Layoffs hit NCI as 19 states sue to stop HHS reorg

Today’s Big News

May 6, 2025

Eli Lilly licenses early-stage ALS program from Alchemab in $415M pact


Mersana makes Emi-Le the one, laying off 55% of staff to narrow focus to B7-H4 ADC


250 more NIH workers laid off, including cuts at the National Cancer Institute


19 states sue to block HHS reorganization, claim overhaul is unconstitutional


Anti-aging biotech NewLimit raises $130M to push liver reprogramming med into clinic


PTC crashes as win for Novartis-partnered Huntington's drug fails to convince investors


Aldeyra posts one hit, one miss for twice-rejected dry eye drug, plans FDA filing


Capricor shares turn red as FDA plans deramiocel adcomm, likely the first under new commissioner


Bristol Myers charts 500-plus new layoffs in New Jersey following expanded cost-savings drive


Biomea cuts 35% of staff, drops leukemia asset in pivot to metabolic disease


Unity disbands workforce amid search for strategic path forward, while Mammoth cuts 24 roles

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Featured

Eli Lilly licenses early-stage ALS drug program from Alchemab in $415M pact

Just four months after Eli Lilly and British biotech Alchemab penned a discovery collaboration, the Big Pharma is licensing its first drug asset from the deal.
 

Top Stories

Mersana makes Emi-Le the one, laying off 55% of staff to narrow focus to B7-H4 ADC

Mersana Therapeutics only has eyes for Emi-Le. Seeking to extend its cash runway into mid-2026, the biotech is laying off 55% of its employees and cutting back internal R&D work to focus on lead program emiltatug ledadotin.

250 more NIH workers laid off, including cuts at the National Cancer Institute

The National Institutes of Health has laid off 250 more employees, with this round of cuts also hitting 50 workers at the National Cancer Institute.

Pushing for innovation amid a ‘silent surge’ of rising MASH rates

How a commonly “silent disease” is driving urgency and novelty in the liver disease treatment paradigm and what can we hope for.

19 states sue to block HHS reorganization, claim overhaul is unconstitutional

Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have filed a new lawsuit against HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in hopes of stopping the dismantling of the agency.

Anti-aging biotech NewLimit raises $130M to push liver reprogramming med into clinic

Anti-aging biotech NewLimit plans to push a liver-rejuvenating mRNA medicine into the clinic with the aid of a $130 million series B fundraising round.

PTC crashes as win for Novartis-partnered Huntington's drug fails to convince investors

PTC Therapeutics reported a phase 2 win for its Novartis-partnered Huntington's disease candidate. But the readout failed to convince investors, who wiped almost 20% off PTC’s share price amid doubts about the path to accelerated approval of the asset.

Aldeyra posts one hit, one miss for twice-rejected dry eye drug, plans FDA filing

A phase 3 trial of Aldeyra Therapeutics’ dry eye disease prospect has hit its primary endpoint, teeing the biotech to seek approval for a candidate that the FDA has rejected twice in recent years. Another phase 3 trial missed its primary endpoint but Aldeyra said the data can still support its latest resubmission.

Capricor shares turn red as FDA plans deramiocel adcomm, likely the first under new commissioner

Capricor Therapeutics saw its shares fall 13% by the end of trading Monday as its investigational cell therapy deramiocel for DMD was revealed as the first drug expected to face an FDA advisory committee under the new agency’s commissioner, Marty Makary, M.D.

Bristol Myers charts 500-plus new layoffs in New Jersey following expanded cost-savings drive

BMS is laying off 516 workers who report to the company in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, according to a new Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice filed with the state.

Biomea cuts 35% of staff, drops leukemia asset in pivot to metabolic disease

Biomea Fusion is following through on a New Year’s resolution to become a metabolic-focused company. The Bay Area biotech has dropped a phase 1 leukemia candidate and laid off 35% of staff to focus development on diabetes and obesity assets, the company announced in a May 5 release.

Unity disbands workforce as it searches for strategic path forward, while Mammoth cuts 24 roles

Both companies are working on workforce optimization efforts, prompting a headcount reduction of 24 at Mammoth and sweeping changes across Unity's workforce.

CMS will announce states participating in cell and gene therapy model—but health plans still have questions

Health plans and employers view cell and gene affordability as a significant challenge. Next month, the CMS will announce states participating in a new model to address financial concerns by states and payers.

Trump signs executive order to boost US drug manufacturing amid threat of tariffs

In President Donald Trump’s latest push to bring pharmaceutical manufacturing to the U.S., a new executive order tasks the FDA with reducing regulatory hurdles for domestic producers while making life harder for foreign manufacturers.
 
Fierce podcasts

Don’t miss an episode

ElevAAte and the push for East Asian American leaders in biopharma

This week on "The Top Line," hear how the founders of ElevAAte are turning shared East Asian American experiences into collective power for the next generation of biopharma leaders.
 

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Through a CRO's perspective: Innovative, Agile Solutions In Vaccine Efficacy Testing

Typical vaccine development timelines have averaged 10 years, but the time from the SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequence’s release to the submission of the first vaccine clinical trial data for regulatory review was a mere 314 days. In IQVIA Laboratories’ Vaccine eBook we focus on how contract research organizations (CROs) can best leverage strategic partnerships with sponsors to prepare for the next pandemic.
 

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