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STAT+: Genentech weighs slow-walking ovarian cancer therapy to make more money under drug pricing reform
WASHINGTON — Plenty of pharmaceutical executives have decried Democrats’ new drug pricing law as detrimental…
Category: biotechnology
STAT+: DNA-sequencing giant Illumina slashes 2023 revenue projections yet again
SAN DIEGO — After starting off the year by lowering its 2023 revenue projections, San…
STAT+: Wegovy cardiovascular study has doctors seeing new possibilities in weight loss drug
The momentum around weight-loss drugs is about to get even bigger in the wake of…
STAT+: Beleaguered drug manufacturer Emergent cuts jobs, executive role in business shake-up
Emergent Biosciences, the manufacturing company that fell into hot water in 2021 due to a…
STAT+: Novo’s obesity drug Wegovy lowers cardiovascular risk by 20%, landmark trial finds
Novo Nordisk’s obesity drug Wegovy cut the risk of major heart complications by 20% in…
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STAT+: More regulation could be coming for drug ads
WASHINGTON — Government regulators may soon decide whether to crack down on distracting visuals in…
Are biotech VCs headed for better times? In one firm’s success, lessons for turning crisis into profit
This article is adapted from STAT’s latest report, “2023 Update: ranking biotech’s top venture capital…
STAT+: Sage considers ways to reduce costs following FDA rejection on drug for major depression
Sage Therapeutics said Monday that it may need to reduce costs, including through employee layoffs,…
STAT+: FDA approves Sage Therapeutics’ rapid-acting medication for postpartum depression but not major depression
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved a new, rapid-acting medicine made by Sage…
Listen: Biotech layoffs, eye drug drama, & gene therapy milestones
Can biotech startups survive a downturn? Is Covid-19 a good business? And when did ophthalmology…
‘Ancient DNA’ tools and 23andMe database uncover African American ancestries of thousands
New research that combines technology to sequence “ancient DNA” with direct-to-consumer genetic testing has identified…
STAT+: Alnylam reports growth in sales of rare disease treatments
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals said Thursday that sales of its treatments for rare diseases grew 43% in…
STAT+: Study proposing microbiome-based cancer diagnostic comes under fire
Micronoma, a San Diego-based biotech startup, was founded on the idea that signatures from microbes…
STAT+: White House drug shortage task force held rare in-person meeting with industry
WASHINGTON — A new White House task force on drug shortages held a rare in-person…
STAT+: Startup Celsius cuts 75% of staff ahead of first trial start for IBD drug
Launching your first clinical trial is the type of announcement most biotech executives eagerly anticipate,…
STAT+: Pharma industry showers House GOP doctor with campaign cash
WASHINGTON — The pharmaceutical industry has been flooding the campaign coffers of Rep. Larry Bucshon, a…
STAT+: EQRx, failed developer of low-priced cancer drugs, is sold for cash
EQRx is done, sold for its cash. The once-buzzy but now dormant biotech company is being…
STAT+: New safety details link Apellis eye drug to rare cases of blindness. Cause still unknown
Five elderly people have been blinded by a severe side effect after receiving injections of…
STAT+: Sage hopes for a blockbuster in fast-acting antidepressant now before FDA
Cheryl Meier had watched clinical trial enrollment announcements for years — but always for her…
STAT+: House GOP offers new plan to stem drug shortages, including cancer drug shortages
WASHINGTON — House Republicans have drafted drug-shortage legislation that differs significantly from the approach Democrats…
STAT+: AstraZeneca buys early-stage gene therapies from Pfizer in boon for struggling field
AstraZeneca said Friday it will buy up a group of early-stage gene therapies from Pfizer,…
STAT+: Biogen to acquire Reata Pharmaceuticals in $7 billion deal
Biogen on Friday said it would acquire Reata Pharmaceuticals, the maker of an approved therapy…
Biogen’s sticky situation, Wegovy’s risks, & biotech insider trading
Why do CEOs talk like that? Do biotech stock tips make good gifts? And what…
STAT+: The once-hot market for biotech jobs and lab space has cooled. What now?
