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This Week

Jan 10, 2025

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


Roche projected to claim pharma's 2025 sales crown as Novo, Lilly climb rankings: Evaluate


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


Sana’s cell therapy may be ‘transformative cure’ for type 1 diabetes: analysts


RSV vaccines from Pfizer, GSK take another hit with new FDA warning mandate


Galapagos splits in 2, laying off 40% of staff, shrinking pipeline and ending Gilead partnership

 

Featured

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%.
 

Top Stories

Roche projected to claim pharma's 2025 sales crown as Novo, Lilly climb rankings: Evaluate

Even as Novo and Lilly continue to climb, Roche looks poised to remain the top drugmaker by revenue in 2025, Evaluate analysts predict.

‘Ozempic’s biggest night’: GLP-1s back in Hollywood spotlight at 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.

Sana’s cell therapy may be ‘transformative cure’ for type 1 diabetes: analysts

Sana Biotechnology has shared early data for its investigational allogeneic cell therapy being studied in one patient with type 1 diabetes, sending the company’s stock price up by about 200%.

RSV vaccines from Pfizer, GSK take another hit with new FDA warning mandate

The FDA will require GSK and Pfizer to include on the label of their respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines a warning about the risk of developing Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), a rare neurological condition that can cause paralysis. The ruling will affect GSK’s Arexvy and Pfizer’s Abrysvo.

Galapagos splits in 2, laying off 40% of staff, shrinking pipeline and ending Gilead partnership

Galapagos has never been a company to sit still for long, but—even by its own standards—the decision to split in two while waving goodbye to 40% of its employees and a long-standing Gilead partnership is a bold move.

FDA completes first phase of study into potential metal exposure from tampons

An independent review of scientific literature searched for contaminants in tampons, including not just metals but also phthalates, parabens and volatile organic compounds.

Wegovy and Zepbound tipped to fuel $20B boom in heart failure market

GlobalData has named heart failure as the next disease to feel the sales-boosting power of GLP-1 drugs. The analysts expect launches of medicines including Eli Lilly’s Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy to help add $20 billion to the value of the market in a decade.

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.
 
Fierce podcasts

Don’t miss an episode

Fierce Health Payer Summit Recap: What does an ideal payer look like?

Fierce Healthcare hosted the second annual Fierce Health Payer Summit in November. Top leaders and decision-makers in the healthcare and payer industry convened in Austin, Texas, for two days of discussions.
 

Resources

Whitepaper

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.
Whitepaper

Standout in a crowded oncology landscape

There’s so much that goes into making sure your therapy maximizes impact every step of the way.
 

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