JPM25: Amgen’s defense, Merck’s patent ‘hill’ and Viking’s long-term planning

Executives at Amgen made the case for MariTide's differentiation, while Merck's CEO contended Keytruda's coming loss of exclusivity can be managed.

Lilly blames slower-than-expected growth for 2024 sales miss

The company said it overestimated demand of its obesity and diabetes drugs in the fourth quarter, but projected a further ramp-up in sales this year.

JPM25: Deals, Summit’s bravado and gene therapy headwinds

Drug executives talked M&A and the incoming administration, but also weighed the outlook for cell and gene therapy developers after a difficult year. 

Updated Jan. 14, 2025

FTC again goes after PBMs’ business practices in new report

Agency commissioners voted unanimously on Tuesday to publish the report, which makes a similar attack on the drug middlemen as the agency’s first report, but draws on more data.

Updated Jan. 14, 2025

Regenxbio licenses gene therapies to Japan’s Nippon Shinyaku

Nippon Shinyaku will pay Regenxbio $110 million upfront for U.S. and Asia rights to treatments for Hunter and Hurler syndromes.

J&J to buy psychiatric drug developer Intra-Cellular for $14.6B

Intra-Cellular has had success selling Caplyta, a brain-rebalancing drug that's approved to treat schizophrenia and bipolar depression.

Updated Jan. 13, 2025

Moderna shares tumble on slashed sales guidance

The company lost more than $3 billion in market value after cutting its forecast for 2025 revenue from its COVID-19 and RSV vaccines.

Lilly pads cancer drug pipeline with Scorpion deal

The pharma will spend up to $2.5 billion to acquire an experimental PI3K inhibitor from Scorpion, which will spin out a new company holding its employees and other assets.

Biogen’s ‘cold and calculated’ offer to buy Sage receives a mixed reaction on Wall Street

Analysts say the deal, which would give Biogen full control over the drug Zurzuvae, could be a smart financial move. Yet it's also unlikely to appease broader investor concerns.

Tune raises $175M for hepatitis B medicine, epigenetic research

The biotech plans to use the funding to advance clinical testing of an epigenetic silencing therapy it hopes could treat chronic hepatitis B infections.

Intellia to stop work on rare disease therapy, lay off staff

The CRISPR company will reduce its workforce by 27% over the course of the year as it discontinues a treatment for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.

Patrizia Cavazzoni, key FDA official, to leave agency

The director of the FDA's main drug review office will exit on Jan. 18, according to an email sent to staff. Her departure is one of several announced by high-ranking FDA leaders ahead of the coming administration change. 

Ouro, backed by GSK, joins hunt to bring bispecifics to autoimmune disease

“Practice of medicine could fundamentally change with these types of therapies,” said CEO Jaideep Dudani.

Pfizer’s PD-1 drug succeeds; AbbVie writes down $3.5B in Cerevel assets

Sasanlimab, a subcutaneous immunotherapy developed by Pfizer, could help treat bladder cancer. Elsewhere, Royalty Pharma moved to simplify its corporate structure and Biogen made another hire.

5 questions facing pharma in 2025

Political and economic uncertainty hangs over the industry, while major bets on metabolic and immune disease drug research are set to play out.

IGM’s autoimmune pivot backfires as top drug disappoints in testing

The biotech will stop developing two drugs and lay off much of its staff after its lead therapy wasn’t as potent in early testing as the company expected.

Bayer says menopause drug succeeds in breast cancer study

The results suggest Bayer’s elinzanetant may help a broader group of women with vasomotor symptoms, which are associated with menopause as well as a common breast cancer therapy.

Verdiva starts up with $411M and a portfolio of obesity drugs from China

The newly launched biotech is equipped with rights to a trio of weight loss medicines licensed from China-based Sciwind Biosciences, led by an oral therapy ready for Phase 2 testing.

Healthcare venture capital investment boosted by AI in 2024: report

Nearly 30% of the funding poured into healthcare startups last year, including for biotechs, went to companies leveraging artificial intelligence, according to Silicon Valley Bank.

Galapagos, after research struggles, will split in two and revamp Gilead deal

Alongside plans to spin out a new company, the Belgian drugmaker said it will cut some 300 positions, or about 40% of its current workforce.

Kidney disease drugmaker Maze files for IPO

Maze fits the mold of biotechs that have pulled off successful offerings recently: The seven-year old startup, which raised about $500 million privately, has a drug in Phase 2 testing.

Tenvie raises $200M for brain drug R&D; Sana spikes on single patient’s results

The Arch-backed startup begins life with several assets acquired from Denali Therapeutics. Elsewhere, Jasper got a negative reaction to data for its hives drug and Stoke finalized Phase 3 trial plans.

FDA adds warning to RSV shots from GSK, Pfizer

The regulator is requiring labeling that warns of Guillan-Barré syndrome, although it said data don’t prove a causal link and affirmed the shots’ benefit outweighs their risks.

ALS drugs from Denali, Calico come up short, marking setback for Healey trial

Denali’s medicine and a similar one from Calico Life Sciences and AbbVie were not much different than a placebo, bringing the tally of failed drugs in the innovative “Healey platform trial” to seven.

J&J says cancer drug combination showed survival benefit over Tagrisso

Results from the Mariposa study found a regimen of Rybrevant and Lazcluze helped patients with a common form of advanced lung cancer live longer.