The Latest

  • An illustration for BioPharma Dive's deals database
    Image attribution tooltip
    Adeline Kon/BioPharma Dive
    Image attribution tooltip
    Deep Dive

    Biotech M&A is picking back up. Here are the latest deals.

    Despite newly realized fears of an activist FTC, analysts expect dealmaking to continue this year with small buyouts like Ironwood’s acquisition of VectivBio as well as larger M&A.

    Updated May 22, 2023
  • Lentivirus cell
    Image attribution tooltip
    fpm via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip
    Sponsored by Bio-Rad

    Overcoming common pitfalls in lentiviral cell and gene therapies

    See how ddPCR technology can take your lentiviral cell and gene therapies to the next level.

  • Corporate logos are seen outside  on May 15, 2006, in Macclesfield, England.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Christopher Furlong via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    AstraZeneca abandons experimental bowel disease drug

    The drugmaker cited testing delays and an evolving “competitive landscape” in its decision to discontinue development of its IL-23 inhibitor brazikumab.

  • A photo of Sanofi headquarters in Paris, France.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Courtesy of Sanofi
    Image attribution tooltip

    Sanofi drug, acquired from a startup, shows early potential in MS

    The medicine, licensed from biotech ImmuNext in 2017, is one of two later-stage MS drug prospects in the French drugmaker’s portfolio.

  • A sign for the Food and Drug Administration is seen on July 20, 2020 in Maryland.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Sarah Silbiger via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    FDA pauses PepGen’s plans to test muscle disease drug

    The company’s oligonucleotide-based treatment is the latest neuromuscular disease therapy to face a regulatory roadblock prior to human testing.

  • A computer screen shows the Pfizer logo and stock price at the New York Stock Exchange
    Image attribution tooltip
    Michael M. Santiago via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Pfizer says hemophilia drug succeeded in Phase 3 study

    The drug, called marstacimab, could potentially become another option for hemophilia patients just as new gene therapies arrive on the market in the U.S.

  • A thumbnail illustration for BioPharma Dive's IPO tracker
    Image attribution tooltip
    Adeline Kon/BioPharma Dive
    Image attribution tooltip
    Deep Dive

    After a record run, fewer biotechs are going public. Here’s how they’re performing.

    Though the sample size is small, the majority of biotechs that have gone public in 2023 have so far held their value, in contrast to the sliding stock prices of companies that IPO’d in previous years.

    Updated May 26, 2023
  • An illustration of different blood cells types
    Image attribution tooltip
    Grigorii Yalukov via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Akebia says FDA will give its once-rejected anemia pill a second chance

    The regulator denied an appeal of its decision to turn back vadadustat, but outlined a path forward for the company to resubmit an application without running another clinical trial.

    FDA
  • Image attribution tooltip
    Spencer Platt via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Rain Oncology to cut workforce by 65% after study failure

    The company, which went public in 2021 to develop a cancer drug licensed from Daiichi Sankyo, may try to acquire a different tumor-targeting medicine to grow its pipeline.

  • A stylized stock chart is superimposed over a picture of U.S. dollars.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Maximusnd via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Atea rejects takeover bid from Concentra

    The COVID-19 drug developer said the offer from the firm that recently took over Jounce Therapeutics “fundamentally undervalues the company.”

  • Tim Springer, a Harvard University professor, smiles at the camera in his lab.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Permission granted by Institute of Protein Innovation
    Image attribution tooltip
    Q&A // Emerging biotech

    Serial biotech founder Tim Springer on investing in startups and democratizing antibody research

    Springer, who became a billionaire after investing in Moderna, highlighted gene therapy and machine learning as two fields he’s optimistic will shape biotech’s future. 

  • A micrograph of a myeloma neoplasm in a bone marrow biopsy.
    Image attribution tooltip
    OGphoto via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    J&J antibody drug combination shows promise in multiple myeloma

    Bispecific antibodies, like the two J&J is testing together in multiple myeloma, could compete with CAR-T cell therapies in certain treatment lines.

  • Image attribution tooltip
    ASCO / Scott Morgan
    Image attribution tooltip

    ASCO puts spotlight on advancing antibody-drug conjugate pipeline

    Study abstracts released Thursday give investors and analysts a better look at cancer treatments recently licensed by Merck and BioNTech as well as fresh details on other closely watched ADC candidates.

