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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.

Sightseeing in Washington, D.C.
Obesity
Biopharma pushes beyond GLP-1s, weight loss at ObesityWeek 2026
ObesityWeek 2026, which kicks off on Saturday, will spotlight presentations on the ascendant amylin pathway, as well as therapies looking to improve the quality of weight loss and patients’ persistence on treatment.
November 13, 2026
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8 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Businessman standing on the top of the mountain adventure go to goal. vector illustrator
China
China has a clear shot to 2030 goals, though economic, cultural barriers remain
To grow into a biopharma juggernaut, China aims to become the leading source of innovative medicines on the global markets—a goal that experts say the country is on track to hit.
November 11, 2026
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5 min read
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Tristan Manalac
A human hand showing dollar golden coins in the jar with a colored background. Collage Art of finance
Psychedelics
Delix raises $100M to advance at-home psychedelic without hallucinogenic effects
The series C raise, co-led by Johnson & Johnson’s venture capital arm, will help Delix Therapeutics push its novel psychedelic asset into mid-stage development for major depressive disorder.
November 10, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Equality, fairness, a harmonious equilibrium of power or influence in business, relationships, legal matters, personal growth, emphasizing strategic balance, Two white dolls balanced on a seesaw.
Neuropsychiatric disorders
With an approval apiece, the verdict is still out on AbbVie’s and BMS’ twin neuro buys
After emraclidine’s schizophrenia fail and Cobenfy’s laggard launch, it’s too early to know who made the better buy: AbbVie, in its $8.7 billion Cerevel takeover in late 2023, or Bristol Myers Squibb, which spent $14 billion for Karuna just two weeks later.
November 9, 2026
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5 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Concept of difficult choices, career path, decision making, and problem solving. Trendy halftone collage. Human hands interacting with a road and signs. An uncertain future and the direction of a business strategy. Vector illustration
FDA
Verdicts for Summit/Akeso, Capricor, Vertex mark FDA’s stacked November
Also lined up are target action dates for Sanofi’s Gaucher disease therapy, GSK’s lung cancer medicine and BridgeBio’s muscular dystrophy drug.
November 6, 2026
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4 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Flat illustration of businessman rolling out new road symbolizing career path development business planning direction and future opportunity
China
6 potential blockbusters that could pave China’s path to 2030 ambitions
In its latest five-year plan, China has set its sights on developing five drugs that could each rake in more than $1 billion globally by 2030. Experts say it’s well on its way, with two medications having already met that bar.
November 4, 2026
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8 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Businessmen helping his friend climbing the rock, teamwork, partnership in business concept
Cancer
Drugmakers rush to pair up with Summit’s ivonescimab ahead of key verdict
With companies including AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Revolution Medicines clamoring to get in on Summit Therapeutics’ Akeso-partnered PD-1xVEGF antibody, one analyst calls the asset “the next major backbone” of cancer treatment.
November 2, 2026
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6 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Hand shake icon on wooden cube block which connection with human icon for business deal and agreement concept.
Immuno-oncology
Astellas bets up to $1.34B for option to advance Audax immuno-oncology asset
Astellas Pharma could secure the exclusive global rights to Audax Biosciences’ DAX-044, an antibody-cytokine fusion therapy that activates the immune system in the vicinity of the tumor.
October 28, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Over the Clouds. Unusual 3d illustration of an air balloon over Fantastic clouds.
Commercialization
5 new drug launches that defied industry expectations
A clearly superior clinical profile, reasonable pricing and easy access has helped a handful of recently approved therapies achieve impressive launches.
October 28, 2026
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8 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Businessman pushing heavy ball up the cliff. Business concept
Earnings
Novartis faces $1.9B hit from Avidity fail but maintains confidence in $12B buy
Novartis remains “very happy” with its $12 billion acquisition of Avidity Biosciences, despite a Phase 3 disappointment for the antibody-oligonucleotide conjugate del-desiran.
October 27, 2026
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4 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Business Success Inspiration and motivation concept as a birth or rebirth with a blue paper origami bird emerging as a symbol of creativity and metamorphosis and an icon of change and transformation.
Prostate cancer
ESMO 2026: J&J delivers ‘immaculate’ early data for prostate cancer drug from Halda
JNJ-6143, which came from Johnson & Johnson’s $3 billion takeover of Halda Therapeutics in 2025, showed a 75% overall response rate in the Phase 1 readout.
October 26, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Game changer business concept or political change idea and disruptive innovation symbol and be an independent thinker with new industry ideas as an individual breaking through a group in a 3D illustration style.
Lung cancer
ESMO 2026: Amgen’s Imdelltra slashes death risk by nearly 60% in small cell lung cancer
When used alongside AstraZeneca’s Imfinzi, the bispecific T cell engager Imdelltra extended survival by eight months versus Imfinzi alone in Phase 3 study testing the combo in a first-line maintenance setting—a potentially “practice-changing” outcome, according to Truist Securities.
October 26, 2026
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4 min read
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Tristan Manalac
aardvark walking in the desert
FDA
FDA uncages Aardvark’s Prader-Willi study after new data cleared safety concerns
After cardiac safety signals led to a full clinical hold on Aardvark Therapeutics’ studies of ARD-101, the biotech conducted an additional safety study, in which no cardiac events were detected. Aardvark plans to resume testing the candidate next year.
October 23, 2026
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3 min read
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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.
Deals
Roche bets up to $813M on Zymeworks’ lung cancer trispecific T cell engager
Roche will pay Zymeworks $55 million upfront plus another $40 million once the partnership asset enters Phase 1b development and up to $718 million in additional milestones.
October 23, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Contemporary art collage of a hand holding scissors. Copy space for ad. Modern design.
Earnings
Roche’s pipeline trim claims Poseida’s off-the-shelf CAR T asset
Aside from RG6540, Roche also discontinued a host of other early-stage assets, including an antisense oligonucleotide for Alzheimer’s disease and a small-molecule candidate for geographic atrophy.
October 22, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac