Deep Dive

Industry insights from our journalists

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Big pharma shied away from gene therapy for years. Academia picked up the slack

The byproduct was richer licensing fees for universities and a throng of startups, but also questions on fair prices and research priorities.
Jonathan Gardner • March 17, 2020
Adeline Kon / BioPharma Dive

Big pharma backed away from brain drugs. Is a return in sight?

Biotech executives see a new era of neuroscience breakthroughs on the horizon. But in a historically challenging space, it's hard to pinpoint what would cause big pharma to dive back in — and what ripples that would create.
Jacob Bell • Jan. 29, 2020
Lydia Polimeni, National Institutes of Health

Will sky-high drug prices spur the US to use an obscure power over patents?

New cell therapies as well as gene-based treatments like Zolgensma benefited from NIH funding of early-stage research. Advocates say the time is now for the government to invoke its "march-in" rights.
Jonathan Gardner • Dec. 04, 2019
Brian Tucker, BioPharma Dive

Bankrupt biopharmas are rare. 2019 has some worried that's changing.

Eleven biopharmas declared bankruptcy in 2019, more than any other year since at least 2011. Rising market pressures, coupled with legal liabilities, risk more companies falling to zero, experts warn.
Andrew Dunn • Nov. 19, 2019
Brian Tucker, BioPharma Dive

31 biopharmas at high risk of bankruptcy in 2020

BioPharma Dive dug into data from a credit monitoring firm to identify drugmakers at high risk of going bankrupt, including companies like Teva, Bausch Health and Novavax.
Andrew Dunn • Nov. 19, 2019
Brian Tucker, BioPharma Dive

The running list of 2019 biopharma bankruptcies

From antibiotic developers like Achaogen to opioid drugmakers like Purdue and Insys, 2019 saw an uptick in biopharmas filing for Chapter 11.
Andrew Dunn • Nov. 19, 2019
Getty Images

Give up board chairmanship? No thanks, US big pharma CEOs say

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla will soon head the pharma's board, too, adding another example of a large drugmaker with unified leadership.
Jonathan Gardner • Oct. 16, 2019
Getty Images

First-of-its-kind trial in ALS spurs hope for brutal disease

A so-called platform study will test five drugs at once, a design that experts say could become a model in rare disease drug development.
Andrew Dunn • Sept. 25, 2019
Adeline Kon / BioPharma Dive

Cancer centers stretching to keep up with pharma's oncology interest

Empty trials, bandwidth constraints and lingering issues with enrollment criteria are on display amid a boom in cancer drug research.
Jacob Bell • Sept. 23, 2019
Novo Nordisk

Is the future of diabetes treatment better drugs or better care?

Drug manufacturers are trying to push the boundaries of glucose control, but cost concerns could rein in ambitions.
Jonathan Gardner • Sept. 23, 2019
Public trust in drugmakers is at an all-time low. Can biopharma recover?

Leaders are grappling with how to improve the industry's reputation at a time when the broader business world is under increased scrutiny.
Andrew Dunn • Sept. 11, 2019
Amgen

Amgen puts its KRAS hopes on 'Navy Seals' team of drug hunters

Found in many solid tumors, mutant KRAS is cancer research's white whale. Amgen's drug looks the most promising to emerge from decades of failed efforts, but others are close behind.
Ned Pagliarulo • Aug. 30, 2019
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Amyloid's last hope? Prevention studies next big test for Alzheimer's research

The DIAN-TU trial, studying patients genetically predisposed to Alzheimer's, could help decide the fate of what's been the dominant hypothesis of the disease's cause.
Jonathan Gardner • Aug. 29, 2019
Kendall Davis / BioPharma Dive

Unblinded: Rebekah Gee's drug pricing experiment in Louisiana

Louisiana's health secretary negotiated a new payment model with Gilead for one of the poorest states in the country. Could it spread nationwide?
Andrew Dunn • Aug. 28, 2019
Brian Tucker, BioPharma Dive

Number of female biotech CEOs remains 'shockingly low,' putting spotlight on BIO

"I need more from BIO," the group's diversity chair and Halozyme chief Helen Torley told BioPharma Dive. More than 90% of CEOs running the industry's top companies are men.
Andrew Dunn • July 31, 2019
Getty Images

Once 'bodies for hire,' CROs are finding a new role as data specialists

Drugmakers and regulators are paying more attention to what real-world data can prove — driving demand for CROs to help keep up.
Jacob Bell • June 28, 2019
Kendall Davis / BioPharma Dive

Unblinded: Kevin Gorman on Neurocrine's rise, fall and future

The biotech's share price fell from $70 to $2, and its headcount shrunk by nearly 90%. So how did Neurocrine make it through?
Andrew Dunn • June 18, 2019
Getty / Edited by BioPharma Dive

The gene therapy era has arrived. So have the challenges.

With multiple gene therapies nearing market, the U.S. systems of reimbursement, regulation and research are being put to the test.
Andrew Dunn • June 07, 2019
Brian Tucker, BioPharma Dive

Follow the money: How biopharma CEOs and workers got paid in 2018

Which CEOs made the most? The least? Does biotech pay better than pharma? BioPharma Dive pulled data from hundreds of proxy statements to find out.
Andrew Dunn • May 28, 2019
Yujin Kim / BioPharma Dive

No one knows the size of the NASH market

Industry is still using a broad estimate for the NASH population, which has led to very different views on the size of the potential market opportunity.
Jacob Bell • May 16, 2019
Danielle Ternes / BioPharma Dive

On the path to patients, NASH drugs may hit a payer roadblock

Wall Street estimates and clinical data suggest the earliest NASH drugs could come with limited efficacy but high price tags. Healthcare providers fear that won't sit well with payers.
Jacob Bell • May 15, 2019
Yujin Kim / BioPharma Dive

Will a big needle burst the NASH bubble?

With less invasive tests still a few years off, doctors worry liver biopsies will limit access to the initial wave of NASH drugs — if any make it to market.
Jacob Bell • May 14, 2019
Novartis

Pharma, late to digital game, rushes to catch up

In the past two years, six of the largest pharmas appointed chief digital or information officers to top management for the first time, a signal of growing industry interest in revamping how it does business.
Ned Pagliarulo • May 13, 2019
Getty Images

Biopharma happily takes the tax cuts, but the jobs are harder to find

The tax burden of U.S.-based drugmakers shrank by nearly one-quarter following the 2017 Republican tax bill, but jobs edged up only slightly, a BioPharma Dive analysis found.
Jonathan Gardner • May 09, 2019
Kendall Davis / BioPharma Dive, photo from Incyte

Unblinded: Hervé Hoppenot on solving Incyte's 'single asset syndrome'

Last April, a closely watched study of an Incyte cancer drug failed, sending the biotech back to the drawing board. This year could help answer what's next.
Ned Pagliarulo • April 10, 2019