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Tristan Manalac

Tristan Manalac

Senior Staff Writer

Tristan is BioSpace‘s senior staff writer. Based in Metro Manila, Tristan has more than eight years of experience writing about medicine, biotech and science. Being formally trained in molecular biology, he once dreamed of collecting degrees and starting his own lab. But these days, he finds his greatest joy in a bottle of beer and a beautiful sentence. He can be reached at tristan.manalac@biospace.com, tristan@tristanmanalac.com or on LinkedIn.

A businessman stands on a high mountain with his hands raised in pride of a successful business. Business or success concept vector illustration.
Business
Lilly is pharma’s top dog, placing first in innovation and invention: IDEA
Eli Lilly is the first pharma company to take first place in both categories in the eight years that intelligence firm IDEA Pharma has put out its analysis. Skyrocketing sales and multiple FDA approvals helped the company shoot to the top.
May 26, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
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Gene editing
Lilly’s Verve gambit pays off as base editor cuts cholesterol in early study
A single 1-mg/kg dose of Eli Lilly’s base editor can lower LDL cholesterol levels by 62% in patients with a heritable form of hypercholesterolemia. The pharma acquired the asset last year in the $1.3 billion Verve Therapeutics buy.
May 26, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
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Drug Development
4 troubled targets that have thwarted biopharma
The tragic tale of TIGIT is well known. However, RIPK1, myc, STING and alpha-synuclein have also left a trail of failed clinical trials, canceled partnerships and sunk investments in their wake.
May 26, 2026
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9 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Investment mistakes, taxes, expenses, and unknown costs drain money, concept of Businessman carries a money bag with a big hole, banknotes falling out
Funding
Recordati fields $12.4B go-private offer
Going private could give Recordati strategic flexibility and a stable source of capital, according to CVC Capital Partners and Groupe Bruxelles Lambert, which are offering to take the Italian pharma private for a 13% premium.
May 22, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
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Parkinson’s disease
Biogen, Denali pull plug on Parkinson’s program after mid-stage flop
Biogen and Denali’s Parkinson’s disease drug failed to significantly slow disease progression in a Phase 2b study, missing both primary and secondary endpoints.
May 22, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Vaccine and syringe injection. Doctor hand with syringe. Vaccination of people for prevention, immunization and treatment from virus infection. Medicine, flu shot, test with needle. Vector
Adcomms
Moderna’s once-rebuffed mRNA flu shot to face scrutiny from FDA adcomm
After getting slapped with a surprise refuse-to-file letter signed by former CBER Director Vinay Prasad, Moderna’s flu vaccine application will now go before the FDA’s Vaccine advisory committee.
May 22, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Human liver organ and pills. World hepatitis day. National liver health awareness month. Liver transplantation, donation background. Save patient life in hospital with liver transplant
Postmarket research
Update: Reversal after 20 deaths allows new Japan patients to take Amgen’s rare disease drug Tavneos
Kissei Pharmaceutical is reversing a recommendation related to Amgen-shared Tavneos that it made just a few days ago, now saying the rare disease drug can be given to new patients.
May 21, 2026
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3 min read
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Tristan Manalac
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Leadership
Vaxart seeks shareholder support as battle over stock split brews
In September last year, a group of concerned stockholders raised alarm about Vaxart’s proposed reverse stock split, which the biotech was pushing for despite strong opposition from shareholders.
May 21, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
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Artificial intelligence
Lilly, BMS, Incyte strike deals to keep biopharma’s AI integration rolling
A trifecta of newly inked tech partnerships—from Eli Lilly, Bristol Myers Squibb and Incyte—exemplify the increasingly central role that AI is playing in drug development.
May 21, 2026
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3 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Stock market rebound, overcome business down fall and grow up profit or leadership and achievement concept, businessman jump bouncing high on trampoline with green rising up performance arrow graph.
Rare diseases
BioMarin bounces back as Voxzogo performs ‘bigger than expected’ in new indication
After being hit by safety issues and subpar results in another trial, BioMarin’s Phase 3 test of Voxzogo for a rare skeletal disorder called hypochondroplasia showed efficacy “solidly above” what the drug has shown for achondroplasia, which causes dwarfism.
May 21, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
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Drug Development
Beam one-ups Wave as both show promise of genetic editing for AATD
While both Beam Therapeutics and Wave Life Sciences touted notable biomarker benefits for their respective alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency assets, analysts said that Beam might have the efficacy advantage as Wave’s drug hits an efficacy “ceiling.”
May 20, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
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Immunology and inflammation
AbbVie’s new immunology standard-bearer Skyrizi kneels to UCB’s Bimzelx in psoriatic arthritis
UCB’s Bimzelx elicited significantly stronger joint relief at 16 weeks than AbbVie’s Skyrizi in a Phase 3 head-to-head study of psoriatic arthritis.
May 20, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
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Rare diseases
BioMarin suffers another blow to rare disease portfolio in Phase 3 flop
BioMarin’s investigational therapy failed to elicit clinical improvements in patients with ENPP1 deficiency, while also missing key secondary endpoints of rickets severity and growth.
May 19, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
The COVID-19 vaccine in glass bottles for prevention, immunization, and treatment of coronavirus infection on a green background. Space for text. Concept of medical and vaccine.
COVID-19
FDA’s own report shows no child deaths definitively caused by COVID vaccination
Despite having no definitive data, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) in a letter to health secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. suggested there was a conscious effort by the Biden administration’s FDA to cover up the safety risks of COVID-19 vaccines.
May 19, 2026
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3 min read
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Tristan Manalac
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Cancer
Merck’s billion-dollar Kelun bet pays off as TROP2 improves survival in endometrial cancer
Merck and Kelun-Biotech’s antibody-drug conjugate significantly improved progression-free and overall survival in a pivotal endometrial cancer study, though the companies have yet to specify when they plan to file for approval.
May 19, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
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