The Latest

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    Adeline Kon/BioPharma Dive
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    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
  • A sign that says Illumina is on a curb in front of red brick buildings.
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    Courtesy of Illumina
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    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
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    Leonid Sorokin via Getty Images
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    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 photo of a sign inside an Apellis Pharmaceuticals building
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    Courtesy of Apellis Pharmaceuticals
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    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.

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    Alvarez via Getty Images
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    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.

  • Letters appear clearer in an eye chart on a yellow wall viewed through glasses.
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    gchutka via Getty Images
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    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.
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    Rebecca Pifer/BioPharma Dive
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    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.

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    vorDa via Getty Images
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    Digital health funding holds steady in Q1 after year of decline

    The sector defied trends seen in the larger venture capital environment, where funding continues to fall. But investment is still at years-low levels.

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

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

    Though it’s early and the sample size is small, the majority of biotechs that have gone public in 2023 have held their value, a departure from each of the previous five years.

    Updated May 26, 2023
  • An illustration of the bacteria Acinetobacter baumannii, a common cause of hospital-acquired infections.
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    Dr_Microbe via Getty Images
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    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
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    Novo Nordisk
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    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.
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    Jose Luis Calvo Martin & Jose Enrique Garcia-Maurino Muzquiz via Getty Images
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    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
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    monsitj via Getty Images
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    Concentra bids on Atea, seeking to acquire another struggling biotech

    The company behind the recent takeover of Jounce Therapeutics is looking to buy a second drug developer to potentially sell for parts.

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    Getty Images
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    ALS drug development

    Wave shelves ALS drug following trial setback

    A small study found patients on the experimental therapy fared no better than those receiving a placebo, dealing yet another blow to Wave’s research efforts.

  • Two test tubes pour different-colored liquids into a beaker in an illustration representative of biopharma mergers.
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    Elizabeth Regan / Industry Dive
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    Ironwood to buy rare disease drugmaker in billion-dollar deal

    The acquisition would give Ironwood a drug in late-stage testing for a condition known as short bowel syndrome, further building out the company’s gastrointestinal-focused research.

  • A sign for the Food And Drug Administration is seen outside of the headquarters on July 20, 2020 in White Oak, Maryland.
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    Sarah Silbiger via Getty Images
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    Future of Intercept’s NASH drug in doubt after FDA panel rejection

    The safety risks of obeticholic acid were too great for an advisory committee to recommend approval without clear proof of its benefits. But collecting that data may not be “economically feasible,” an executive said.

    Updated May 22, 2023
    FDA
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    Novartis
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    Novartis buys rare disease gene therapy from Avrobio

    The pharma will pay nearly $90 million to acquire Avrobio’s treatment for cystinosis, an inherited condition caused by the toxic buildup of an amino acid.

  • The headquarters of the FDA, which has recently issued a recall for Teleflex air filters used in hospital respirators.
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    Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    FDA approves Krystal gene therapy for rare wound disorder

    Cleared to treat dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, Vyjuvek is the sixth gene therapy for an inherited disease to gain clearance in the U.S.

    FDA
  • A building showing a logo of Teva Pharmaceutical
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    Courtesy of Teva Pharmaceutical
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    Teva puts rival to Prometheus, Pfizer drugs at center of turnaround plans

    At an investor day, executives highlighted an experimental inflammatory disease drug targeting the protein TL1A as important to their long-term growth.

    Updated May 19, 2023
  • The Moderna headquarters is seen on November 30, 2020 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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    Maddie Meyer via Getty Images
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    Moderna reports ‘encouraging’ early data for one of its rare disease medicines

    Now known for its vaccine research, the biotech said its clinical trial is the first to report results of a messenger RNA therapeutic designed for intracellular protein replacement.

  • The U.S. Supreme Court is seen in spring through the branches of a tree.
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    Anna Moneymaker via Getty Images
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    Supreme Court sides with Sanofi, Regeneron in patent fight with Amgen

    The court’s ruling could open the door for challenges to older classes of antibody therapies, said one legal expert, who added that it will give competitors “solace.” 

    Updated May 18, 2023
  • A sign for the Food And Drug Administration is seen outside of the headquarters on July 20, 2020 in White Oak, Maryland.
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    Sarah Silbiger via Getty Images
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    RSV vaccines

    FDA advisers back maternal use of Pfizer RSV vaccine

    The panel voted 14-0 that Pfizer’s data showed its shot to be effective. The vaccine could be the first for protecting infants by maternal immunization.

    FDA
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    Maximusnd via Getty Images
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    Mustang pares research, sells manufacturing plant to save money

    The biotech joins a score of other cell and gene therapy developers that, on the heels of a historic market downturn, have cut costs.

  • Federal Trade Commission
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    Carol Highsmith. (2005). "The Apex Building" [Photo]. Retrieved from Wikimedia Commons.
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    On heels of Amgen lawsuit, FTC broadens investigation of PBMs

    The regulator is probing the business practices of two more drug purchasing organizations, deepening an investigation that began last year.

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    Dr_Microbe via Getty Images
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    Emerging biotech

    Siren emerges from stealth with plans to marry gene therapy to cancer immunotherapy

    Spun out of the lab of former UCSF researcher Nicole Paulk, the biotech is targeting brain and eye tumors with a new kind of treatment it has dubbed “immuno-gene therapy.”