Deep Dive: Page 2

Industry insights from our journalists


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    Brian Tucker / BioPharma Dive
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    'The lights are no longer green': Antitrust regulators reassess pharma deals

    The FTC and its counterparts abroad are rethinking their approach to drugmaker acquisitions. Past scrutiny offers clues to where they may look next.

    Jonathan Gardner • June 10, 2021
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    Permission granted by Biogen
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    A first-of-its-kind Alzheimer's drug raises heavy questions around who will and won't get it

    Biogen priced its newly approved medicine Aduhelm at an average cost of $56,000 a year, adding affordability to other barriers patients may face. 

    Jacob Bell • June 8, 2021
  • Ajay Purohit, a Biogen employee, points to brain scans of people with Alzheimer's
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    Permission granted by Biogen
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    In historic move, FDA approves a closely watched and controversial Alzheimer's drug

    The decision cleared the way for what many predicted would become a lucrative treatment. But a high price and controversy over whether Biogen's Aduhelm benefits patients weighed heavily on the drug's launch.

    Jacob Bell • Updated June 7, 2021
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    Kena Betancur via Getty Images
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    Trump tax law cut what US drugmakers owed. Now they fear an increase.

    The 2017 law saved pharmaceutical companies billions of dollars, BioPharma Dive found. Executives are now fiercely opposing tax hikes proposed by President Biden, claiming they've since boosted domestic investment. 

    Jonathan Gardner • May 17, 2021
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    Permission granted by Gilead Sciences
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    How Gilead finally spent its money

    This year, the biotech spent about $27 billion trying to become a leader in cancer research. Executives who spoke to BioPharma Dive said there's still work to be done.

    Jacob Bell • Nov. 24, 2020
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    Adeline Kon/BioPharma Dive
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    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.

    Ben Fidler • Updated May 26, 2023
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    Permission granted by Cheryl Yoder
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    From no drugs to 3: Patients with spinal muscular atrophy now face hard choices

    The availability of three vastly different, cutting-edge medicines for the rare disease has put patients, families and doctors in an unfamiliar position.

    Jonathan Gardner • Oct. 5, 2020
  • An illustration for BioPharma Dive's 2020 report on drugmaker executive compensation
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    Danielle Ternes/BioPharma Dive
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    How biotech and pharma companies pay their CEOs, and their workers

    The median CEO of 231 drug companies analyzed by BioPharma Dive earned 50% more last year than in 2017, a leap that far outpaced the more modest pay gains among employees.

    Ned Pagliarulo • Sept. 9, 2020
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    Permission granted by Relay Therapeutics
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    Relay Therapeutics set out to change how drugs are designed. Can it continue what Vertex began?

    Vertex pioneered a more precise way of developing drugs. Relay, which has raised nearly $1 billion since its founding, thinks it can go one step further. 

    Ned Pagliarulo • Aug. 24, 2020
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    Danielle Ternes/BioPharma Dive
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    A cure for hemophilia seemed closer than ever. For many patients, it’s now further out of reach

    The surprise rejection of BioMarin's hemophilia A gene therapy delayed a decades-long mission to fix the rare bleeding disorder.

    Jacob Bell • Updated Aug. 19, 2020
  • A Lonza plant in Visp, Switzerland
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    Courtesy of Lonza Ltd.
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    Vaccines can end the coronavirus pandemic. Will every country get them?

    Scientists around the world are racing to develop a coronavirus vaccine. But the factories slated to make the leading candidates are concentrated in a handful of countries, raising concerns about global access.

    Jonathan Gardner • June 23, 2020
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    Brian Tucker/BioPharma Dive
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    Coronavirus vaccines are rolling out quickly. Here's where the pipeline stands.

    Fuller data in hand, Pfizer and BioNTech plan to soon seek full U.S. approval for their vaccine in 12- to 15-year-olds. 

    Ned Pagliarulo, Jonathan Gardner, Shoshana Dubnow, Ben Fidler and Nami Sumida • Updated Nov. 24, 2021
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    Yujin Kim/BioPharma Dive
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    Venture capital found its footing in biotech. Then came the virus.

    There's been no better time for venture firms to invest in drug startups than the past few years. But when a virus upended the world, it raised new questions about what types of investors and investments would succeed moving forward.

    Jacob Bell • May 26, 2020
  • Electron microscope image of SARS-CoV-2, isolated from a patient in the U.S.
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    National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. (2020). "Novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2" [Microscope image]. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/nihgov/49565158908/in/album-72157713108522106/.
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    A closer look at the race to develop antibody drugs for COVID-19

    Eli Lilly, Regeneron and China's Junshi are now testing antibody drugs in clinical trials, while others are close behind. Here's why they will matter.

    Ben Fidler • May 12, 2020
  • Transmission electron microscopic image of an isolate from the first U.S. case of COVID-19, formerly known as 2019-nCoV. The spherical viral particles, colorized blue, contain cross-section through th
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    Courtesy of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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    A coronavirus vaccine may arrive next year. 'Herd immunity' will take longer.

    Experimental vaccines for COVID-19 are moving at an unprecedented pace. But that could mean researchers won't definitively know whether they're safe and effective when they do arrive.

    Jonathan Gardner • May 4, 2020
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    Permission granted by University of Pennsylvania
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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
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    Adeline Kon / BioPharma Dive
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    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
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    Lydia Polimeni, National Institutes of Health
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    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. 4, 2019
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    Brian Tucker, BioPharma Dive
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    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
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    Brian Tucker, BioPharma Dive
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    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
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    Brian Tucker, BioPharma Dive
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    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
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    Getty Images
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    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
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    Getty Images
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    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
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    Adeline Kon / BioPharma Dive
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    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
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    Novo Nordisk
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    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