Latest news
Rytelo, Geron's first telomerase inhibitor developed over 33 years, saw sales fall short of expectations in the early period after receiving FDA approval. New CEO Harout Semerjian, who took office in August 2025, is working to reverse the unfavorable commercial start by strengthening physician education and community outreach.
Imunon's non-viral DNA candidate IMNN-001, which provides the body with a 'recipe' to produce IL-12, demonstrated a 13-month improvement in overall survival in a Phase III trial, potentially reshaping the landscape of first-line ovarian cancer treatment.
Teva Pharmaceuticals once fell into trouble after acquiring Allergan's generics unit Actavis for $40 billion in 2016, forcing it to lay off a quarter of its workforce. Now, under CEO Richard Francis's 'Pivot to Growth' strategy, the company has achieved ten consecutive quarters of growth with innovative drugs at its core, with a pipeline spanning immunology, neuroscience, and other fields. Chief Medical Officer Eric Hughes was interviewed, sharing how the company underwent a mindset shift, transitioning from a generics giant to an innovative pharmaceutical company.
Lilly's progress in Alzheimer's disease is not only reflected in drug approvals, but also in advancing more sensitive and clinically meaningful diagnostic technologies to precisely identify patients and accelerate therapy development. Company executive Dr. Anthony Sireci noted that blood biomarkers such as p-tau217 are approaching a 90% positive predictive value, and emphasized the need to break the "ceiling" of diagnostic adoption to avoid repeating the oncology field's mistake where only 80% of patients underwent genetic subtyping. Lilly is promoting early diagnosis and broader patient coverage through the Lumipulse assay, partner networks, and the LillyDirect platform.
The complexity of Alzheimer's diagnosis has long constrained therapeutic breakthroughs. Currently, FDA-approved blood tests primarily rely on amyloid plaque biomarkers, but the disease also involves multiple pathological mechanisms such as tau protein. Veravas' Verabind Tau test, by isolating and measuring activated tau protein in the blood, can identify disease activity before symptoms appear, offering a new tool for clinical trials and patient screening of next-generation targeted therapies.
The cell therapy market faces challenges of cost and scalability, with cryopreservation technology becoming a key breakthrough. Alireza Abazari of BioLife Solutions points out that allogeneic therapies and ice recrystallization technology are expected to reduce expenses, and looks ahead to the prospects of organ banks.
Since the turbulent launch of Iressa in 2003, AstraZeneca has focused on precision treatment for EGFR mutations, using Tagrisso as a cornerstone, expanding to new drugs like Datroway, and promoting early screening, aiming to treat over half of lung cancer patients by 2030.
Five years ago, Currax Pharmaceuticals CEO George Hampton foresaw changes in the obesity treatment market and built the in-house DTC platform CurAccess, selling Contrave directly to patients at $99 per month. Today, the platform contributes about 65% of Contrave users and drove a 50% year-over-year revenue increase in 2024. This article is a transcript of an interview with Hampton, detailing the challenges of building the platform, lessons learned, and its impact on the industry.
Against the backdrop of the industry generally avoiding DEI topics, Ardelyx continues to strengthen its commitment to patient-centricity and clinical trial diversity by creating the new Chief Patient Officer position. New Chief Patient Officer Dr. Laura Williams shared participation data of 45% Black and 28% Hispanic patients in the company's dialysis patient trials, and elaborated on how strategic initiatives embed patient experience into all stages of drug development, approval, and commercialization.
Dr. Mathai Mammen, former head of R&D at Johnson & Johnson, is leading Parabilis Medicines to challenge targets once considered 'undruggable,' establishing a foothold in biotech competition through differentiation and durability.