Big Pharma layoff rounds spiked in ’24

Today’s Big News

Jan 6, 2025

Pfizer, PhRMA rank among groups pledging funding for Trump’s inauguration: NYT 


FDA issues draft guidance on ensuring pulse oximeter accuracy across skin tones 


Big Pharma layoff rounds jump 281% in '24, but overall industry rates similar to '23 


FDA looks to clarify confirmatory trial mandate for accelerated approvals 


I-Mab pauses Sanofi-partnered prospect to make play for busy CLDN18.2 space 


Amylyx names chief commercial officer as GLP-1 receptor antagonist launch plans start ramping up 


In €500M deal, Merck buys Ireland vaccines plant from CDMO WuXi Biologics

 

Featured

Pfizer, PhRMA rank among groups pledging funding for Trump's inauguration: NYT

From condemning the Jan. 6 Capitol riots to helping fund the president-elect’s impending inauguration, recent years have seen biopharma leaders learn to embrace a "live and let live" mentality when it comes to Donald Trump.
 

Top Stories

FDA issues draft guidance on ensuring pulse oximeter accuracy across skin tones

The FDA has published a set of long-awaited recommendations to the industry to help ensure pulse oximeters work correctly across all skin tones.

Big Pharma layoff rounds jump 281% in '24, but overall industry rates similar to '23

Overall, biopharma layoffs rose ever so slightly in 2024 compared to the year before, though the number of layoff rounds across Big Pharma companies skyrocketed by 281%.

FDA looks to clarify confirmatory trial mandate for accelerated approvals

In a draft guidance document, the FDA specified criteria to determine if a confirmatory trial is “underway” prior to an accelerated approval.

I-Mab pauses Sanofi-partnered prospect to make play for busy CLDN18.2 space

I-Mab has begun the new year with a pipeline pivot, pausing work on an asset Sanofi bought into last year to focus on its play for the congested CLDN18.2 space.

Amylyx names chief commercial officer as GLP-1 receptor antagonist launch plans start ramping up

Amylyx Pharmaceuticals has named Dan Monahan as chief commercial officer, positioning an exec who led the U.S. commercialization of Otsuka's Rexulti to oversee the planned launch of a GLP-1 receptor antagonist.

In €500M deal, Merck buys Ireland vaccines plant from CDMO WuXi Biologics

With the potential passage of the BIOSECURE Act looming and WuXi Biologics seeing its share price and profits decline, the Chinese biopharma contract manufacturing giant is responding with a large divestiture.

Basecamp Research pushes for programmable genetic medicines with new computer cluster, CSO and Massachusetts lab

British tech firm Basecamp Research is making a big push forward to further its mission of developing programmable genetic medicines. The company has hired gene therapy vet John Finn, Ph.D., to be its new chief scientific officer, working out of a new office and lab space in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Citius Oncology weighs strategic options on road to launching newly-approved lymphoma med

The company had initially hoped to launch its first product, T-cell lymphoma treatment Lymphir, within five months of its August FDA nod.

Fierce Biotech Fundraising Tracker '25: Orbis rings in new year with €90M series A

The Fierce Biotech Fundraising Tracker records venture capital rounds of $50 million or more secured by biotechs.

‘Ozempic’s biggest night’: GLP-1s back in Hollywood spotlight at Lilly-backed 2025 Golden Globes

As the 2025 Hollywood awards season kicked off with the Golden Globes on Sunday night, so too did another round of jokes, speculation and sponsorships linking the industry to the use of GLP-1 medications for weight loss.
 
Fierce podcasts

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'The Top Line': Fierce 50 honorees look ahead: AI, rural health, antibiotic resistance, maternal care and more

This week on "The Top Line," we bring you a special conversation from earlier this month at our New York City gala, where we celebrated this year’s Fierce 50 honorees.

 

Resources

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Communicating the Value of Biopharma Assets to Potential Investors

How can an emerging company attract the right partner for a therapeutic asset (& optimize its value in a transaction)? This paper offers some insights.
 

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