The Latest
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Adeline Kon/BioPharma Dive
Deep DiveBiotech M&A is picking back up. Here are the latest deals.
At $43 billion, Pfizer’s planned buyout of Seagen is the largest pharmaceutical industry acquisition since 2019.
Updated March 13, 2023 -
LaylaBird via Getty Images
Sponsored by MilliporeSigmaAddressing manufacturing challenges in gene therapy development
As new gene therapies are developed to treat a growing number of indications, patients may soon have access to novel treatment options and potential cures.
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Thomas Lohnes via Getty Images
Flush with cash, BioNTech buys into an immunotherapy to rival Yervoy
The COVID-19 vaccine maker is paying $200 million to secure rights to an experimental CTLA-4 inhibitor that privately held OncoC4 designed to have fewer side effects.
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Courtesy of Grail
Illumina, facing Icahn challenge, ‘moving quickly’ on resolution for Grail
The DNA-sequencing company said the activist investor hasn’t offered any better solutions for satisfying regulators’ concerns about the acquisition.
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Courtesy of Sarepta
FDA reversal sets up high-stakes hearing on Sarepta gene therapy
The regulator will convene a panel of advisers to consult on an approval decision for the biotech’s Duchenne treatment, a change from just a few weeks ago when Sarepta had said a meeting wouldn’t be held.
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Courtesy of Merck & Co.
Merck TIGIT drug misses goal in lung cancer trial, adding to doubts over approach
The combination drug didn’t help patients any more than chemotherapy, but Merck will continue the trial to test it together with chemo.
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Adeline Kon/BioPharma Dive
Deep DiveAfter a record run, fewer biotechs are going public. Here’s how they’re performing.
The pace of biotech IPOs so far this year is the slowest in at least five years, lagging behind even last year's torpid clip. Only four drugmakers have priced new stock offerings.
Updated March 3, 2023 -
agrobacter via Getty Images
Sanofi joins other diabetes drugmakers in cutting insulin prices
The pharma is the last of the three major insulin suppliers to reduce U.S. list prices, responding to persistent criticism and policy changes that will affect Medicaid rebate payments.
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Alex Wong via Getty Images
CMS lays out plans for negotiating drug prices
The guidance fills in details for one of the central pharmaceutical provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act, signaling how the agency will use its new authority.
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Leonid Sorokin via Getty Images
Esperion in dispute with Daiichi over drug milestone payment
The companies disagree over what qualifies for a payment of up to $300 million that’s associated with inclusion of heart data on the cholesterol drug’s label.
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Justin Sullivan/Staff via Getty Images
US names first drugs to face price hike penalty
Gilead’s cancer cell therapies Yescarta and Tecartus were among the slate of 27 drugs singled out by CMS for rebates under a provision of the IRA.
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Justin Sullivan / Staff via Getty Images
Healthcare companies may turn to big banks after SVB’s fall
SVB’s unraveling created a hole in life sciences financing that could be filled by bigger banks, but might hamper access to quick, short-term cash for startups.
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Permission granted by Mediar Therapeutics
With focus on fibrosis, startup Mediar draws big pharma backing
Novartis joined venture investor Sofinnova in leading an $85 million investment in the startup that also involved Pfizer, Eli Lilly and Bristol Myers Squibb.
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monsitj via Getty Images
Jounce gets rival takeover bid from company controlled by shareholder
Tang Capital’s Concentra Biosciences is offering Jounce investors a competing bid to the biotech’s planned reverse merger with Redx Pharma.
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Brian Tucker / BioPharma Dive
In Pfizer-Seagen review, FTC has chance to set new pharma precedent
The regulator’s review of the planned $43 billion deal could reveal how it plans to apply a new philosophy toward drugmaker mergers.
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iStock via Getty Images
VA to cover Leqembi for veterans with early Alzheimer’s
The agency’s decision on Eisai and Biogen’s new drug contrasts with a stringent Medicare policy that limits coverage to patients in clinical trials.
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Novo Nordisk
Novo Nordisk follows Lilly in sharply cutting insulin prices
Responding to policy changes and pressure over high drug costs, the pharma is reducing the sticker price of four branded diabetes medicines by up to 75%.
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Evgenii Kovalev via Getty Images
Emerging biotechSwitch Therapeutics launches with $52M to capitalize on RNA medicine ‘era’
The company’s name comes from its goal of developing drugs that only “switch” on in target cells, potentially enabling more precise therapies.
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Permission granted by Amylyx Pharmaceuticals
ALS drug developmentAmylyx’s ALS drug sales impress Wall Street
In its first full quarter on the market, Amylyx’s Relyvrio generated nearly $22 million in revenue, or about five times what some analysts forecast last month.
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Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
Emerging biotech‘What a mess’: How biotech startups grappled with SVB’s collapse
The bank’s failure caused some companies to question whether they could pay employees, while forcing many others to take steps to calm nervous investors.
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Jeenah Moon via Getty Images
Pfizer to buy Seagen in $43B cancer drug deal
The acquisition would give Pfizer control of a top-selling lymphoma drug and a pipeline of medicines that have made the Seattle-based company one of the sector’s most valuable biotechs.
Updated March 13, 2023 -
Courtesy of Sanofi
Sanofi acquires diabetes drug via Provention buyout
The deal builds on a licensing agreement between Sanofi and Provention to market the first-of-its-kind treatment, called Tzield and approved to slow the disease’s progression.
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Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
Regulators backstop SVB deposits, offer emergency lending
SVB’s demise on Friday marked the nation’s largest bank failure since Washington Mutual collapsed in 2008, and sent shock waves through both the life sciences and tech sectors.
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Spencer Platt via Getty Images
Pfizer’s Biohaven deal pays dividends with new drug approval
The medicine, a nasal spray for migraines to be sold as Zavzpret, was a key part of Pfizer’s roughly $12 billion buyout of Biohaven last year.
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Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
Regulators take over Silicon Valley Bank
The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation closed the embattled bank and appointed the FDIC as receiver, regulators said Friday.
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Chip Somodevilla/Staff via Getty Images
Biden takes fresh aim at drug prices with new budget plan
The proposal, viewed as a “non-starter” by one analyst, seeks to double the number of drugs Medicare can negotiate prices for and open up those talks more quickly.
