Bluebird lays off more staffers amid financial woes

Today’s Big News

Sep 24, 2024

Biogen, UCB report phase 3 lupus win, justifying risky bet on asset that failed earlier trial


Ahead of adcomm, FDA challenges broad use of PD-1 drugs in stomach cancer patients


Bluebird bio lays off 25% of workforce as gene therapy pioneer struggles to stay afloat


Metsera links long-acting GLP-1 shot to 7.5% weight loss at 36 days, mulls monthly dosing


FDA elevates 3 recalls of Smiths Medical ventilators, tracheostomy tubes


Novartis inks $1B-plus biobucks deal with Flagship's Generate


Docs discuss sluggish switch to Humira biosimilars, name preferred off-patent options

 

Featured

Biogen, UCB report phase 3 lupus win, justifying risky bet on asset that failed earlier trial

Biogen and UCB’s gamble on advancing into phase 3 on the back of a failed study looks to have paid off, with the partners reporting positive top-line results in systemic lupus erythematosus and outlining plans to start a second pivotal trial.
 

Top Stories

Ahead of adcomm, FDA challenges broad use of PD-1 drugs in stomach cancer patients

The FDA is having second thoughts about the broad labels it has granted PD-1 inhibitors in newly diagnosed stomach cancer, questioning whether restrictions should be placed on products from Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck & Co. and BeiGene.

Bluebird bio lays off 25% of workforce as gene therapy pioneer struggles to stay afloat

After bluebird bio acknowledged troubles keeping its business operational, the gene therapy biotech is launching a restructuring that will reduce the size of its workforce by about 25%, or nearly 100 employees.

Metsera links long-acting GLP-1 shot to 7.5% weight loss at 36 days, mulls monthly dosing

While the biotech has yet to unveil a more detailed data set, the injection, dubbed MET-097, was tied to “significant and durable” weight loss.

FDA elevates 3 recalls of Smiths Medical ventilators, tracheostomy tubes

ICU Medical’s Smiths Medical division first began notifying healthcare providers of the separate issues in late May and early June.

Novartis inks $1B-plus biobucks deal with Flagship's Generate

Novartis has inked a deal potentially worth more than $1 billion with Flagship-founded Generate:Biomedicines to develop protein therapeutics across multiple indications.

Docs discuss sluggish switch to Humira biosimilars, name preferred off-patent options

Spherix Global Insights has provided a different angle on AbbVie’s successful retention of Humira sales in the face of biosimilar competition, polling doctors about forces shaping the market and their preferred off-patent options.

Novo Nordisk CEO prepares to defend Ozempic, Wegovy US pricing at Senate hearing

Ahead of a hearing on Ozempic and Wegovy prices, prepared remarks from Novo CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen shine a light on the larger U.S. healthcare system.

Months after Frank Nestle’s departure, Sanofi selects new CSO

After a few years in biotech, Mike Quigley, Ph.D., is returning to the pharma fold, taking up the top science spot at Sanofi.

The headphones that listen to you (and your brain)

Neurable is putting forward a pair of headphones equipped with sensors to measure mental activity—in what it describes as the first brain-computer interface of its kind aimed at the general consumer.

Contract manufacturer PCI pumps $365M-plus into US, EU packaging projects

PCI has “heavily invested” in new drug delivery tech at its Philadelphia headquarters, laid plans for a 545,000-square-foot expansion in Rockford, Illinois, acquired a new packaging and device assembly plant near Dublin, Ireland, and broken ground on another at its CityNorth Dublin campus. Altogether, PCI’s manufacturing projects represent an investment of more than $365 million.

Currax, maker of weight loss drug Contrave, constructs campaign to educate on 'food noise'

Currax Pharmaceuticals is working to raise awareness of the concept of food noise as a psychological barrier to weight loss.

Regeneron's stock drops as it loses bid to block Amgen's Eylea biosimilar

Three months after a federal judge in West Virginia sided with Regeneron, blocking the market entry of two biosimilars for blockbuster eye disease drug Eylea, the same judge has rejected the company’s attempt to block Amgen’s Eylea biosimilar.

Stroke devicemaker Route 92 Medical raises $50M to go global

Supplied by Novo Holdings, the financing comes as an extension to its series F round, which had previously announced a collection of more than $31 million in November 2023.

AstraZeneca shows ‘What Science Can Do’ for patients’ lives in new video series

While AstraZeneca’s previous efforts to showcase the power of science have taken a broader approach, highlighting clinical discoveries, new technologies and sustainability work, the drugmaker’s newest corporate campaign gets into the nitty-gritty of science’s impact on individual patients’ everyday lives.
 
Fierce podcasts

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Recapping Digital Pharma East 2024

In this week's episode of "The Top Line," we’re recapping and discussing the major trends from Digitial Pharma East.
 

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