Biotech


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

    FDA reversal sets up high-stakes hearing on Sarepta gene therapy

    The regulator will convene a panel of advisers to consult on an approval decision for the biotech’s Duchenne treatment, a change from just a few weeks ago when Sarepta had said a meeting wouldn’t be held.

    By March 17, 2023
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    Leonid Sorokin via Getty Images

    Esperion in dispute with Daiichi over drug milestone payment

    The companies disagree over what qualifies for a payment of up to $300 million that’s associated with inclusion of heart data on the cholesterol drug’s label.

    By Kristin Jensen • March 16, 2023
  • Colorized scanning electron micrograph of a natural killer cell from a human donor. Explore the Trendline
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    National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. (2016). "Human natural killer cell" [Micrograph]. Retrieved from Flickr.
    Trendline

    Cell therapy

    Six CAR-T cell therapies are now approved in the U.S., and their continued emergence has helped fueled further research into next-generation approaches.

    By BioPharma Dive staff
  • A security guard at Silicon Valley Bank peers through the front door of the bank branch
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    Justin Sullivan / Staff via Getty Images

    Healthcare companies may turn to big banks after SVB’s fall

    SVB’s unraveling created a hole in life sciences financing that could be filled by bigger banks, but might hamper access to quick, short-term cash for startups.

    By Sydney Halleman • March 15, 2023
  • A composite photo of Paul Yaworsky and Rahul Ballal, Mediar Therapeutics' chief scientific officer and chief executive officer respectively.
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    Permission granted by Mediar Therapeutics

    With focus on fibrosis, startup Mediar draws big pharma backing

    Novartis joined venture investor Sofinnova in leading an $85 million investment in the startup that also involved Pfizer, Eli Lilly and Bristol Myers Squibb.

    By March 15, 2023
  • A crowd of people stands outside Silicon Valley Bank headquarters.
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    Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
    Emerging biotech

    SVB’s failure was contained. Its effects on biotech could still linger.

    “A generation of founders is now scarred,” one biotech CEO said, as small drugmakers grapple with the longer-lasting effects of SVB’s stunning collapse.

    By , March 14, 2023
  • A 3D visualization of neurons and neural network with signals.
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    Evgenii Kovalev via Getty Images
    Emerging biotech

    Switch Therapeutics launches with $52M to capitalize on RNA medicine ‘era’

    The company’s name comes from its goal of developing drugs that only “switch” on in target cells, potentially enabling more precise therapies.

    By March 14, 2023
  • A photograph of a box of Amylyx Pharmaceuticals' ALS medicine Relyvrio
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    Permission granted by Amylyx Pharmaceuticals
    ALS drug development

    Amylyx’s ALS drug sales impress Wall Street

    In its first full quarter on the market, Amylyx’s Relyvrio generated nearly $22 million in revenue, or about five times what some analysts forecast last month.

    By March 13, 2023
  • People stand outside a closed bank branch.
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    Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
    Emerging biotech

    ‘What a mess’: How biotech startups grappled with SVB’s collapse

    The bank’s failure caused some companies to question whether they could pay employees, while forcing many others to take steps to calm nervous investors.

    By March 13, 2023
  • An SVB sign stands outside the bank's headquarters.
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    Justin Sullivan via Getty Images

    Regulators take over Silicon Valley Bank

    The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation closed the embattled bank and appointed the FDIC as receiver, regulators said Friday.

    By Anna Hrushka • March 10, 2023
  • A close-up shot of a woman's hands, handling a syringe of insulin.
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    ClarkandCompany via Getty Images

    Canadian royalty investor buys into first-of-its-kind Type 1 diabetes drug

    DRI Healthcare, which owns royalties on top-selling drugs like Eylea and Stelara, is paying $100 million for a piece of the Provention Bio drug Tzield that the FDA approved last year.

    By March 9, 2023
  • AA 3D illustration of a virus on a blurred background.
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    Dr_Microbe via Getty Images

    Merck pays $50 million for early-stage Epstein-Barr vaccine

    Opko’s acquisition of ModeX paid off with a Merck deal that could earn the vaccine and immunotherapy developer hundreds of millions of dollars. 

    By March 8, 2023
  • An illustration of neuron cells in abstract dark space.
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    whitehoune via Getty Images
    Emerging biotech

    J&J-backed startup launches with $100M to build better brain drugs

    Rapport Therapeutics aims to find new so-called receptor-associated proteins that could serve as targets for neurological disease medicines. Its most advanced drug is already in early-stage human testing.

    By March 7, 2023
  • A portrait of Avak Kahvejian, CEO of Ampersand Biomedicines.
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    Permission granted by Flagship Pioneering
    Emerging biotech

    Flagship’s latest startup emerges with a plan for ‘smarter biologics’

    Ampersand Biomedicines claims to be developing a way to make medicines that act only at the site of disease and spare healthy tissue.

    By March 7, 2023
  • An illustration of dopamine outside the cell binding to a receptor.
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    selvanegra via Getty Images
    State of Play

    GPCR-targeting drugs: A renewed focus on a ubiquitous group of proteins

    As many as a third of FDA-approved drugs target GPCRs in some fashion, with uses ranging from treating diabetes to pain. But biotech startups say there’s still room to develop more.

    By March 7, 2023
  • The exterior of the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York City.
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    Michael M. Santiago via Getty Images

    Adaptimmune acquires struggling cell therapy rival following layoffs

    The planned merger between Adaptimmune and TCR2 will extend their cash runway by two years, as a biotech downturn continues to pressure companies.

    By March 6, 2023
  • A woman smiles for a photo taken inside a science laboratory
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    Permission granted by Cargo Therapeutics

    Cancer drug startup Cargo raises $200M to solve CAR-T relapse

    The biotech is developing a CAR-T therapy for lymphoma that targets a different protein flag than currently available cell treatments.

    By March 1, 2023
  • Chroma Medicine CEO Catherine Stehman-Breen
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    Permission granted by Chroma Medicine
    Emerging biotech

    Amid industry turbulence, Chroma raises fresh funding to edit the epigenome

    As many drug startups struggle to gain cash, Chroma has raised another $135 million to back its research, a new twist on genetic medicine.

    By Updated March 1, 2023
  • A photo of Vertex Pharmaceuticals' Boston headquarters.
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    Courtesy of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

    Vertex tiptoes further into Duchenne research with Tevard deal

    An alliance with the startup brings Vertex an RNA-based medicine for the disease, adding to a portfolio that already includes a gene editing treatment.

    By Feb. 28, 2023
  • A photo of a declining stock price.
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    Leonid Sorokin via Getty Images

    Following another trial failure, a brain biotech considers ‘strategic alternatives’

    Aptinyx has joined a lengthy list of drugmakers looking to cut costs and explore strategic options after hitting setbacks in key clinical studies.

    By Feb. 28, 2023
  • A stock photo of blocks arranged to illustrate layoffs
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    Andrii Yalanskyi via Getty Images

    Theravance, under pressure from activist investor, cuts back research, trims staff

    The company is laying off 17% of its workforce and stopping work on inhaled JAK inhibitors in its latest restructuring move.

    By Feb. 28, 2023
  • Two scientists solving equations on a glass screen in a laboratory
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    PeopleImages via Getty Images
    Sponsored by Cognizant

    How life sciences benefits from broader healthcare transformation

    Digital transformation has much to offer life sciences as well as healthcare — and the synergies between the two can further optimize the power of digital health, clinical trials and patient outcomes.

    Feb. 27, 2023
  • A stock photo of wooden blocks illustrating layoffs
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    cagkansayin via Getty Images

    EQRx, having redrawn strategy, to trim workforce by 18%

    Part of a plan to lower spending, the workforce reduction will involve layoffs as well as leaving positions unfilled after employees depart.

    By Feb. 24, 2023
  • Roche Pharmaceutical Group's office building in Shanghai, China
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    iStock via Getty Images

    Roche hands rights to lung cancer drug back to Blueprint

    Weeks after the Swiss drugmaker wrote off Gavreto’s accounting value, the biotech will regain responsibility for its commercialization.

    By Feb. 24, 2023
  • A photo of Sanofi headquarters in Paris, France.
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    Courtesy of Sanofi

    FDA approves Sanofi’s long-lasting hemophilia drug

    Sanofi and its development partner, Sobi, claim the drug’s once-a-week dosing, and its effect on blood-clotting protein levels, will help it compete in the crowded market for hemophilia A treatments.

    By Feb. 23, 2023
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    Maddie Meyer via Getty Images

    Moderna shares sink amid COVID forecasts, trial news

    The biotech expects to earn at least $5 billion from sales of its COVID vaccine this year, which would be about one-third of what it made in 2022.

    By Feb. 23, 2023