When Crystal Shih Byers left her job at Novartis in 2020, she was excited to…
STAT+: A conflict of interest behind the warning on Apellis’s eye drug? The optics are not good
The eye disease physician in charge of a committee that flagged a rare but severe…
STAT+: VC firm starts a new synthetic biology incubator, headed by a former Broad Institute scientist
Venture capital firm RA Capital is starting a new incubator, setting the stage for the…
STAT+: Senate panel advances PBM reform — but sidesteps anything controversial
WASHINGTON — Senators on the Finance Committee on Wednesday nearly unanimously passed a bill to…
STAT+: Democrats already want to expand Medicare’s drug price negotiation
WASHINGTON — It’s drug pricing déjà vu: Just as they did in 2019, House Democrats…
STAT+: Truvian presents data for its desktop blood-testing device in a field still in Theranos’s shadow
SAN DIEGO — Truvian Health, a San Diego blood diagnostics company, shared data on Tuesday…
STAT+: Biogen says it will cut costs by $700 million, slash 1,000 jobs
Biogen announced a new round of cost cuts Tuesday, saying that it plans to save…
STAT+: Drug from Stoke shows lower activity against childhood epilepsy, prompting search for better dose
Stoke Therapeutics is still seeking an effective dose for an experimental drug to treat a…
STAT+: Gene therapy eyedrops restored a boy’s sight. Similar treatments could help millions
MIAMI — Dr. Alfonso Sabater pulled up two photos of Antonio Vento Carvajal’s eyes. One…
STAT+: Roche’s $3 billion Alnylam deal shows drug firms are interested in long-acting heart drugs
Roche’s announcement Monday that it would pay $310 million for rights to a hypertension treatment,…
STAT+: European regulatory panel weighs against approval of Mirati’s KRAS-targeted lung cancer drug
A European regulatory panel reviewing a lung cancer drug made by Mirati Therapeutics has recommended…
BridgeBio’s big week, Lilly’s Alzheimer’s data, & succession at Stanford
What can Homer teach us about biotech? Has Big Science gotten too big? And what’s…
Vir antibody drug aimed at influenza A fails in clinical trial
Vir Biotechnology said Thursday that a long-acting antibody drug designed to protect healthy individuals from…
STAT+: Hospitals struggle to make money on CAR-T cancer therapies, but their fortunes may change
WASHINGTON — Hospitals for years have complained that Medicare pays so little for CAR-T cancer…
STAT+: Bernie Sanders adds three drug shortage policies to pandemic preparedness bill
WASHINGTON — Senate health committee Chair Bernie Sanders added three drug shortage measures to a…
STAT+: Johnson & Johnson sues to stop Medicare negotiation
WASHINGTON — Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday became the third drugmaker to sue the…
ARCH Venture Partners rises to the top of STAT’s 2023 biotech VC rankings
This article is adapted from the 2023 edition of STAT’s annual report, “Ranking biotech’s top…
STAT+: Flagship, Pfizer team up in deal worth $7 billion
Pharma giant Pfizer is turning to venture firm Flagship for new drug development, signing a…
STAT+: Sanofi licenses CRISPR enzyme in bid to develop safer, simpler sickle cell cure
Sanofi will license a new CRISPR enzyme from the startup Scribe Therapeutics in a bid…
STAT+: Detailed data confirm benefits — and risks — of Eli Lilly’s Alzheimer’s drug
The benefits and risks of Eli Lilly’s treatment for Alzheimer’s disease were confirmed in detailed…
STAT+: BridgeBio heart drug succeeds in pivotal study
A drug developed by the biotech firm BridgeBio to treat an increasingly common heart condition…
STAT+: Westlake Village, a West Coast VC firm, raises $450 million fund
Westlake Village BioPartners, a West Coast biotech venture capital firm founded five years ago by…
STAT+: Argenx antibody drug significantly slows progression of nerve disorder that robs patients of muscle strength
Belgian drugmaker Argenx said Monday that its antibody treatment called Vyvgart significantly delayed the progression…
STAT+: Three women sue cancer diagnostic firm Grail alleging harassment, retaliation
Three sales executives, all of them women, have filed suit against Grail, a cancer diagnostics…
STAT+: With momentum on Alzheimer’s therapies, Europe sees delivery challenges ahead, too
LONDON — Starting Sunday, Alzheimer’s specialists will gather for a major conference in Amsterdam, convening at…
STAT+: Caribou posts encouraging durability results on its off-the-shelf CAR-T therapy
Caribou Biosciences said Thursday that its off-the-shelf CAR-T therapy induced durable, complete remissions in patients…
Listen: Wegovy in the brain, pivotal Alzheimer’s data, & pulling Threads
Is Wegovy really a brain drug? Which Alzheimer’s disease treatment works best? And what’s the…