Latest Pharma and Biotech News
Biotechnology
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.
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Biotechnology
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
Biotechnology
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
Pharmaceutical
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
Pharmaceutical
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
Pharmaceutical
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
Biotechnology
Japan’s JCR Pharmaceuticals closed 15% higher after Wednesday’s trading, as it signed a new licensing deal. 9 July 2025
Pharmaceutical
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
Pharmaceutical
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
Pharmaceutical
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
Pharmaceutical
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
Biotechnology
Radiopharmaceutical biotech Actithera today announced the close of an oversubscribed $75.5 million Series A financing round. 9 July 2025
Pharmaceutical
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
Biotechnology
US oncology-focused biotech Crescent Biopharma has appointed Jan Pinkas as chief scientific officer (CSO). 8 July 2025
Biotechnology
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
Biotechnology
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
Biotechnology
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
Pharmaceutical
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
Biosimilars
The US subsidiary of South Korea-based Celltrion today announced that Stoboclo (denosumab-bmwo) and Osenvelt (denosumab-bmwo), biosimilars referencing US biotech major Amgen’s (Nasdaq: AMGN) denosumab brands Prolia and Xgeva, had been launched in the USA. 8 July 2025
Biotechnology
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. 8 July 2025
Biotechnology
Having appointed Renée Aguiar-Lucander as its chief executive in April and Maria Törnsén as chief operating officer a month later, Hansa Biopharma has announced the appointment of a chief medical officer (CMO). 8 July 2025
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Pharmaceutical
Interpharma has criticized Switzerland’s latest healthcare cost-cutting package, passed in a final parliamentary vote, noting that the legislation will imperil patient access and supply security. 24 March 2025
Biotechnology
Important research news last week included UK pharma major AstraZeneca releasing encouraging results from the CALYPSO Phase III trial of its hypoparathyroidism candidate eneboparatide. US biotech Incyte announced new Phase III data for its povorcitinib in the treatment of severe hidradenitis suppurativa that, though meeting trial goals, disappointed investors. Also, USA-based Immunovant released top-line Phase II and Phase III results for its myasthenia gravis (MG) candidate batoclimab. On the deal-making front, France’s Sanofi announced it is acquiring investigational drug DR-0201 from US biotech Dren Bio to expand its immunology pipeline, 23 March 2025
Biotechnology
Danish biotech on Saturday revealed that US pharma major (AbbVie has filed a complaint in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, naming Genmab, ProfoundBio and former AbbVie employees as defendants. 22 March 2025
Biotechnology
Swedish firm Alligator Bioscience has announced that Dr Sumeet Ambarkhane, chief medical officer, will be leaving the company by end of March 2025, noting that he has played a key role in advancing Alligator’s immune-oncology pipeline and establishing its clinical development organization over the past years. 22 March 2025
Biotechnology
The Trump administration's moves to reduce government funding for the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health, will impact the biotech sector in several important ways, making it likely that companies will seek to combine with peers or be acquired by large pharma players, according to Andrew Goodman, a partner in the M&A practice at law firm Paul Hastings, in a client alert. 22 March 2025
Pharmaceutical
Dizal Pharmaceutical will present new research findings on two of its innovative drugs - sunvozertinib and golidacitinib - at the 2025 European Lung Cancer Congress (ELCC) The studies focus on addressing resistance in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treatments. 21 March 2025
Biotechnology
Chinese biotech Akeso has reported encouraging early data from a Phase III trial of its bispecific antibody cadonilimab (AK104) in combination with chemoradiotherapy for patients with locally advanced cervical cancer. 21 March 2025
Biotechnology
China's burgeoning biotech R&D capabilities are attracting increasing international attention, with non-Western countries actively seeking partnerships. At the BIOCHINA event in Suzhou on March 13, representatives from South Korean and Russian biotechs expressed strong interest in collaborating with Chinese counterparts. 21 March 2025
Pharmaceutical
The New Drug Application (NDA) for Tazverik (tazemetostat) has been granted conditional approval in China for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) follicular lymphoma (FL) with EZH2 mutation who have received at least two prior systemic therapies, said the drug’s developer, Chinese biopharma Hutchmed. 21 March 2025
Pharmaceutical
UK pharma major AstraZeneca today announced an investment of $2.5 billion in Beijing to establish its sixth global strategic R&D center, as well as major research and manufacturing agreements with local companies that will further advance life sciences in China. 21 March 2025
Pharmaceutical
US healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson has announced manufacturing, research and development and technology investments of more than $55 billion in the USA over the next four years. 21 March 2025
Biotechnology
Monte Rosa Therapeutics, a US biotech developing novel molecular glue degrader (MGD)-based medicines, closed Thursday’s trading more than 5% higher. 21 March 2025
Pharmaceutical
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Swiss pharma giant Novartis’ oral Fabhalta (iptacopan) for the treatment of adults with C3 glomerulopathy (C3G), to reduce proteinuria, making it the first and only treatment approved for this condition and the third US indication for the drug. 21 March 2025
Pharmaceutical
US biotech Rhythm Pharmaceuticals has reacquired the rights to its obesity treatment Imcivree (setmelanotide) in China, including Hong Kong and Macau, after terminating a 2021 licensing agreement with China-based RareStone Group. 21 March 2025
Pharmaceutical
US RNAi therapeutics company Alnylam Pharmaceuticals announced the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for its RNAi therapeutic, Amvuttra (vutrisiran). 21 March 2025
Biotechnology
US biotech GRO Biosciences is weighing the way forward for its lead gout program following a quiet restructuring that saw a reduction in research staff and key leadership changes. 21 March 2025
Pharmaceutical
Japanese ophthalmology company Santen Pharmaceutical announced that it will launch Ryjusea Mini solution 0.025% (tropine sulfate hydrate) on April 21, 2025. 21 March 2025
Biotechnology
US pharma major Johnson & Johnson has won US approval for Tremfya (guselkumab) in the treatment of adults with moderately to severely active Crohn’s disease, further expanding the immunology drug’s footprint and reinforcing the company’s efforts to replace revenue from declining Stelara (ustekinumab) sales. 21 March 2025
Biotechnology
Akari Therapeutics, a US biotech developing next-generation bi-functional antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) for the treatment of cancer, has announced the appointment of Abizer Gaslightwala as president and chief executive. 20 March 2025
Pharmaceutical
Today, Cambridge, USA-based clinical-stage oncology company Immuneering announced the appointment of Dr Igor Matushansky as chief medical officer (CMO). 20 March 2025
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