Pharma & Biotech Industry Analysis, from Thought Leaders
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Biotechnology
You do not need to be an oncologist to know how important catching cancer early can be. 23 February 2018
Pharmaceutical
In recent years, a small non-profit research organization in Boston, Massachusetts, has quietly acquired a significant amount of influence over pricing negotiations in the gargantuan US market for prescription pharmaceuticals. 19 February 2018
Pharmaceutical
A couple of leaders of drug development efforts at major charities talk about why their sector has a massive role to play. 31 January 2018
Pharmaceutical
For years, China has been viewed with a mixture of excitement, optimism and suspicion by western pharmaceutical firms, with nervous investors wary of the relatively opaque political and economic environment in the country. 22 January 2018
Biotechnology
It’s impossible to imagine how many lives antibiotics have saved since penicillin was first synthesized by Alexander Fleming in 1928 - certainly tens, if not hundreds of millions. 14 December 2017
Pharmaceutical
It is the third-most common disorder in the world. In the USA, close to 38 million people suffer from it. Globally, the number is a whopping 1 billion. We are talking about migraine, also often referred to as ‘super headaches’ — a condition more prevalent than diabetes, epilepsy, and asthma combined. 11 December 2017
Generics
A look at the drug prices that are not going up, and if the industry can cope if they drop further. 24 November 2017
Biotechnology
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, which with some justification bills itself as the leading RNAi company, isn’t shy of mentioning the Nobel-prize winning provenance of its science and technology. 17 November 2017
Biotechnology
Thomas Busby and Oded Ben-Joseph, from investment bank Outcome Capital, look at some of the hurdles to accessing venture capital, and how companies can overcome them. 10 November 2017
Pharmaceutical
Michael Ellenbogen, who was diagnosed with younger-onset Alzheimer’s disease in 2008, was invited to give a talk to staff at a major pharma company last week. He has provided his speech to The Pharma Letter as part of his drive for urgent action to defeat the disease. 31 October 2017
Pharmaceutical
On November 20, the question of which country will host the European Medicines Agency post-Brexit will finally be settled, at the European Council’s General Affairs (Art. 50) meeting. 25 October 2017
Pharmaceutical
In this week's feature, Michael Jewell, the healthcare partner at Cavendish Corporate Finance, looks at a new initiative by Pfizer, the world’s largest pharmaceutical company, that aims to shake up the way the industry approaches nascent experimental drugs which would otherwise be side-lined. 17 October 2017
Pharmaceutical
A look into whether the issue of nationality matters when pharma companies are selecting their leaders. 6 October 2017
Pharmaceutical
Dr Nicola Davies explores pharmaceutical development in mental health, with a focus on factors that influence the road to pharma-psych innovation. 3 October 2017
Pharmaceutical
Yitzhak Peterburg, Teva’s last but one CEO, recently described the pharmaceutical industry as one of the last “traditional” industries, saying it was about to undergo “huge disruption.” 27 September 2017
Biotechnology
A fruitful congress of the European Society of Medical Oncology last week provided key insights into melanoma, lung, kidney and ovarian cancer research. 19 September 2017
Pharmaceutical
Nicola Davies casts her eye over a fast-emerging field in pharma. 13 September 2017
Pharmaceutical
A view on the future of rare disease drug development and population health from Michelle Hoffmann, senior vice president of strategy consulting at Boston-based life science consultancy, Back Bay Life Science Advisors. 4 September 2017
Pharmaceutical
Dr Nicola Davies debates the efficacy of US Food and Drug Administration approvals given the speed over safety angle. 30 August 2017
Biosimilars
A total of 32 biosimilar products, based on 12 biologics, have been approved for use in the European Union. This compares with just ten in the USA, referencing nine biologics. 22 August 2017
Generics
Hospitals are rationing cancer treatments. Pharmacies are scrambling to fill routine antibiotic prescriptions. And across the USA, patients are facing growing delays, substitutions, or outright denials of essential medicines, not because the drugs don’t exist, but because the supply chains behind them have buckled. 24 July 2025
Biotechnology
The race to develop effective cancer vaccines has entered a new phase, with late-stage trials from companies like Moderna and BioNTech generating momentum and sharpening investor focus. 23 July 2025
Generics
