SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
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.

Working man icon pushing the load on the line. Hard work, labor, effort and determination concept.
Immunology and inflammation
Bausch + Lomb advances dry eye disease drug to Phase 3 despite mid-stage fail
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.
August 25, 2026
 · 
1 min read
 · 
Tristan Manalac
Vector Illustration Of Athletes Running On Race Track
Weight loss
Lilly takes oral obesity race abroad with UK launch of Foundayo
Eli Lilly’s best play for Foundayo is to bring it overseas, a more price-sensitive market where the pharma can more readily outcompete Novo Nordisk “given the high margins of a small-molecule therapy,” Truist analyst Srikripa Devarakonda told BioSpace.
August 25, 2026
 · 
1 min read
 · 
Tristan Manalac
Salary negotiation, pay raise discussion or wages and benefit agreement, business deal or merger and acquisition concept, business people handshake on pile of money banknote after finish agreement.
Obesity
Roche bets up to $2.3B in Hanmi pact for next-gen weight loss drug
Roche, through its subsidiary Genentech, will gain access to the investigational asset HM17321, which is designed to not only elicit weight loss but also improve lean mass.
August 24, 2026
 · 
2 min read
 · 
Tristan Manalac
Vaccines
Kennedy questions vaccination guidelines following Trump’s order to break up MMR
The current classifications of vaccine recommendations could imply that not all shots require the consent of patients or their parents, according to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
August 24, 2026
 · 
2 min read
 · 
Tristan Manalac
Time on the hourglass stopped. Clock on table. Pause in business, collapse.
Pipeline
Boehringer Ingelheim suspends early study for pill candidate after ‘safety event’
Not much is known about Boehringer Ingelheim’s drug candidate, dubbed BI 3031185, though the asset has completed at least two other Phase 1 studies this year.
August 24, 2026
 · 
1 min read
 · 
Tristan Manalac
Flat illustration of businessman using telescope on giant eye symbolizing vision future planning business insight strategy and goal direction
FDA
Capricor, Replimune reviews signal FDA’s return to reliability but every application will stand alone
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.
August 24, 2026
 · 
6 min read
 · 
Tristan Manalac
two Businessman Fighting on seesaw
Obesity
Novo takes first round of oral obesity duel. Can it stay ahead of Lilly?
Despite coming away with an early victory over Eli Lilly in the oral obesity face-off, analysts don’t expect Novo Nordisk’s lead to last for very long.
August 19, 2026
 · 
7 min read
 · 
Tristan Manalac
Accumulated problems, contradictions. Dead end, we need to go back. You cannot continue further. Complete impossibility to continue. Rejection of an idea. Hard sanctions. Fatal error.
Pipeline
Regeneron ends eye disease study due to antibody’s safety profile
The discontinuation of the uveitis study adds to Regeneron’s series of clinical setbacks, including the Phase 3 failures of the Dupixent follow-up itepekimab and an investigational combo regimen for melanoma.
August 18, 2026
 · 
2 min read
 · 
Tristan Manalac
Target concept vector illustration. Business goal, marketing strategy, digital aim, bullseye accuracy, cyber challenge, innovation target, focus objective, dart board, internet market.
Metabolic disorders
Amylyx eyes FDA filing for GLP-1 blocker after late-stage win in post-bariatric hypoglycemia
With a Phase 3 trial showing a reduction of serious and severe hypoglycemic episodes in patients who have undergone weight loss surgery, Amylyx Pharmaceuticals plans to file for approval this year. If granted market entry, avexitide could hit peak sales of $1.7 billion worldwide, analysts estimate.
August 18, 2026
 · 
2 min read
 · 
Tristan Manalac
Electricity saving, ecology awareness or reduce electric cost and expense concept, man pulling electric cord to unplug to save money or for ecology power.
Lung cancer
AstraZeneca pulls plug on late-stage lung cancer trial, taking another clinical blow
AstraZeneca will push through with its other Phase 3 studies for volrustomig, including in cervical cancer and mesothelioma.
August 17, 2026
 · 
2 min read
 · 
Tristan Manalac
Modern collage with two hands tie a knot in a rope. Tug of war. Two hands pull on a rope with a knot in the middle. Strong connections concept. Successful business deal. Newspaper elements
IgA nephropathy
Vera’s newly approved IgA nephropathy drug supports kidney function, like Otsuka’s Voyxact
Otsuka Pharmaceuticals’ Voyxact is not the only IgA nephropathy drug that can slow the decline of kidney function. Vera Therapeutics’ Trutakna, which the FDA granted accelerated approval last month, showed “impressive” stabilization, analysts say.
August 17, 2026
 · 
2 min read
 · 
Tristan Manalac
Final Trust, Two Businessmen Negotiating on a Rope That's About to Break
CAR-T
J&J hands lymphoma bispecific CAR T back to AbelZeta
Johnson & Johnson secured rights to prizlon-cel in 2023 for $245 million upfront. The asset in June last year showed a 100% response rate as a second-line option in a Phase 1b study for 10 patients with relapsed or refractory large B cell lymphoma.
August 17, 2026
 · 
2 min read
 · 
Tristan Manalac
A businessman solves the company's obstacles and stops the damage in the company's business.
Approvals
BMS welcomes new multiple myeloma drug as generics batter current portfolio
The FDA approves Zenbexus just as copycat competitors depress sales of Bristol Myers Squibb’s multiple myeloma drugs Pomalyst and Revlimid, which crashed 71% and 49% year-on-year, respectively, in the second quarter.
August 14, 2026
 · 
2 min read
 · 
Tristan Manalac
big hands mean pressure that crushes someone mean an officer concept flat illustration Business about hard work and pressure for presentation
Regulatory
Pressure piles on Amgen after EU pulls Tavneos, flags ‘serious breaches’ in pivotal study
Sponsors of the pivotal study behind Amgen’s rare disease drug Tavneos saw unblinded findings for the drug and re-adjudicated data from nine patients to make the drug seem effective, according to European regulators.
August 14, 2026
 · 
2 min read
 · 
Tristan Manalac
Halftone hands shake coins out of paper money. Modern collage. Concept of inflation, bankruptcy, poverty. Financial difficulties
Rare diseases
Zealand sells milestone, royalty rights to rare blood cancer asset for up to $100M
The terms of the agreement with Royalty Pharma suggest the market potential of Zealand Pharma’s polycythemia vera drug candidate may be undervalued, according to Jefferies analysts.
August 13, 2026
 · 
2 min read
 · 
Tristan Manalac