Today, a brief rundown of news involving Arvinas and Biogen, as well as updates from Merck & Co., Entrada Therapeutics and Valneva that you may have missed.

Arvinas will lay off about a third of its workforce and scrap a pair of anticipated Phase 3 studies involving its experimental breast cancer drug vepdegestrant, the company said Thursday. Alongside earnings, company CEO John Houston revealed that after evaluating the financial costs and the "evolving treatment landscape," Arvinas and partner Pfizer have abandoned plans for two trials in first- and second-line metastatic breast cancer. That decision, and the layoffs, will extend Arvinas' cash runway into the second half of 2028. Arvinas intends to seek approval of vepdegestrant in a subgroup of breast cancer patients, but faces competition from multiple other drugs. Shares fell by about 25% in early trading. — Ben Fidler

Biogen CEO Christopher Viehbacher waved off concerns about how tariffs would affect the business during an earnings call Thursday. He said his company is less exposed to tariff pressures than some of its peers, in part because 75% of its 2024 U.S. product revenue came from drugs with manufacturing operations in the states. Biogen recorded $2.4 billion in product revenue during the first three months of the year, reflecting a 6% increase that beat analyst expectations. — Jacob Bell

Entrada Therapeutics will reduce its workforce by 20% as part of a plan to focus resources on four drugs it's developing for Duchenne muscular dystrophy and other "key preclinical programs," according to a regulatory filing. The restructuring approved by Entrada's board Tuesday and effective May 2 see the company "prioritizing the acceleration" of its four Duchenne drugs, each of which are so-called exon skipping therapies for subgroups of patients with the disease. The most advanced of those therapies was cleared for U.S. testing in February after a clinical hold that lasted more than two years. — Ben Fidler

Merck & Co. on Tuesday began construction on a $1 billion plant in Wilmington, Delaware devoted to producing an array of the company’s biologic drugs. According to Merck, the facility will also be equipped to manufacture its cancer immunotherapy Keytruda and become the “future U.S. home” for producing the drug for U.S. patients. The plant, anticipated to open in 2028, will create more than 500 full-time roles and roughly 4,000 construction jobs. Merck expects to expand beyond the initial investment as well, though it didn’t provide specifics. — Ben Fidler

Scholar Rock on Monday named four new top executives ahead of the anticipated approval of its first drug, a spinal muscular atrophy treatment that succeeded in late-stage testing last year. Longtime board chair and former Alexion Pharmaceuticals CEO David Hallal will take over for Jay Backstrom as Scholar Rock's top executive. Additionally, ex-Alnylam Pharmaceuticals president Akshay Vaishnaw has stepped in as the company's new head of research and development; former Alexion CFO Vikas Sinha will run its finances; and R. Keith Woods, previously of Argenx, will be Scholar Rock's chief operating officer. Scholar Rock's drug, apitegromab, could be approved in the U.S. by Sept. 22. — Ben Fidler

French health regulators suspended use of Valneva's vaccine last week for chikungunya virus in people 65 years or older following reports of serious adverse events in three individuals who'd received the shot. The vaccine, Ixchiq, was cleared in France in July to help stem an escalating disease outbreak. However, three vaccinated individuals over 80 and with other underlying medical conditions were later hospitalized, and one died, leading the regulator to halt the rollout in that demographic pending an investigation. Ixchiq remains available for adults between 18 and 64 years of age. Valneva is working with the agency on next steps. — Ben Fidler