Swiss pharma Sandoz has spent less than a year charting its course as an independent company, but already it’s moving with the confidence of a seasoned player. Since separating from former parent Novartis in October 2023, the generics and biosimilars specialist has been working fast to reshape its identity—and its balance sheet. 22 July 2025
Pharmaceutical
Once seen as a niche tool for rare tumors, theranostics is quickly becoming a new standard in cancer care. Combining diagnostics and therapy in a single platform, the field has drawn billions in pharma investment and sparked regulatory momentum, as precision imaging begins to guide not only what patients receive—but when, how often, and with what expected impact. 18 July 2025
Pharmaceutical
Artificial intelligence has edged past the pilot phase in clinical development. Once a niche add-on, AI is now helping biopharma companies design, recruit, and run trials faster, cheaper, and—crucially—more inclusively. And regulators are starting to pay serious attention. 17 July 2025
Biotechnology
Eli Lilly’s latest acquisition has electrified the biotech world—and sent a clear message that gene editing is no longer just for rare diseases. The US pharma major is paying $1 billion upfront, with a further $300 million in milestones, to buy Verve Therapeutics, a move that positions it squarely in the race to develop one-and-done therapies for heart disease. 16 July 2025
Biotechnology
A quiet shift with potentially big implications for cancer drug access is underway in the UK. In June, the country’s health technology assessor, NICE, recommended GSK’s Blenrep (belantamab mafodotin) in multiple myeloma. 14 July 2025
Biotechnology
In the run up to the 2025 annual ASCO meeting, IMUNON (Nasdaq: IMNN) is moving into a Phase III trial with its lead candidate IMNN-001. We interviewed president and chief executive Stacy Lindborg on the long path to this moment—and what may lie ahead in the evolving ovarian cancer treatment landscape. 28 May 2025
Pharmaceutical
The oncology community’s biggest gathering returns to Chicago from May 30 to June 3, and all signs suggest the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting will be a watershed moment. 23 May 2025
Biotechnology
This week on The Pharma Letter Podcast, we’re joined by Quin Wills, co-founder and chief scientific officer of UK biotech Ochre Bio. 22 May 2025
Biotechnology
Adopting a platform approach to designing new therapies will speed the delivery of innovative genomic treatments to patients—but only if developers, regulators, and manufacturers work together to evolve the current drug development paradigm, writes Vanessa Almendro, vice president of science and technology and head of innovation at Danaher Corporation, in an Expert View piece. 19 May 2025
Pharmaceutical
Pain is good. Or finding non-opioid ways to manage it is good, if Latigo Biotherapeutics’ $150 million March fundraise is anything to go by. 19 April 2025
Pharmaceutical
The obesity drug market has experienced a seismic shift in recent years, with Novo Nordisk's Wegovy (semaglutide) and Eli Lilly's Mounjaro (tirzepatide) revolutionizing the way the condition is treated. 11 April 2025
Pharmaceutical
In this week’s podcast, we welcome Ido Peleg, CEO and Co-Founder of Yonalink, who provides insights into the current and future state of the clinical trial industry. 11 March 2025
Pharmaceutical
In this episode, we’ll take a look at the role of Japanese pharmaceutical groups in the UK, with Jackie Davis, general manager at Astellas Pharma. 24 February 2025
Biotechnology
Marking World Cancer Day 2025, this week's Executive Q&A is with Diego Santoro, General Manager & Head of International Region at Gilead and Kite Oncology. Mr Santoro outlines the company’s efforts to expand access to innovative CAR T-cell therapies in the Middle East. 8 February 2025
Biotechnology
The 90 million euros ($94 million) raised by Orbis Medicines in a series A round was not January’s biggest venture investment by a long stretch. That honor belonged to the whopping $410 million netted by UK obesity group Verdiva Bio, but what Orbis’s VC round does show is the growing interest in macrocyclics as a drug class. 6 February 2025
Pharmaceutical
A Feature on M&A, VC investment licensing and partnerships focusing on novel targets in autoimmune diseases. 4 February 2025
Pharmaceutical
Full mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology in 2024 fluctuated throughout the year with hardly any in some months and a significant number in other. But one thing was clear – buyers were shying away from big bets on commercially ready medicines in favor of earlier stage drug developers. 3 January 2025
Pharmaceutical
For many in the life sciences, the year gone by has been marked by volatility across a range of metrics, as political and economic disruptions threaten to upend the standard operating model. 30 December 2024
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