Lilly’s Foundayo Reaches 1,390 Patients in First Week, Trailing Novo’s Oral Wegovy Launch
Eli Lilly’s newly approved oral obesity drug Foundayo recorded 1,390 prescriptions in its first two days, a modest start compared with Novo Nordisk’s oral Wegovy, which logged over 3,000 patients in its inaugural week. RBC Capital Markets noted the timing difference—Foundayo launched on a Thursday, giving it fewer days of capture—suggesting the drug could gain momentum later in the week. The FDA approval flagged unexpected heart and liver safety risks, prompting post‑marketing assessments, though a Phase 3 diabetes readout showed no major cardiovascular or liver injury signals. Lilly will discuss the launch’s progress in its Q1 2026 earnings on April 30.
RFK Jr. Defends Makary, Claims Pharma ‘Owns’ Congress and Media
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended FDA Commissioner Marty Makary during a Ways and Means Committee hearing, praising the agency’s recent drug‑approval record and rejecting criticism from the pharmaceutical industry. He highlighted the FDA’s decision to reject Replimune’s oncolytic...
Novo May Have Muscle Advantage over Lilly in Weight-Loss Race: Preprint
A new medRxiv pre‑print analyzing nearly 8,000 GLP‑1 patients finds Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide preserves lean body mass better than Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide, despite the latter delivering greater overall weight loss. In the first year, 6.7% of semaglutide users fell into a...
Replimune Cries Foul on Regulatory Flexibility. But Many Americans Want a Stricter FDA
The FDA rejected Replimune’s RP1 melanoma combination therapy twice, citing patient‑population heterogeneity that it says undermines efficacy interpretation. The biotech’s CEO decried the agency’s lack of regulatory flexibility, while a Politico poll revealed most Americans prefer a slower, more rigorous...
Merck’s PD-1/VEGF Data Star in Stacked Lineup of AACR ‘26 Data Reveals
Merck will unveil early clinical data on MK‑2010, a PD‑1/VEGF bispecific antibody it licensed from LaNova for $588 million, at the AACR 2026 meeting. The readout will test Merck’s ability to compete with ivonescimab and other emerging bispecifics from Pfizer/BioNTech and BMS....
Funding the Future of European Biotech
In a BioSpace Insights “Denatured” podcast, host Jennifer C. Smith‑Parker talks with Edoardo Negroni of AurorA‑TT and Naveed Siddiqi of Novo Holdings about Europe’s world‑class biotech science and the venture ecosystem needed to commercialize it. The guests argue that Europe’s research...
Drug Pricing Watchdog Calls for Increased Transparency Into FDA’s Accelerated Approval Decisions
The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) released a report urging the FDA to make its accelerated‑approval decisions more transparent. Since its 1992 launch, the pathway has granted 278 approvals and brought over 200 new drugs to market, delivering...
MeiraGTx, Spying Hope in a Failed Trial, Buys Back Eye Disease Gene Therapy From J&J
MeiraGTx announced it will reacquire the rights to its X‑linked retinitis pigmentosa gene‑therapy candidate bota‑vec from Johnson & Johnson for an upfront $25 million. Although the Phase 3 LUMEOS trial missed its primary visual‑guided mobility endpoint, the study demonstrated improvements in visual...
Biopharmas Pull Back on Layoffs in Q1
Biopharma layoff activity slowed in Q1 2026, with only 35 companies announcing cuts versus 74 a year earlier. Despite fewer firms cutting staff, the total number of workers affected rose to 6,593, driven largely by Viatris’ plan to shed up...
Whitepaper: CDMOs at a Crossroads
The contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) sector is undergoing a rapid transformation as pharma and biotech firms chase end‑to‑end solutions for biologics, cell and gene therapies. Demand for specialized partnerships is rising alongside U.S. policies that encourage domestic production....
BMS Makes a Beeline, Bringing 5 Assets to Biotech's $300M Precision Immunology Debut
Bristol Myers Squibb has spun out a new biotech, Beeline Medicines, backed by $300 million from Bain Capital and an initial portfolio of five assets. The company, led by former SpringWorks CEO Saqib Islam, will focus on precision therapies for autoimmune...
Takeda Continues to Prune Partnerships, Cuts Ties with mRNA-Targeting Veritas In Silico
Takeda announced the termination of its three‑year partnership with Veritas In Silico, a collaboration focused on small‑molecule drugs that target mRNA. The split, confirmed on April 13, follows a recent wave of collaborator cuts, including a break with Denali Therapeutics and...
J&J Targets $100B Revenue, Replimune Rebuffed Again and a “Revolution” In Pancreatic Cancer
Johnson & Johnson reported $24.1 billion in first‑quarter sales and set an ambitious $100 billion revenue target for 2026, underscoring its aggressive growth strategy amid a wave of biotech M&A. Replimune’s advanced melanoma therapy RP1 was denied again, with the FDA insisting...
Could Biotech Layoffs Push Life Sciences Talent to Go Global?
Biotech firms are trimming staff amid a funding slowdown, but the layoffs are prompting a global reshuffling of life‑sciences talent. Major U.S. hubs like Boston see cuts, while the UK, Canada, France, Switzerland and Singapore roll out visa pathways and...
5 Biopharma M&A Deals Where the Workforce Was the Prize
Recent biopharma mergers highlight that talent can be as valuable as assets. Gilead’s $5 billion purchase of Tubulis, Biogen’s $5.6 billion acquisition of Apellis, and AstraZeneca’s $2.4 billion buy of Fusion all emphasize acquiring specialized teams. Other deals, such as AstraZeneca’s $1.06 billion Amolyt...