  • A micrograph showing a bone marrow biopsy
    Image attribution tooltip
    rightdx via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Bristol Myers data make case for earlier use of bone marrow disease drug

    Data released ahead of next month’s ASCO meeting detail how well Bristol Myers’ Reblozyl outperformed the decades-old standard Epogen in treating anemia from myelodysplastic syndromes.

  • A photo of a declining stock price.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Leonid Sorokin via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    BenevolentAI CFO resigns as company lays off staff, restructures

    The biotech, one of several AI drug discovery specialists to go public in recent years, is cutting up to 180 jobs and reorganizing its pipeline to conserve cash.

  • A sign that says Illumina is on a curb in front of red brick buildings.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Courtesy of Illumina
    Image attribution tooltip

    Illumina chair loses to Icahn pick as proxy battle ends

    The decision to replace board Chair John Thompson could change the company’s course as it decides whether to divest liquid biopsy company Grail.

    Updated May 25, 2023
  • A photo of a sign inside an Apellis Pharmaceuticals building
    Image attribution tooltip
    Courtesy of Apellis Pharmaceuticals
    Image attribution tooltip

    Apellis abandons ALS drug after study miss

    The trial failure is the second for an ALS medicine this week, adding to a lengthy list of study setbacks that have thinned the pipeline of experimental medicines for the disease in recent years.

  • Letters appear clearer in an eye chart on a yellow wall viewed through glasses.
    Image attribution tooltip
    gchutka via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Annexon claims a silver lining in failed eye drug study

    The company’s geographic atrophy drug didn’t slow the growth of eye lesions, as similar medicines have in clinical testing. But executives said it may have helped preserve some patients’ vision.

  • Rep. Comer sits in front of a poster outlining the cost differences between a drug dispensed at Cost Plus Drugs versus CVS.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Rebecca Pifer/BioPharma Dive
    Image attribution tooltip

    House lawmakers, PBM lobby spar over committee hearing

    At the latest congressional inquiry into pharmacy benefit managers, lawmakers argued the middlemen profit at the expense of patients and taxpayers.

  • A patient speaks with their doctor via his mobile phone
    Image attribution tooltip
    vorDa via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Digital health funding holds steady in Q1 after year of decline

    The sector defied trends seen in the broader venture capital economy, where funding has tightened. But investment is still at years-low levels.

  • A photograph of a Sarepta building in Boston, MA
    Image attribution tooltip
    Courtesy of Sarepta
    Image attribution tooltip

    FDA delays decision on Duchenne gene therapy, considers narrower approval

    The agency will extend its review of Sarepta’s treatment by one month as it weighs limiting an initial OK to children with Duchenne aged 4 to 5 years old.

    Updated May 24, 2023
  • An empty laboratory
    Image attribution tooltip
    Alvarez via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    PTC lays off staff, fires CFO as neuromuscular drug study fails

    The biotech is giving up on early-stage gene therapy research as part of a restructuring meant to cut costs and redirect resources toward therapies most likely to succeed.

  • An illustration of the bacteria Acinetobacter baumannii, a common cause of hospital-acquired infections.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Dr_Microbe via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    FDA approves new antibiotic for hospital-acquired pneumonia

    The drug, called Xacduro, will be made available later this year by Innoviva Specialty Therapeutics, a new company formed from antibiotic developers Entasis and La Jolla.

    FDA
  • RNA molecule illustration.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Artur Plawgo via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip
    Emerging biotech

    ReNAgade debuts with $300M and an ‘all-in-one’ system for delivering RNA drugs

    Staffed by former Alnylam and Moderna employees, the startup is developing technologies that could be useful in a variety of RNA drugmaking methods.

  • Image attribution tooltip
    Novo Nordisk
    Image attribution tooltip
    Obesity drugs

    Novo says oral version of obesity drug succeeds in large study

    The company plans to seek approvals of the drug, a more convenient form of the popular injectable medicine Wegovy, later this year.

  • A micrograph of a mast cell or mastocyte, with smooth muscle fibers stained in blue.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Jose Luis Calvo Martin & Jose Enrique Garcia-Maurino Muzquiz via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Blueprint wins key FDA approval for rare disease drug

    The clearance of Ayvakit in indolent systemic mastocytosis is important to the biotech’s future. But the drug’s sales potential isn’t clear, and a top competitor is close behind.

    FDA