Pharma’s 10 biggest ad spenders in 2024

Today’s Big News

Jun 30, 2025

AbbVie reels in Capstan in $2.1B buyout, charting course for in vivo CAR-T market


Sage lays off entire staff of 338 amid takeover by Supernus


The top 10 pharma drug ad spenders of 2024


‘Emergency’ at Apple Tree: VC sues key investor, warns portfolio biotechs are on brink of collapse


Orphan Cures Act re-added to Trump tax bill as Senate prepares to begin vote-a-rama


Amgen's FGFR2b-targeting cancer candidate boosts overall survival in phase 3


Takeda survey finds colon cancer patients feel unheard by HCPs, want more info on diagnosis, treatment

 

Featured

AbbVie reels in Capstan in $2.1B buyout, charting course for in vivo CAR-T market

AbbVie is making a full strength play for the in vivo CAR-T market, snapping up Capstan Therapeutics for $2.1 billion to add an early-phase autoimmune drug candidate to its pipeline.
 

Top Stories

Sage lays off entire staff of 338 amid takeover by Supernus

Two weeks after Supernus Pharmaceuticals unveiled the proposed acquisition of Sage Therapeutics, all 338 employees from the latter company are being laid off, according to a Massachusetts Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification.

The top 10 pharma drug ad spenders of 2024

The top 10 meds were responsible for about a third of all pharmaceutical advertising spending in 2024; MediaRadar reported more than $10.1 billion spent marketing all prescription drugs last year, a year-over-year increase of about 2%.

‘Emergency’ at Apple Tree: VC sues key investor, warns portfolio biotechs are on brink of collapse

Apple Tree Partners’ life sciences venture fund has filed litigation against its controlling limited partners, claiming the investor has failed to meet its monetary commitments and warning of immediate consequences for its biotech portfolio.

Orphan Cures Act re-added to Trump tax bill as Senate prepares to begin vote-a-rama

The Orphan Cures Act has been added back into the Senate version of President Donald Trump's “big, beautiful bill” after being left out in the chamber’s first rendition.

Amgen's FGFR2b-targeting cancer candidate boosts overall survival in phase 3

Amgen’s investigational monoclonal antibody paired with chemotherapy significantly improved overall survival for patients in a phase 3 stomach cancer trial compared to chemotherapy alone, according to the pharma.

Takeda survey finds colon cancer patients feel unheard by HCPs, want more info on diagnosis, treatment

A new survey from Takeda due to be presented at the ESMO Gastrointestinal Cancers Congress in Spain this week highlights significant gaps in the treatment experiences of people with metastatic colorectal cancer.

Fierce Biotech Layoff Tracker 2025: BMS cuts 68 more roles in NJ; Sage to lay off all staff

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

Hikma to splash $1B on US production and R&D, joining branded drugmakers' investment spree

Hikma plans to throw down $1 billion by 2030 to expand its manufacturing and R&D firepower in the U.S., where the company has been in operation since 1991. The investment plan plays into the Trump administration’s touted aim to increase production of drugs for U.S. patients on U.S. soil, with Hikma branding the initiative “America Leans on Hikma: Quality Medicines Manufactured in the USA.”

INmune flunks phase 2 Alzheimer's trial, focuses on subgroup efficacy to fuel partnering plans

A phase 2 study of INmune Bio’s TNF inhibitor in Alzheimer’s disease has missed its primary endpoint, wiping 60% off the biotech share price.

FDA hits Unicycive with manufacturing-related complete response letter, delaying hopes for kidney disease prospect

Unicycive has already lined up a second manufacturer after the FDA flagged deficiencies at a third-party vendor the company had hired to make its oxylanthanum carbonate (OLC) drug product.
 
Fierce podcasts

Don’t miss an episode

Teva’s CEO shares ‘Pivot to Growth’ progress

In this episode of "The Top Line," Teva CEO Richard Francis shares progress on the company’s “Pivot to Growth” strategy and what lies ahead.
 

Resources

Whitepaper

How Will US Policy Impact the Growth of UK Biotech?

Presented by Blue Matter, strategic consultants in the life sciences

Whitepaper

Building Peak Performance Go-to-Market Operations

We analyzed ~300 launches to identify the factors most correlated with commercial success & built a framework for peak go-to-market performance.
 

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