Biotech: Page 2
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Q&A // First 90 Days
Want better cancer treatments? Make biopharma more like Silicon Valley
Alicia Zhou brings startup bona fides to the nonprofit Cancer Research Institute to promote defragmentation of the cancer research effort.
By Michael Gibney • Sept. 24, 2024 -
What the Fed’s rate cut means for biotech
Industry insiders hope the Fed’s decision to cut rates for the first time in years will boost biotech investment. But the long-awaited move won’t cure all that ails the sector, others cautioned.
By Ben Fidler • Sept. 20, 2024 -
Trendline
Commercialization, marketing and social media
As the pharma industry stares down a historic patent cliff, macroeconomic headwinds and challenging R&D costs for increasingly complex medicines, nailing the launch of new medicines has become increasingly critical.
By PharmaVoice staff -
After epilepsy setback, Ovid charges confidently ahead in CNS
A promising epilepsy drug Ovid sold to Takeda recently missed the mark in late-stage trials. But Ovid believes it has other novel mechanisms that could deliver a CNS win.
By Meagan Parrish • Sept. 20, 2024 -
Getting IND ready — how companies can avoid common traps
Overpromising, overcommitting and neglecting CMC are a few of the pitfalls that cause sponsors to stumble when submitting a new drug application.
By Alexandra Pecci • Sept. 18, 2024 -
The hunt for game-changers against the deadliest form of brain cancer
Treatments for glioblastoma have fallen short in the face of difficult challenges, but the pipeline is full of renewed attempts.
By Kelly Bilodeau • Sept. 16, 2024 -
Biopharma prepares to pivot from China as Biosecure Act advances
After the House of Representatives passed the Biosecure Act last week, U.S. biotechs could be forced to cut ties with five Chinese contract partners.
By Amy Baxter • Sept. 16, 2024 -
Who’s winning in biotech’s tight market?
Three of the largest fundraising rounds in 2024 show where investors are willing to place their bets in biotech.
By Meagan Parrish • Sept. 13, 2024 -
Deep Dive
A decade of cancer immunotherapy: Keytruda, Opdivo and the drugs that changed oncology
Over the past 10 years, PD1-blocking medicines have transformed cancer care. But the steady expansion of their use has slowed and, despite much trying, pharmaceutical companies have largely failed to top the drugs’ successes.
By Jonathan Gardner • Sept. 10, 2024 -
A new way of determining a drug’s value — with health equity in mind
Quality-adjusted life years are an important tool to frame a drug’s cost effectiveness, but they leave out other determinants of health.
By Michael Gibney • Sept. 10, 2024 -
Lilly lays down $1B to be ‘first in biology’ with obesity gene therapies
The deal, which targets metabolic diseases, is one of a few by Big Pharma to develop lncRNA therapies.
By Amy Baxter • Sept. 9, 2024 -
Huntington’s disease R&D is regaining ground after several disappointments
Setbacks haven’t stopped advances by biotechs and pharmas working on new drugs for the inherited brain disorder.
By Kelly Bilodeau • Sept. 9, 2024 -
What 3 layoff stories reveal about pharma’s troubles
The factors driving the industry’s layoffs — and what could help turn the tide.
By Meagan Parrish • Sept. 6, 2024 -
A plucky biotech threatening Pfizer’s grip on the Prevnar vaccine market
Results from Vaxcyte’s clinical pneumococcal vaccine study showed the smaller company could take on Pfizer’s legendary blockbuster.
By Michael Gibney • Sept. 4, 2024 -
Pharma’s ‘it’ therapy — a new drug class gaining steam
More companies are investing in protein degraders, which leverage a unique approach to harnessing the immune system in cancer, neurological diseases and more.
By Kelly Bilodeau • Sept. 4, 2024 -
Is anyone taking the world’s priciest drugs?
A slew of breakthrough gene therapies won FDA approval in recent years — but high price tags haven’t always yielded big returns.
By Meagan Parrish • Aug. 30, 2024 -
Their Alzheimer’s treatment worked — but shares fell anyway
Cognition Therapeutics touted what the C-suite saw as a promising mid-stage study in Alzheimer’s, but investors read a different story.
By Michael Gibney • Aug. 29, 2024 -
After an FDA rejection, here’s what’s next in the psychedelics pipeline
By rejecting the first MDMA therapy earlier this month, the FDA signaled to the psychedelic drug sector that the road to approval isn’t clear cut.
By Amy Baxter • Aug. 28, 2024 -
As pharma’s AI revolution gets underway, ‘hallucinations’ pose a great risk
While AI, machine learning and large language models can distill huge amounts of information, they sometimes make mistakes. New technologies could rebuild that trust.
By Michael Gibney • Aug. 27, 2024 -
As a new mpox strain gains ground, a key drug stumbles in the clinic
Despite the disappointing results, the drug’s developer, Siga Therapeutics, said there’s more to the story.
By Kelly Bilodeau • Aug. 26, 2024 -
Will the IRA squash new drugs? Those worries are likely exaggerated, studies say.
There’s no link between revenue and R&D from smaller biotechs, and that’s where most innovation comes from, according to new studies.
By Alexandra Pecci • Aug. 22, 2024 -
BioMarin taps Amgen, Roche vets in executive reshuffle
Greg Friberg and James Sabry will take over, respectively, as heads of R&D and business development, less than a year after BioMarin named a new CEO.
By Jacob Bell • Aug. 22, 2024 -
Q&A
23andMe inches closer to cancer immunotherapy, guided by its genetic database
Dr. Jennifer Low, head of 23andMe’s therapeutics division, is taking the company into new territory with a potential cancer treatment that targets a unique pathway.
By Michael Gibney • Aug. 20, 2024 -
Q&A // Biotech Spotlight
A biotech’s difficult journey to bring a new kind of Parkinson’s drug to patients
A series of executive turnovers at Gain Therapeutics this year precedes important early-stage Parkinson’s results that could change how the disease is treated.
By Michael Gibney • Aug. 13, 2024 -
A potential MS ‘game changer’ could bring more safety to the table — even against viruses
Immunic’s treatment has anti-inflammation, neuroprotection and antiviral effects plus a ‘benign’ safety profile that even seems to lower the risk of COVID-19 infection.
By Alexandra Pecci • Aug. 13, 2024 -
Roche licenses Sangamo’s technology for another shot at Alzheimer’s drugs
Through a new deal, Roche has exclusive rights to Sangamo molecules designed to repress the gene that makes “tau,” a protein many scientists view as a main driver of Alzheimer’s.
By Jacob Bell • Aug. 8, 2024