8 July 2025 US CAR-T focused biotech CARGO Therapeutics today announced that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement with Concentra Biosciences, initially worth roughly $200 million. The news sent CARGO’s stock up as much as 9.6% to $4.81 in pre-market activity.
Swiss pharma major Roche has reported updated results from its Phase III STARGLO trial, showing that a fixed-duration regimen of Columvi (glofitamab) combined with gemcitabine and oxaliplatin (GemOx) continues to deliver a notable survival benefit for patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). 23 May 2025
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
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Roche’s(ROG: SIX) Susvimo (ranibizumab injection) 100mg/mL for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy (DR), a potentially blinding condition that affects almost 10 million people in the USA and more than 100 million people globally. 23 May 2025
USA-based nonprofit CureDuchenne has announced the appointment of Brenda Wong as its new chief medical advisor (CMA), effective January 5, 2026. 22 May 2025
South Korean Samsung Group’s biopharmaceutical business is being reorganized into two separate tracks: contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) and biosimilars. 22 May 2025
The US Food and Drug Administration is continuing to take steps to help state importation programs provide safe, effective and more affordable drugs for American patients, as part of its efforts to implement Executive Order Lowering Drug Prices by Once Again Putting Americans First. 22 May 2025
Chinese drugmaker Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals priced its Hong Kong stock offering at the top of the marketed range to raise HK$9.9 billion ($1.3 billion). 22 May 2025
US clinical-stage biotech Vigil Neuroscience saw its share price skyrocket more than 240% to $7.89 pre-market, on the news that French pharma major Sanofi had made a takeover bid for the company. 22 May 2025
USA-based UroGen Pharma, a biotech developing and commercializing innovative solutions that treat urothelial and specialty cancers, closed 45% lower Wednesday. 22 May 2025
UK pharma major AstraZeneca is set to present data from more than 80 studies at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting. Spanning across 20 approved and investigational medicines, the presentations include two plenary sessions and a special late-breaking abstract. 22 May 2025
Swiss biosimilars specialist Sandoz has launched what it says is the first autoinjector presentation of a biosimilar to Stelara (ustekinumab) in Europe, bolstering its presence in the region’s rapidly expanding immunology market. 22 May 2025
Privately-held US genome-scale drug discovery company Orionis Biosciences has announced a second multi-year collaboration with Genentech, a subsidiary of Roche , to discover small-molecule monovalent glue medicines for novel and challenging targets in oncology. 22 May 2025
Merck KGaA plans to move its investigational lupus drug enpatoran into late-stage development, after new Phase II data showed clinically meaningful improvement in skin manifestations of the disease among treated patients. 22 May 2025
The share of generics in the Russian pharmaceutical market is steadily growing despite the efforts of the local state to create conditions for the production of original drugs, The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent reports. 22 May 2025
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is set to sharply restrict vaccine availability to millions of Americans without a persuasive justification based in science. 22 May 2025
Anglo-Swedish pharma major AstraZeneca reports that it will have a historic presence at this year’s American Society of Cancer Oncology (ASCO) meeting across its expansive cancer portfolio. 21 May 2025
US biotech Moderna today announced that in consultation with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the company has voluntarily withdrawn the pending Biologics License Application (BLA) for mRNA-1083, its flu/COVID combination vaccine candidate for adults aged 50 years and older. 21 May 2025
The Dementia Discovery Fund (DDF) - managed by healthcare fund manager SV Health Investors - has announced the final closing of its second fund, DDF-2, with $269 million in commitments. 21 May 2025
Radiant Biotherapeutics, a Canadian biotech advancing multi-specific, multi-affinity antibody (Multabody) therapeutics in cancer and autoimmune diseases, has announced the appointment of Deborah Geraghty as president and chief executive. 9 July 2025
Dutch privately held Amarna Therapeutics, which specializes in transformative gene therapies announced the formalization of an agreement with biologics manufacturing partner, Sweden’s NorthX Biologics, to accelerate the development of Nimivec, Amarna’s next-generation gene therapy platform targeting immune-mediated diseases. 9 July 2025
Shares of US biopharma Rhythm Pharmaceuticals rose 27.4% to $82.96 in early trading today, as it announced positive top-line results from its Phase II trial evaluating bivamelagon (formerly LB54640), an investigational oral melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) agonist, in patients with acquired hypothalamic obesity. 9 July 2025
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a label update with a new recommended titration dosing schedule for Kisunla (donanemab-azbt), Eli Lilly's once-monthly amyloid-targeting therapy for early symptomatic Alzheimer's disease (AD), including patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and the mild dementia stage of AD, with confirmed amyloid pathology. 9 July 2025
US clinical-stage biotech ProKidney reported statistically-significant and clinically-meaningful positive top-line results from the full Group 1 modified intent-to-treat (mITT) population of the Phase II REGEN-007 trial evaluating rilparencel in patients with CKD and diabetes. 9 July 2025
US antivirals specialist Gilead Sciences today announced a strategic partnership agreement with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) to supply lenacapavir - Gilead's twice-yearly injectable HIV-1 capsid inhibitor - for the prevention of HIV as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). 9 July 2025
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have hosted a hybrid workshop on reducing animal testing. 9 July 2025
US pharma giant Merck & Co today revealed it has made a bid to acquire UK-based lung therapy company Verona Pharma, sending the latter’s shares up 20.4% to $104.61 in pre-market activity. 9 July 2025
New Jersey, USA-headquartered Champions Oncology, a translational oncology research organization, yesterday announced the full commercial launch of its radiopharmaceutical services platform. 9 July 2025
French biotech Ciloa is joining the race to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity, armed with 6.5 million euros ($7.6 million) in public funding and a novel take on an old metabolic target. 9 July 2025
A new analysis from US data analytics firm Phesi has raised concerns about the viability of ongoing Phase III trials in atopic dermatitis (AD), pointing to a rising risk of failure driven by flawed trial design and overreliance on saturated investigator sites. 9 July 2025
Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk has filed for European approval of a higher-dose version of its obesity treatment Wegovy (semaglutide), aiming to expand options for patients who need stronger support for weight loss. 9 July 2025
Donald Trump has escalated his warnings to the pharmaceutical industry with a pledge to introduce import tariffs as high as 200% on drugs produced outside the USA. The US president said companies would be granted a grace period of up to 18 months before the measure takes effect. 9 July 2025
Debra Barker has been named chief medical officer (CMO) at Centauri Therapeutics, a UK immunotherapy company with a proprietary platform technology applicable across a wide range of therapeutic indications. 8 July 2025
San Francisco, USA-based biotech Centivax, which is developing durable, universal vaccines, today announced the close of a $45 million Series A led by Steve Jurvetson’s Future Ventures, with participation from NFX, BOLD Capital, Base4, Kendall Capital Partners, Amplify Bio, and existing investors. 8 July 2025
Diagonal Therapeutics, a US biotech focused on correcting dysregulated signaling with clustering antibodies that address the underlying cause of intractable genetic diseases, has announced the appointment of John Lee as chief medical officer (CMO). 8 July 2025
Switzerland-based MetP Pharma, pioneer in nose-to-brain drug delivery for nearly two decades, announced new data highlighting the advantages of its proprietary MetP Technology in delivering neuroactive peptides such as semaglutide directly to the brain via the intranasal route. 8 July 2025