The Latest
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Deep Dive // Emerging biotech
Biotech IPOs are the industry’s lifeblood. Track how they’re performing.
Brain drug developer Rapport Therapeutics and radiopharma drugmaker Telix Pharmaceuticals are the first biotechs to seek an IPO in over two months.
Updated May 20, 2024 -
Emerging biotech
Pheon rides wave of ADC interest with $120M financing
CEO Cyrus Mozayeni said the company is taking a different approach than other developers of antibody-drug conjugates, though it’s keeping details close.
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Forbion-backed biotech Progentos debuts with $65M for MS drug
Progentos says the money will go toward expanding its pipeline and pushing an experimental treatment for multiple sclerosis through "proof of concept” testing.
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Dyne shares jump on trial data for muscle disease drugs
Updated study results for the biotech’s medicines for myotonic dystrophy Type 1 and Duchenne muscular dystrophy appeared to impress analysts and investors on Wall Street.
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FDA approves Amgen drug for tough-to-treat form of lung cancer
Imdelltra, a bispecific antibody targeting a protein called DLL3, is cleared for use following chemotherapy in treating extensive-stage small cell lung cancer.
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Deep Dive // Patent thickets
Drug patents protect pharma profits. Track when they’ll expire here.
Intellectual property is the foundation of the drug industry’s business model. This database will track key patent expiry dates for 30 top-selling medicines.
Updated May 13, 2024 -
News roundup
Erasca restructures; Novartis moves to complete MorphoSys deal
The cancer biotech is laying off one-fifth of its staff and scrapping three drugs. Elsewhere, Novartis secured sufficient support for its $3 billion buyout and Bristol Myers won a new CAR-T approval.
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ALS drug development
Biogen, Ionis shelve ALS drug following study failure
While results indicated the drug works as intended, it didn’t have enough of an effect on a protein that’s become integral to many ALS research programs.
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J&J to buy Proteologix and its dual-targeting antibody drugs for $850M
The deal is part of a plan by J&J to build a portfolio of “differentiated” bispecific antibodies, an increasingly popular area of drug development.
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Detailed trial data show Bayer drug alleviates menopause symptoms
Full study results disclosed ahead of a medical meeting showed elinzanetant consistently reduced the frequency and severity of hot flashes.
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Deep Dive
Biotech M&A is on the upswing. Track the latest deals here.
J&J’s proposed acquisition of Proteologix is the eighth buyout of an immune drug developer so far this year, outpacing even oncology M&A.
Updated May 16, 2024 -
Obesity drugs
Roche keeps pace in obesity drug field with early study data
A drug Roche acquired in a buyout of Carmot Therapeutics and that works similarly to Zepbound helped people lose nearly 19% of their body weight in a Phase 1 trial.
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Lilly’s once-weekly insulin matches daily shots in late-stage tests
The results, which showed Lilly’s drug was as effective at controlling blood sugar as standard injections, come as Novo Nordisk seeks approval for a competing once-weekly insulin.
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Bolt Biotherapeutics to lay off staff, abandon lead ADC candidate
The company will cut its workforce by half and shuffle leadership as it discontinues testing of the drug trastuzumab imbotolimod.
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Blackstone-backed biotech launches with up to $300M for immune drug
Uniquity Bio emerged from stealth mode ready to begin Phase 2 trials of an antibody targeting the protein TSLP in asthma and COPD.
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News roundup
Novo Holdings buys stake in life sciences tools company; BioMarin lays off 170
The parent of Novo Nordisk is acquiring 60% ownership of Single Use Support, which specializes in handling of advanced therapies. Elsewhere, BioMarin and gene therapy developer Tenaya are cutting jobs.
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New Alzheimer's drugs
Eisai sets new revenue target for Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi
The annual forecast, which comes as Eisai and Biogen have begun submitting a more convenient form of Leqembi for approval, looks “more realistic” than previous guidance, according to Jefferies analysts.
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Bayer details layoffs as company shake-up continues
The reduction of 1,500 roles in the first quarter is part of CEO Bill Anderson’s plan to shrink Bayer’s bureaucracy and “radically realign” its culture.
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FogPharma, Artbio join forces to design a different radiopharma drug
The biotechs aim to marry FogPharma’s polypeptide science with Artbio’s lead-based radiopharmaceutical technology in one of the industry’s hottest fields.
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Sands Capital raises $555M fund amid upturn in biotech ‘crossover’ investing
The firm, one of the sector’s more active crossover investors, closed the fund during a surge in the financings that bridge biotechs to the public markets.
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Emerging biotech
Ajax, aiming for a better JAK drug, raises $95M to begin first tests
Goldman Sachs and Eli Lilly are among those backing the startup, which claims its prospect could be more potent than the myelofibrosis therapies that have come to market in recent years.
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Emerging biotech
NewVale, an unorthodox investment firm, sets out to support biotech’s ‘infrastructure’
The firm, which closed a $167 million fund, aims to fill a “crucial gap” by growing the companies startups turn to for outsourced services, founder Todd Holmes told BioPharma Dive.
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Biosimilars are gaining ground. The IRA could push them further next year.
As commercial momentum builds, coverage incentives for the Medicare market are expected to favor biosimilars in 2025.
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Takeda nabs option to license Alzheimer’s immunotherapies from AC Immune
The deal — worth $100 million up front and potentially billions more later on — gives Takeda an exclusive option to license an Alzheimer’s vaccine and other “active immunotherapies.”
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Sanofi gambles $80M on Fulcrum’s muscular dystrophy drug
The deal gives the pharma partial rights to a medicine GSK once developed for heart disease but could soon become the first therapy for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy.