WELCOME TO FIERCE LIFE SCIENCES WEEKLY DIGEST Big has a new definition in biotech. Altos Labs launched with $3 billion in funding commitments and a leadership team poaching some of the most well-known names in the industry—a cannonball-splash of a debut that matches the size of its ambitions: to reprogram human cells into rejuvenating and reversing disease. Meanwhile, Pfizer has finally grabbed an FDA greenlight for its daily atopic dermatitis pill Cibinqo, which it thinks can post peak sales of at least $3 billion. And over the course of the last year, the pace of M&A in the biopharma and medtech sectors have seen their ups and downs. We tracked the top 10 largest deals of each as companies looked to bulk up and transform themselves during the second year of the pandemic. | |
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Featured Story | By Nick Paul Taylor Altos Labs just redefined big in biotech. Where to start? The $3 billion in investor support? The C-suite staffed by storied leaders—Barron, Bishop, Klausner—identifiable by one name? Or the wildly ambitious plan to reverse disease for patients of any age? Altos is all that and more. read more |
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Top Stories Of The Week By Eric Sagonowsky After a series of delays and a lengthy safety review, Pfizer is on the scene in atopic dermatitis with a blockbuster-to-be. Friday, the FDA approved the New York drugmaker's oral daily JAK1 inhibitor Cibinqo to treat adults with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis who have not been able to get their disease under control with other medicines, including biologics, and for those who can't take other treatments. read more By Nick Paul Taylor Hal Barron is leaving GlaxoSmithKline. After four years as chief scientific officer, Barron is leaving to take up the CEO post at a deep-pocketed, wildly ambitious biotech startup—leaving Pfizer veteran Tony Wood in charge of the scientific side of the company. read more By Angus Liu Biogen has found itself increasingly deeper in the quagmire that is the Alzheimer’s disease drug Aduhelm. Like any beleaguered company might do, the Big Biotech is weighing some strategic options, according to a Stat report. read more By Phil Taylor Biopharma merger and acquisition (M&A) activity was subdued in 2021 and would have approached a record low for recent years if not for a flurry of deals in the last quarter. read more By Conor Hale,Andrea Park Many of 2021's medtech acquisitions were fueled by pandemic windfalls, driven by a year of roller-coaster demand for coronavirus diagnostics and supplies. read more By Annalee Armstrong Eisai made history last year as Biogen’s partner on Aduhelm, the first approved Alzheimer’s treatment in decades. And yes, they know the launch could have gone better. Luckily, they get a do-over. read more By Fraiser Kansteiner Problems at Catalent's plant “allegedly” fueled recent supply woes for Novo Nordisk’s obesity drug Wegovy, BioProcess International first reported in early January. For its part, Novo said a contract manufacturer doing syringe filling on the GLP-1 med had temporarily halted deliveries following a manufacturing glitch. read more By Conor Hale Nearly 18 months after announcing plans to spin out its eye health business, Bausch + Lomb has filed the paperwork for an IPO on both the New York and Toronto stock exchanges. read more By Angus Liu AbbVie can breathe a sigh of relief: Rinvoq, the Illinois pharma’s Humira successor, has emerged from an FDA safety probe with a relatively favorable label in the all-important atopic dermatitis indication. read more By Eric Sagonowsky Tax avoidance allegations have hovered over major players in the pharmaceutical industry for decades. Some of the biggest names in the business have occasionally faced inquiries or have had to pay up to the Internal Revenue Service. Now, Bristol Myers Squibb is at the center of a U.S. Senator's tax probe. read more By Kyle LaHucik Tumor cells like to spread, but there are no approved treatments that specifically target the process of metastasis in cancer. Now, in a mouse study, researchers at Tufts University found a drug used to treat irregular heartbeat shows promise at hindering the proliferation of tumor cells throughout the body. read more Resources Sponsored by: WIRB-Copernicus Group Sites receiving augmentation support enroll more than 30,000 patients in just over three months. See how additional site resources can make a difference. Sponsored by: Thermo Fisher Scientific Learn how a CDMO partnered with Thermo Fisher Scientific to manage high-volume process liquid and buffer preparation scale-up. Download the free case study from Thermo Fisher Scientific Sponsored by: Thermo Fisher Scientific A variety of genetic analysis methods are valuable in ensuring that ex vivo human cells to be used for cell-based therapies are correctly identified, have the correct characteristics, and are free of contaminants. Sponsored by: IQVIA Learn how to elevate your omnichannel marketing strategy with Next Best - a combination of data and analytics, deployed to facilitate decision making. Sponsored by: Catalent Biologics Ypsomed and Catalent Biologics experts discuss strategies for integrated PFS manufacturing and auto-injector assembly to accelerate timelines and more in this webinar. Sponsored by: Catalent Biologics Learn how formulation development for a PFS affects manufacturing to drive the industry toward optimizing delivery of injectable products and, ultimately, improving patient care. Sponsored by: Thermo Fisher Scientific Learn how to develop a high-performing supply chain for cGMP chemicals used throughout your biologics workflow. Download the free whitepaper from Thermo Fisher Scientific Sponsored by: Box Read Get to Know Cloud Content Management for Life Sciences and learn how to eliminate silos across all workflows, from R&D to commercialization. | 
