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Today’s Big News

Mar 18, 2025

Arch-backed HC Bioscience closes doors after seeing early data for tRNA asset

Arbor sails into rocky gene editing waters with $74M for rare liver disease therapy

Sarepta reports 1 death after patient received DMD gene therapy Elevidys

European VC shop Sofinnova closes €165M biotech acceleration fund with support from Amgen, BMS and Pfizer

Vincerx, left in limbo by collapsed deal, moves to merge with AI company to escape cash crisis

Pyxis lays off 20% of staff to swing behind single-candidate strategy

Kiromic furloughs 'substantially all' workers amid cash crunch, leaving 31 staff without pay

Flagship-backed Apriori Bio lays off employees, shifts focus to pipeline development

Fierce Biotech Layoff Tracker 2025: Novartis plots 427 layoffs; Merck to cut 163 roles

Nanobiotix tweaks J&J licensing deal for phase 3 cancer drug to eke out cash

Avidity's latest DMD data drop assuages safety concerns for RNA-based asset: analyst

Featured

Arch-backed HC Bioscience closes doors after seeing early data for tRNA asset

By Gabrielle Masson

The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech is closing “following careful consideration of potential paths forward and strategic factors,” HC CEO Leslie Williams said in a statement to Fierce.

Arbor sails into rocky gene editing waters with $74M for rare liver disease therapy

By Darren Incorvaia

As other gene editing programs fold or get sold, Arbor Biotechnologies has raised $73.9 million to advance its lead liver-targeting gene therapy into human trials.

Sarepta reports 1 death after patient received DMD gene therapy Elevidys

By Angus Liu

One patient with Duchenne muscular dystrophy has passed away following treatment with Sarepta Therapeutics’ gene therapy Elevidys, the biotech said Tuesday.

Agenus CMO touts immunotherapy advances on The Top Line

European VC shop Sofinnova closes €165M biotech acceleration fund with support from Amgen, BMS and Pfizer Ventures

By Fraiser Kansteiner

Sofinnova Partners on Tuesday announced the final close of its biotech acceleration fund Biovelocita II, which managed to raise 165 million euros ($180 million) through “substantial backing” from the likes of Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer Ventures.

Vincerx, left in limbo by collapsed deal, moves to merge with AI company to escape cash crisis

By Nick Paul Taylor

Vincerx Pharma has found a fast fix for the uncertainty over its future. Recently left in limbo by the collapse of its reverse merger, the antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) developer has taken a step toward a new deal with an artificial intelligence company.

Pyxis lays off 20% of staff to swing behind single-candidate strategy

By James Waldron

Having recently trimmed back its pipeline to a sole cancer candidate, Pyxis Oncology has now reduced its head count to match.

Kiromic furloughs 'substantially all' workers amid cash crunch, leaving 31 staff without pay

By Nick Paul Taylor

Kiromic BioPharma has put 31 people on furlough. The cell therapy biotech has stopped paying the employees, which make up “substantially all” of its workforce, until it raises money to ease its cash crisis.

Flagship-backed Apriori Bio lays off employees, shifts focus to pipeline development

By Darren Incorvaia

Apriori Bio has become the latest Flagship Pioneering-backed biotech to shed staff, cutting 15 workers to leave 21 still employed at the vaccine-focused firm.

Fierce Biotech Layoff Tracker 2025: HC Bioscience set to shutter; Pyxis cuts 20% of staff

By Gabrielle Masson,Darren Incorvaia

As always, if you know of layoffs occurring at a biotech, please reach out to the Fierce Biotech editorial team.

Nanobiotix tweaks J&J licensing deal for phase 3 cancer drug to eke out cash

By James Waldron

Nanobiotix has tweaked the terms of a licensing deal with Johnson & Johnson over the French biotech’s phase 3-stage cancer drug in order to keep the cash flowing through to next year.

Avidity's latest DMD data drop assuages safety concerns for RNA-based asset: analyst

By Darren Incorvaia

After some earlier data sparked questions from analysts, Avidity Biosciences has released more data for its RNA-based Duchenne muscular dystrophy candidate.

Trump rescinds Biden executive order on COVID-19 data collection, memo on LGBTQ rights

By Noah Tong

President Trump took another step in dismantling Biden's health policy legacy by rescinding another executive order on COVID-19 and a memo on LGBTQ rights, all while declaring pardons from Biden void.

Fierce podcasts

Don’t miss an episode

Breaking down pharma’s fourth-quarter sales boom

This week on "The Top Line," we dissect the unprecedented revenue growth enjoyed by many major pharma companies in 2024’s fourth quarter.

Ways providers can simplify patient billing

A look at biotech's biggest money raisers of 2024

Resources

Whitepaper

The Oncology Market: 2025 Outlook

Read about four trends that will shape the innovations, therapies, & market landscape in oncology during 2025 & beyond.

Presented by Blue Matter, strategic consultants in the life sciences

Whitepaper

Redefining vaccine trial recruitment

Discover how to revolutionize your vaccine trials with Avacare's latest white paper. Gain exclusive access to innovative, data-driven recruitment strategies that ensure diverse, efficient, and high-quality vaccine trials.

Sponsored by: Avacare Clinical Research Network

Whitepaper