After the volatility of pandemic-related sales, investor and analyst attention turned to pharma’s core businesses. With exclusivity losses weighing on those large components of pharma, Sanofi’s reclassification may bring some unwelcome attention.

Pipeline Watch is a weekly snapshot of selected late-stage clinical trial events and approvals announced by pharmaceutical and biotech companies at medical and industry conferences, in financial and company presentations, and in company releases and statements.

Emerging Company Profile: The eight-year-old vaccine firm is planning clinical trials in the Philippines and Brazil to see how its synthetic viral peptide vaccine technology stands up against coronaviruses and dengue fever.

Private Company Edition: First quarter data again confirm fewer but larger VC rounds in Q1. Big Q2 rounds include a $132.5m series C round for Endeavor Biomedicines, a $103m series A round for Reunion Neuroscience and Enlaza’s $100m series A.

Zenas BioPharma plans to have data from four trials – two under way and two starting this summer – for obexelimab, which targets CD19 and FcγRIIb, within about a year and a half.

The attraction of listing in the US for innovative companies is clear but the heads of the Swiss Biotech Association tell Scrip that start-ups should remember the advantages of playing at home and not waste too much energy and time on worrying about being on the NASDAQ.

In this video interview, Sharon Chan, vice-president, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS Asia Pacific, shares her views on what South Korea’s strengths are as a biotech and medtech R&D hub, JLABS's plans in the country and what role it wants for its local activities domestically and beyond.

Ono’s just-announced purchase of Deciphera has put the tenosynovial giant cell tumor space under the spotlight and SynOx is making strides to stay at the head of the pack helped by significant financing.

Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty toppled after recording the highest ever annual sales for a pharmaceutical in 2022, while Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic climbed rapidly. But Merck & Co’s immuno-oncology blockbuster Keytruda was secure in the number one spot in 2023 as COVID-19 receded.

The highs of the COVID-19 era, and the lows that supplanted it, are beginning to fade.

A year is a long time in biopharma. Pharmaprojects’ annual pipeline review finds changes in the therapeutic spread of drug candidates and a reordering of the top R&D companies, as Chinese firms made their presence felt all the more over the past 12 months.

A look at the depth of clinical responses seen with various MASH therapies suggests that Madrigal could eventually face serious competition.

Zenas BioPharma plans to have data from four trials – two under way and two starting this summer – for obexelimab, which targets CD19 and FcγRIIb, within about a year and a half.

As COVID-19 vaccine sales decline, the company is investing billions in a diverse oncology pipeline including antibody drug conjugates, immunotherapy and cancer vaccines

The Sweden-headquartered biotech has emphasized the promising survival data in a head and neck cancer study of setanaxib rather than the NOX inhibitor’s inability to shrink tumors.

After the volatility of pandemic-related sales, investor and analyst attention turned to pharma’s core businesses. With exclusivity losses weighing on those large components of pharma, Sanofi’s reclassification may bring some unwelcome attention.

Hanmi’s head of new product development elucidated the leading Korean pharma firm’s digital healthcare strategy at a recent domestic forum, including plans for the country’s first medicine/DTx combo, and shared views on what is needed to improve the domestic regulatory and market environment.

In this week's podcast edition of Five Must-Know Things: Japan’s Ono buys US oncology firm; strong growth but supply issues for Lilly; Novo and Lilly make their money work; BMS cuts jobs, costs; and Big Pharma’s support for bioventures.

Pipeline Watch is a weekly snapshot of selected late-stage clinical trial events and approvals announced by pharmaceutical and biotech companies at medical and industry conferences, in financial and company presentations, and in company releases and statements.

Longtime pharmaceutical industry analyst Andrew Baum will join Pfizer’s executive leadership team.

With just 14% of active pharmaceutical ingredients estimated to be made in the US and China’s overall dominance in the space, a new study points to the pressing need for the US to address bottlenecks in the supply chain and proposes a string of approaches to partner with India in its de-risking efforts.

BridgeBio will narrow its focus to rare diseases and the November action date for acoramidis, while subsidiary TheRas will become BridgeBio Oncology Therapeutics, focused on KRAS-targeted drugs.

Emerging Company Profile: The eight-year-old vaccine firm is planning clinical trials in the Philippines and Brazil to see how its synthetic viral peptide vaccine technology stands up against coronaviruses and dengue fever.

Private Company Edition: First quarter data again confirm fewer but larger VC rounds in Q1. Big Q2 rounds include a $132.5m series C round for Endeavor Biomedicines, a $103m series A round for Reunion Neuroscience and Enlaza’s $100m series A.