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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.

Businessman caring golden coins. Money saving, good investment, successful banker concept
Deals
Spero bets up to $1.1B for Innovent’s autoimmune antibody
Spero Therapeutics is putting over $1 billion on the line in exchange for rights to develop SP001, an anti-CD40L antibody, for IgG4-related disease. A Phase 2 study is planned for the second quarter of 2027.
July 14, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Business negotiation and cooperation vector concept. Symbol of a deal, handshake, success. Minimal design eps10 illustration.
Lung cancer
AstraZeneca takes another China trip, picking Dizal’s lung cancer drug for up to $1.5B
Dizal Pharmaceutical’s Zegfrovy is approved in the U.S. for locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. For $600 million upfront, AstraZeneca will gain global rights to advance and commercialize the asset.
July 14, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Modern collage with halftone hand holding pencil and drawing check mark. Confirmation. Concepts of agreement and choice
Alzheimer’s disease
Biogen, Eisai win FDA nod for starter dose of subcutaneous Leqembi
Leqembi Iqlik can now be given at home throughout the entire course of treatment, setting it apart from Eli Lilly’s Kisunla, the only other anti-amyloid Alzheimer’s disease therapy on the market.
July 14, 2026
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2 min read
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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.
Immunology and inflammation
AB Science ends 3 studies in multiple sclerosis, other immune conditions
The trials, which were testing the tyrosine kinase inhibitor masitinib, had previously been paused. AB Science’s decision not to resume them was a matter of prioritization, not safety, the biotech said.
July 13, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Light
Complete response letters
FDA posts new rejection letters days after confirming pause
The FDA last week confirmed that it would suspend the release of complete response letters pending the resolution of a citizen petition from an unnamed pharma company. Nevertheless, 14 new CRLs are now available on the agency’s portal.
July 13, 2026
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1 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Beautiful Empty Fiji Wave
Cardiovascular disease
AstraZeneca, Ionis’ Wainua woes send waves across ATTR-CM space
The failure of AstraZeneca and Ionis’ Wainua in a late-stage study of ATTR-CM casts doubt on Alnylam’s next-generation candidate but is good news for others in the space, including BridgeBio and Intellia Therapeutics.
July 10, 2026
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3 min read
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Tristan Manalac
A brain hovers over a hand against a yellow-striped background
Huntington’s disease
Roche scraps 2 Huntington’s studies, handing Ionis more bad news
Roche’s decision to discontinue the Ionis-partnered trials came soon after the biotech sustained a late-stage failure in ATTR-CM.
July 10, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Stagflation, economic slow down or recession while inflation high up, GDP growth decrease causing by unemployment concept, fearful businessman riding fall down economic graph with inflation high up.
Cardiovascular disease
AstraZeneca, Ionis slip as ATTR-CM drug fails Phase 3
The late-stage miss is “surprising,” Stifel analysts said, given that Wainua’s mechanism of silencing transthyretin protein expression has previously proven effective.
July 9, 2026
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3 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Illustration of man free fall, surreal failure concept
Neurodegenerative disease
GSK abandons Alector after back-to-back neuro stumbles
GSK and Alector first partnered in 2021 to advance two antibodies for neurodegenerative diseases. Both assets have since failed to show significant clinical benefit.
July 9, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Winter season driving tips and traffic regulation rules. Heavy snow covered "snow and ice" road sign. Close-up view. Flat vector illustration template.
Complete response letters
FDA freezes CRL trove as ‘radical transparency’ push hits speedbump
An unnamed pharma filed a citizen petition in April seeking reforms to the way the FDA publicly releases rejection letters, alleging that the policy “contravenes decades of agency practice.”
July 9, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Contemporary art collage. Purple hand holding fan of dollar bills against bright yellow background. stock photo
IPO
Obesity newcomer Kalohexis makes confidential IPO bid 3 months after spinoff
Kalohexis is working on peptide therapies, including one for obesity that could offer an alternative approach to the GLP-1s that currently dominate the weight loss space.
July 8, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Creative collage image young man builder architect engineer occupation lungs healthcare illness disease drawing background.
Immunology and inflammation
AstraZeneca bets up to $1.9B in respiratory disease collab with Sino Biopharmaceutical
In AstraZeneca’s third trip to Asia this year, the pharma secured ex-China rights to a dual inhibitor of PDE3 and PDE4, which in a Phase 2b study significantly improved lung function and lowered symptom burden in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder.
July 8, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Dollar paper airplane flying against blue background, business concept
Venture capital
5 largest VC rounds of H1 2026
Early-stage financing rounds are on track to hit their lowest dollar value in years as funders continue to eschew risky investments, experts told BioSpace.
July 8, 2026
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9 min read
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Tristan Manalac
Concept of money prize. Vector illustration. Halftone hand holds bouquet of money flowers. Gift prize, donation, earnings, bonus or cashback concept. Retro poster or banner. Creative trend collage.
Mergers & acquisitions
Vertex inks $10B Crinetics buy, entering ‘white space blockbuster opportunity’
Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ acquisition of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals is the largest pickup in the company’s history, according to analysts at BMO Capital Markets.
July 7, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
vector illustration arrows miss the target board, concept of lost in focus, failure, fail, mistake
Cancer
BMS’ Krazati kneels to chemo in confirmatory colorectal cancer trial
Patients treated with Bristol Myers Squibb’s Krazati in combination with cetuximab saw shorter median overall and progression-free survival than comparators on chemotherapy.
July 7, 2026
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2 min read
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Tristan Manalac
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