leverage the foothold for more approvals in rare neurodegenerative diseases, including Angelman syndrome.

Inspection access is not “an administrative footnote,” leaders of key FDA divisions wrote in an editorial on Wednesday vowing to expand oversight of foreign clinical trial sites.

The biologics license application follows months of public speculation—and regulatory reversals—for uniQure’s AMT-130. If accepted by the FDA for priority review, approval could come in the second quarter of 2027.

Novartis hits pause on several CAR T trials after three patient deaths, followed by Bristol Myers Squibb after separate safety signals; Revolution Medicines scores early FDA approval for groundbreaking pancreatic cancer drug; BioNTech suspends a mid-stage trial of its mRNA cancer immunotherapy after a futility analysis; and nine mid-sized biopharma companies join their big pharma peers in President Donald Trump’s Most Favored Nation drug pricing scheme.

The approval of rusfertide—now to be branded Mimrylo—for polycythemia vera marks a key win for Takeda, which now has crossed the FDA finish line for two of three critical product launches slated for the coming year.

The U.S. is scrambling to compete with a strategically positioned China on the biotech stage as the Asian country surpasses America in biomedical research and clinical trials. So far, China is winning.

With the approval, Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro becomes the first dual GIP/GLP-1 receptor agonist indicated to lower the risk of heart attack, stroke or cardiovascular death in adults with type 2 diabetes.

Lisraya carries a boxed warning typical of JAK inhibitors, but otherwise has a broad label that allows use in all adults with the rare autoimmune disease, setting up the drug for blockbuster status in a few years, according to Leerink.