The Latest
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Deep Dive
Biotech M&A is on the upswing. Track the latest deals here.
Japan’s Asahi Kasei Corp. has agreed to acquire Calliditas Therapeutics for about $1.1 billion, adding to what’s already been a busy dealmaking season.
Updated 11 hours ago -
Sponsored by Cognizant
The future of medicine: AI’s role in uncovering new drugs
Artificial intelligence (AI) has sparked a revolution in the pharmaceutical industry, reshaping the way we approach complex biological challenges.
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News roundup
Roche’s Sabry retires; Duchenne drug fails confirmatory test
The veteran executive will be replaced by Boris Zaïtra. Elsewhere, Nippon Shinyaku shared negative Phase 3 data and Merck unveiled new breast cancer results for Keytruda.
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Lilly to pour $5B more into expanding Zepbound, Mounjaro production
The planned spending on new facilities in Lebanon, Indiana, brings its total commitment to the site to $9 billion, the largest single manufactuing investment in company history.
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ASCO24
Certain menopausal hormone therapy could raise ovarian cancer risk, study finds
The findings, from two trials involving thousands of women, could influence guidelines around use of hormonal treatment for menopause symptoms.
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Cytokinetics secures up to $575M in royalty deal, frustrating investors
The biotech’s decision to give Royalty Pharma a greater share of future drug sales suggests a lower likelihood it is readying to be acquired, analysts said.
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Deep Dive // Emerging biotech
Biotech IPOs are the industry’s lifeblood. Track how they’re performing.
Cancer drug developer Actuate Therapeutics is the third biotech to IPO plans in May. No startups have priced an offering since early April, however.
Updated 10 hours ago -
Orna, a circular RNA specialist, acquires a buzzy startup
After laying off staff late last year, Orna is expanding through the purchase of ReNAgade Therapeutics, which was built around technology designed to more effectively deliver RNA-based medicines.
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Merck KGaA to buy gene therapy tools maker for $600M
The German drugmaker is bolstering its MilliporeSigma business with a unit of Gamma Biosciences that specializes in so-called transfection reagents.
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Pfizer and Lilly are elbowing into the direct-to-consumer market. Will it work?
Direct-to-consumer platforms can offer consumers an online path to sourcing popular medications, but some therapeutic areas may be better suited for the business model.
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Biogen, looking to diversify, acquires immune drugmaker HI-Bio for $1.15B
The deal, only Biogen’s third since the start of 2018, is a sign the company is open to branching out beyond the neurological drugs that have long been its focus.
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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 -
Obesity drugs
SixPeaks, a new obesity biotech, starts up with an option to sell to AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca has an exclusive chance to buy the startup, which is developing a muscle-protecting weight loss medicine, within the next two years.
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News roundup
Regeneron faces new biosimilar threats; an AI biotech lays off staff
Today’s rundown also includes news of an expanded partnership for Boehringer Ingelheim and updates to emerging medicines from GSK and Bristol Myers.
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AstraZeneca’s $80B sales plan leans on cancer drug expansion
The drugmaker aims to catch up in developing new tumor-fighting technologies — areas where it has lagged behind leaders like Novartis and J&J.
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Emerging biotech
AltruBio lands up to $225M after shift to immune drug research
Since pivoting from oncology, the startup has raised close to $300 million and advanced an ulcerative colitis drug into mid-stage testing.
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AstraZeneca sets sights on $80B in revenue by 2030
The U.K. pharma expects to launch 20 new drugs by then, among them complex medicines for cancer as well as treatments for weight loss.
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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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Lilly partners with Aktis, deepening radiopharma investment
The collaboration, which gives Lilly access to Aktis’ technology in return for $60 million, adds to a flurry of dealmaking in the radiopharma field.
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BIO to restructure, lay off staff in shakeup of lobbying group
Thirty employees will leave as part of the reorganization, which the group said is meant to bring "stronger focus and greater impact" to its work.
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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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European Commission, in ‘unprecedented’ move, declines to revoke approval of PTC Duchenne drug
Rather than endorse the recommendation of the EMA, the commission called for a new review for Translarna that considers “the totality of the evidence” compiled to date.
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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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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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Obesity drugs
Investors put $400M into biotech licensing obesity drugs from China
The biotech, tentatively named Hercules CM Newco, has rights to three incretin drugs discovered by Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals, two of which are in clinical testing.