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.

By Delilah Alvarado • May 25, 2023

Illumina, Icahn prepare for proxy showdown

Can Carl Icahn bend Illumina to his will? Shareholders will vote Thursday on removing the company’s CEO and chairman from the board and replacing them with nominees from the activist investor.

By Elise Reuter • May 25, 2023

Explore the Trendline➔

Emerging biotech

New biotechs continue to emerge despite a challenging market environment that has forced venture firms to build their drug startups more cautiously.

By BioPharma Dive staff

Digital health funding holds steady in Q1 after year of decline

The sector defied trends seen in the broader venture capital economy, where funding has tightened. But investment is still at years-low levels.

By Emily Olsen • May 25, 2023

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.

By Kristin Jensen • May 24, 2023

FDA delays decision on Duchenne gene therapy, considers narrower approval

The agency will extend its review of Sarepta’s treatment by one month as it weighs limiting an initial OK to children with Duchenne aged 4 to 5 years old.

By Ben Fidler • Updated May 24, 2023

Concentra bids on Atea, seeking to acquire another struggling biotech

However, Atea’s board said Tuesday they rejected the offer from Concentra, which was recently involved in the takeover of Jounce Therapeutics.

By Gwendolyn Wu • Updated May 30, 2023

ReNAgade debuts with $300M and an ‘all-in-one’ system for delivering RNA drugs

Staffed by former Alnylam and Moderna employees, the startup is developing technologies that could be useful in a variety of RNA drugmaking methods.

By Gwendolyn Wu • May 23, 2023

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.

By Ned Pagliarulo • May 22, 2023

How the digital front door benefits clinical trial patients, clinicians and sponsors

A digital front door in clinical trials is a triple win that improves patient and clinician satisfaction, data quality and costs.

By Ben Baumann, OpenClinica Co-Founder and COO • May 22, 2023

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.

By Jacob Bell • May 19, 2023

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.

By Jacob Bell • May 18, 2023

Billy Dunn, former FDA neuroscience head, joins Prothena board

Dunn is joining the neurological drug developer less than three months after stepping down from his role leading an agency office responsible for several controversial regulatory reviews. 

By Kristin Jensen • May 17, 2023

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.”

By Ned Pagliarulo • May 17, 2023

Biotech Scribe strikes gene editing deal with Lilly subsidiary

The California-based company now has partnerships in place with Sanofi, Biogen and Lilly’s Prevail.

By Gwendolyn Wu • May 16, 2023

Biotech startup Ray raises $100M for vision-restoring gene therapies

Founded in early 2021, the company is using optogenetics to design treatments that could work across disease genotypes and in the later stages of vision loss.

By Ned Pagliarulo • May 16, 2023

Flagship’s newest startup is imitating nature to make new drugs

The latest startup from one of biotech’s most prolific company creators has $50 million to explore a new way of designing medicines.

By Gwendolyn Wu • May 16, 2023

Gilead expands Arcus partnership, with eye to inflammatory disease

The new deal is worth up to $1 billion, and will see the two collaborators work together on up to four inflammatory disease drug targets.

By Jonathan Gardner • May 15, 2023

Nido debuts with $109M for its precision approach to brain drugs

Backed by 5AM Ventures and Eli Lilly, the startup has advanced a drug for spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy into clinical testing.

By Gwendolyn Wu • May 15, 2023

How real-world data helps manufacturers see the complete market access story

Using labs and claims data, pharma companies can uncover new opportunities to improve market access for patients.

By Dinesh Kabaleeswaran, SVP of Consulting and Advisory Services, MMIT • May 15, 2023

How to successfully bring your drug product to launch

Vetter brings a proven launch management process that combines extensive experience with in-depth product knowledge.

By Dr. Anna Schamberger, Director Customer Project Management & Sabrina Schumacher, Team Leader Customer Service • May 15, 2023

Amylyx’s ALS drug again surpasses Wall Street expectations

Revenue from the biotech’s ALS therapy Relyvrio totaled $71.4 million in the first quarter, well above analyst estimates and helping the company turn a profit only months into the drug’s launch.

By Jacob Bell • May 11, 2023

Alzheimer’s doctors see promise, limits in Lilly’s latest drug data

While some see the new donanemab results as adding to a “watershed moment” in Alzheimer’s research, others say they reinforce the limitations of so-called anti-amyloid therapies.

By Jacob Bell • May 10, 2023

Cancer vaccine from BioNTech, Roche shows potential in small study

The companies’ personalized shot generated tumor-specific T cells that researchers hope could prevent pancreatic cancer from returning after surgery.

By Jonathan Gardner • May 10, 2023

Gilead acquires San Diego startup for early-stage cancer, immune drugs

The buyout of privately held XinThera continues a string of recent acquisitions of smaller biotechs by Gilead and hands it a group of drug prospects that could begin clinical testing later this year.

By Ned Pagliarulo • May 9, 2023

Roche pays China-based biotech $70M for a new HER2 drug

The drug, currently in Phase 1, is an oral medicine designed to cross the blood-brain barrier and better treat HER2 tumors that have spread to the brain.

By Jonathan Gardner • May 9, 2023